Keeping you safe in the sky EDITORIAL NOTE BY THE DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AVIATION Let’s talk about keeping our skies safe and secure SAFETY BRIEF FIRST EDITION | MARCH 2021 Dear Aviators, I am delighted to introduce the first edition of the General Aviation publication to you. This is one of many initiatives under the General Aviation Safety Strategy that we launched in 2020, that is meant to augment and reinforce all the work done by the different focus groups towards improving general aviation safety by reducing the number of accidents in this sector. The team has settled on the name “Skywatch”, which I find appropriate as we further strengthen the collaboration between the Regulator and the industry as watchdogs for aviation safety and security, particularly in the General Aviation sector. South Africa has enjoyed an accident-free commercial airline sector for over thirty years. However, we have also regrettably watched as our fellow aviators perish annually in the GA sector. What this tells us is that we must do more to prevent catastrophic accidents. It is quite reassuring to know that we are not the only ones concerned about the number of accidents in GA, but our shareholder feels exactly the same. This was reiterated during a Department of Transport Strategy session held at the beginning of the year, when the Minister gave us marching orders to reduce accidents in this sector by a whole 50% over the next five years. Having witnessed a spike of accidents in January 2021 where 14 accidents were recorded, including 8 fatalities, the implementation of the GASS is not only a step in the right direction, but it is also timely. These accidents are still being investigated by the Accident and Incident Investigations department and the reports should point us to causal factors as soon as they are published. The current trend in aircraft accidents requires our collective efforts to stop it in its tracks; we need to avoid such unnecessary tragedies at all costs. We must therefore focus our energies towards implementing the safety strategies that are geared towards making the goal of reducing aircraft accidents a reality. The SACAA is committed to working with our stakeholders to identify risks, analyze trends and further develop strategies which are fit for purpose. The articles in this publication are examples of issues that will be extensively deliberated by the appropriate Focus Group, as part of delivering on the GASS and implementation plan. The information contained in this document is confidential and may not be used, published or redistributed without prior written consent. Continued on page 2
Transcript
Keeping you safe in the sky
EDITORIAL NOTE BY THE DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AVIATION
Let’s talk about keeping our skies safe and secure
SKYwatchSAFETY BRIEF FIRST EDITION | MARCH 2021
Dear Aviators,
I am delighted to introduce the first edition of the General Aviation publication to you. This is one of many initiatives under the General Aviation Safety Strategy that we launched in 2020, that is meant to augment and reinforce all the work done by the different focus groups towards improving general aviation safety by reducing the number of accidents in this sector.
The team has settled on the name “Skywatch”, which I find appropriate as we further strengthen the collaboration between the Regulator and the industry as watchdogs for aviation safety and security, particularly in the General Aviation sector. South Africa has enjoyed an accident-free commercial airline sector for over thirty years. However, we have also regrettably watched as our fellow aviators perish annually in the GA sector. What this tells us is that we must do more to prevent catastrophic accidents. It is quite reassuring to know that we are not the only ones concerned about the number of accidents in GA, but our shareholder feels exactly the same. This was reiterated during a Department of Transport Strategy session held at the beginning of the year, when the Minister gave us
marching orders to reduce accidents in this sector by a whole 50% over the next five years.
Having witnessed a spike of accidents in January 2021 where 14 accidents were recorded, including 8 fatalities, the implementation of the GASS is not only a step in the right direction, but it is also timely. These accidents are still being investigated by the Accident and Incident Investigations department and the reports should point us to causal factors as soon as they are published. The current trend in aircraft accidents requires our collective efforts to stop it in its tracks; we need to avoid such unnecessary tragedies at all costs. We must therefore focus our energies towards implementing the safety strategies that are geared towards making the goal of reducing aircraft accidents a reality. The SACAA is committed to working with our stakeholders to identify risks, analyze trends and further develop strategies which are fit for purpose.
The articles in this publication are examples of issues that will be extensively deliberated by the appropriate Focus Group, as part of delivering on the GASS and implementation plan.
The information contained in this document is confidential and may not be used, published or redistributed without prior written consent.
Continued on page 2
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BEWARE OF THAT COVID HANGOVER!
The recent surge in accidents in January 2021 warrants a closer look at the potential impact that COVID-19 and the associated economic downturn may be having on aviation in general, especially General Aviation (GA). Otherwise known as a ‘latent condition’ in terms of air safety management, the pandemic, which has been having adverse side effects worldwide, may well be a cause for concern for air safety, though not in the conventional sense.
A more cautious approach on the part of pilots and aircraft owners is necessary to safeguard against potentially lower levels of proficiency in flying skills and deteriorating standards of aircraft airworthiness. Though the minimum requirements may indeed be met during check flights, due to the fewer hours flown during the lockdown periods, pilots may not be nearly as sharp as they could be with more frequent practice. This rustiness may result in botched forced landings, which have always resulted in more severe outcomes in cases of emergency.
Accident surge warrants a closer look!
A trusted and recommended remedy against low levels of proficiency is always undergoing dual check flights with an instructor. As the regulations might be emphasizing proficiency during approaches, landings and take-offs and pilots may want to save on costs, the practicing of emergency drills and vital actions could easily be neglected. At the same time, the propensity for emergencies might be higher, due to the longer downtime and periods of inactivity of aircraft. Technical failures are more likely to be encountered in aircraft that have been stationary for a long time.
Inactive aircraft deteriorate while parked outside or standing in a hangar. Items like oil seals and fuel pump diaphragms may harden. Cylinder walls may become pitted. Bearings, camshafts, crankshafts and the like could become corroded. Oil may form a hardened rim, damaging the rings in certain aircraft, especially radial engines. Battery chemicals could break down into the original elements. The list goes on. Prudency demands special attention during pre-flight inspections. A visit to a maintenance facility, though involving extra costs, is highly recommended.
Dual checks
Keeping you safe in the sky
The need to increase awareness of the causal factors leading to accidents in the GA sector has never been more relevant. As the aviation fraternity, we find ourselves in an extraordinary environment, where the usual causes of accidents, such as flight crew errors, aircraft operations and mechanical failure, are intertwined with the limitations and frustrations of a global pandemic; and even financial hardships. These conditions would naturally have an effect on the safety of recreational and commercial flying, and in this edition of Skywatch, such factors are highlighted.
In the same vein, allow me to congratulate and thank all aviation professionals from the different streams of the civil aviation value chain; from airports, aerodromes, fire-fighters, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance engineers, avionicians, cartographers etc., who work behind the scenes, for making civil aviation a success over the years.
These are heroes and heroines worthy of being recognised and celebrated.
As aviators enjoy the freedom of taking to the skies again, and once again find the joy of flight (a welcome relief from the restrictions that bound us in this period in time), let’s remember that the most enjoyable flight is one that ends in a safe landing.
I hope that you find food for thought in these articles. Do feel free to engage with us on social media, or through emails, and make your contributions to Skywatch. Aviation Safety and Security is the result of the collective effort of those who develop the legislation and those who implement the legislation. Let us continue talking about how we can keep our skies safe and secure.
Until next time.
EDITORIAL NOTE BY THE DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AVIATION
Continued from page 1
LLlarger AoA inner wing
flight path of outer wingLOSS INHEIGHT
HORIZONTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED
FLYING INTO PAGE
9c – DESCENDING TURNS
Inner wing
Inner wing
Descending turn
Bank angle 15 deg.
Angle of Attack (descending turn)
Angle of Attack (level flight)
Level flight
Rel
ativ
e Ai
rflow
Rel
ativ
e Ai
rflow
α1
α2
α
α
Outer wing
Outer wing
Bank angle 0 deg.
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During descending turns dihedral will aggravate the difference in the angle between the relative airflow, or angle of attack, and the respective wings. If the spherical path between the wings is plotted, the outer wing will be at a higher angle of attack, resulting in more lifting force than experienced by the wing on the inside of the turn. The effect would be countered somewhat by the outside wing flying faster on a longer radius of turn.
Unequal stallingShould the wings be stalled, for instance when a rusty or inexperienced pilot does not lower the nose sufficiently to keep a safe airspeed, the lower wing might stall. Once stalled, the aircraft would roll towards the lower wing. The higher wing would become “un-stalled” due to the dampening effect caused by the roll and have proportionally more lift than the lower stalled wing. This causes “autorotation”, which in turn could result in an aircraft turning upside down with a low nose position. Being at low height, such as between base leg and final approach, may make it impossible to recover.
Pilots, especially those who are rusty, are reminded to watch out for an inadvertent decay in airspeed when turning from base leg onto final approach, while flight instructors would do well to ensure that their students and protégés do not falter in this regard and place a renewed focus on this aspect during training.
Avoid the uncontrollable spin on base legControl that airspeed during descending turns!
Low-wing aircraft usually have stability in the rolling plane, due to the upswing angle of the wings in the horizontal plane, known as dihedral. These effects are not always fully understood, potentially giving rise to a propensity for entering into an inadvertent spin when descending from the base leg onto the final approach to land in the circuit and allowing the airspeed to bleed off too much. The high amount of drag due to the low engine power setting and approach flaps being selected, could add to a rapid decay in speed.
Keeping you safe in the sky
The sketches above show why, if the airspeed is allowed to bleed off too much in a descending turn, the lower wing could stall and result in an uncommanded rolling movement. At low height, recovering could be impossible.
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Airspace challenge
Multifaceted traffic in the same airspace has always been challenging to pilots and air traffic controllers alike. Paying more attention to the plight of solo students in the circuit and making the necessary allowances for their lack of proficiency and experience could be vital for maintaining safety. Currently all airspace users might do well to ask: How fair is it to stake the lives of all on fledgling aviators?
Isolated events in the South African airspace have emphasised the vital need to avoid unduly burdening the student with the task of maintaining sufficient separation from other aircraft, though the challenge extends beyond all borders.
A sole light aircraft could jeopardise the safety of even a passenger-laden airliner, as was evident on September 25, 1978, when a privately-operated Cessna 172 collided in mid-air in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) with a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 over San Diego in California. All 135 aboard the airliner as well as the two occupants of the smaller aircraft died, as well as eight persons on the ground in some of the 22 homes destroyed.
In more recent history, two mid-air collisions had occurred within weeks of the other, also in the USA.
On July 7, 2015, a pilot on a ‘personal flight’ in a Cessna 172, both crew members and two passengers aboard a Sabreliner business jet died in a mid-air collision near Brown Field Municipal Airport in San Diego.
On August 16, 2015, an instructor and student, practising to fly on instruments, were killed when a US Air Force F-16 fighter jet under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), collided with the Cessna 150 over Moncks Corner in South Carolina. The F-16 pilot managed to eject. Among the causal factors later cited was the ‘…failure on the part of ATC to provide an appropriate resolution to avoid the collision, the lack of flight-following services and inappropriate response time in which to act assertively’.
In the South African airspace we have had the example of the South African Air Force Merlin SA-226, which collided with a civilian Piper PA-31-310 Navajo on the early evening of July 14, 1982, one nautical mile northwest of the town of Erasmia.
All 13 aboard both aircraft perished, despite the prior warnings of an impending disaster by a national commission of enquiry. No fewer than nine airports in the area had been contributing to congestion and controlling difficulties in the area. Vitally needed reforms would be made only after the tragedy had occurred.
UNBURDENING THE SOLO STUDENT
Keeping you safe in the sky
To improve safety holistically it may be necessary to rethink the viability of relying on students, who are still learning at this stage, to carry too much of the burden of looking out for and maintaining separation from other aircraft. It may be worthwhile approaching a circuit in which a solo student is flying as an “active solo circuit”.
Lastly, flight instructors would do well to be far more aware of not only the environmental conditions and factors like the student’s proficiency and mental preparedness before sending a student on a solo flight, but considerations like traffic congestion and diversity.
Concerns about RPAS
New emergent safety threat?
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Serious incidentsPilots and RPAS operators, especially, may benefit from reading three reports, of the same nature, which can be downloaded from the SACAA website. The serious incidents involving near-miss reports and a possible in-flight collision with RPAS, include:• Robinson R44 helicopter, ZS-OVV on 08.01.21, JHB CBD.• Cessna 172, ZS-STX on 27.10.20, in the Rand Airport circuit.• Pilatus PC-12, ZS-TKA on 05.10.19, near Rand Airport.
Curbing the emergent safety threat can only be accomplished with the
help and participation of all concerned.
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are a cause for serious concern in relation to air safety. Recently reported in-flight sightings and near collisions with other aircraft have shown that other than keeping a constant vigil, a pilot might be unable to avoid an in-flight collision. The entire flying community, including RPAS owners and operators, are therefore asked to co-operate more fully to avoid a possible accident before it is too late.
Due to the relatively small size of these aircraft, most are very difficult or even impossible to detect by the pilot of a moving conventional aircraft. Many, if not most RPAS, are unable to be fitted with onboard transponders, rendering the avionic equipment in other aircraft such as Traffic or Airborne Collision-avoidance Systems (TCAS or ACAS), practically ineffective in detecting these aircraft when they are in close proximity.
