CASA will carry out flight safety checks at 20 aerodromes around the country next week.
The safety checks, which the regulator requires to be carried out every three years to maintain air safety standards, will involve a series of low-level flights at each aerodrome to make sure flight paths continue to operate safely. CASA has contracted Queanbeyan-based Radiola Aerospace to conduct the checks.
Two pilots, flying a twin-engine Cessna Conquest within an area up to 35 kilometres from each aerodrome, will ensure navigation aids are operational and not suffering interference, while also looking for any new obstacles that could be a danger to aviation safety.
“Low-level flying is an essential part of the safety exercise, with the aircraft down as low as several hundred feet at times,” CASA says. “This is to make sure obstacles are accurately marked on charts and no new obstacles exist. Obstacles can be towers, trees, masts or buildings that can be a danger to aircraft.”
The checks will be carried out at Naracoorte and Mount Gambier aerodromes in South Australia and at the following 18 aerodromes throughout Victoria: Avalon (YMAV), Bairnsdale (YBNS), Ballarat (YBLT), Benalla (YBLA), Bendigo (YBDG), Essendon (YMEN), Hamilton (YHML), Horsham (YHSM), Latrobe Valley (YLTV), Mangalore (YMNG), Melbourne (YMML), Moorabbin (YMMB), Mt Hotham (YHOT), Orbost (YORB), Pt Cook (YMPC), Portland (YPOD), Warrnambool (YWBL), and Yarram (YYRM).
CASA will also be checking approaches at Yarrowee (YWE), a nav-aid without an aerodrome, near Scarsdale south-west of Ballarat.
Weather-permitting, the checks will be conducted between Saturday December 11 and Sunday December 19.
A Cessna Conquest, such as this one owned by Maroomba Airlines, will be used for the safety checks.
