The workshop identified five priority safety issues:
- aerodromes
- airspace and separation
- weather
- maintenance
- standardisation and pilot competency.
While serious occurrences remain uncommon, the findings highlight opportunities to improve safety through better planning, communication, maintenance and training.
Connections exist between many of these risks. Weather, aerodrome infrastructure, airspace and aircraft airworthiness can combine to increase risk during a flight. Managing these interactions is essential to safe Part 135 operations.
We will continue to work to improve safety across the Part 135 sector. This include working collaboratively with:
- operators
- industry associations
- Airservices Australia
- the Australian Transport Safety Bureau
- other aviation stakeholders.
Safety data, industry engagement and ongoing surveillance will continue to inform future:
- safety promotion activities
- regulatory priorities
- sector safety intelligence.
The practical experience shared by workshop participants contributed to the understanding of the current and emerging risks affecting Part 135 non-scheduled passenger operations. Continued collaboration between industry and us will:
- help find emerging hazards
- encourage the sharing of safety knowledge
- contribute to the ongoing improvement of aviation safety across Australia.