The top end wet season in Australia presents various hazards for pilots flying under visual flight rules (VFR). Poor visibility, severe turbulence, icing and lighting are some of the challenges typical at this time of year and occur regularly during the wet season.
The wet season begins at the start of November and finishes at the end of April. The majority of Darwin's 1700mm average rainfall occurs during the wet season.
There is also an increase in temperature, ranging from 25C to 33C with increased humidity.
If you missed our previous events, you can view recordings previous Darwin Wet Season seminars on the CASA Briefing YouTube channel.
2021 Flying in the wet season seminar
The 2021 Darwin wet season seminar took place on Wednesday 20 October 2021 and was hosted by our Aviation Safety Advisor, Terry Horsam.
This seminar focused on operational hazards and decision making in the challenging and dynamic wet season weather. Subject matter experts shared their experience of close calls and lessons learnt.
This seminar presented a new case study – the examination of an incident involving a Cessna 210.
Senior Australian Safety Transport Bureau investigator Peter Ayre, who analysed the factors behind this incident, discusses the incident and his key aviation safety message from the analysis.
You’ll learn how to make better and more rational decisions when managing the many hazards associated with wet season flying.
Other guest presenters:
- Captain Ian Silvester, Airnorth training and checking pilot. With more than 20 years of experience flying in the Top End, Ian’s operated small VFR aircraft, Embraer Brasilia, and E-Jet types.
- Harry Burns-Fabb, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). An aviation weather forecaster with years of experience up north, his personal interests include monsoonal activity and the challenges in predicting the weather in this dynamic environment.
- Squadron Leader James (Jimmy) Lee, Darwin Air Traffic Control. Jimmy is currently operations commander and check controller in approach.