Safer sky for heli-musterers
HELI-MUSTERING companies may once have had a reputation for overworking their pilots and their machines, but with an increasing awareness on safety, the industry is changing for the better.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it is also more aware of the industry’s safety problems and continually emphasised the importance of education and training.
However, there are still industry issues that concern both heli-musterers and aircraft engineers, such as a lack of skilled employees and sufficient training for young heli-musterers.
Cloncurry Mustering’s chief engineer, Dick Powell, said the company had only experienced three heli-mustering incidents in recent years.
“Safety has improved lately,” Mr Powell said.
“But many industries continually suffer from safety issues, such as the trucking industry.
“It’s just human nature to try and cut corners because many people are too lazy to do it the right way.
“Most heli-mustering companies are now above board because they have to be, but it’s a lot harder for those who live far away from maintenance facilities.
“If they can cheat, they will.”
Mr Powell emphasised that accidents were always bound to happen in such a dangerous job where pilots fly low and fast, even in such a “robust and survivable” machine as the small Robinson 22 (R22), the helicopter most often used to muster cattle.
“Anytime you’re flying low, the risks will go up because you don’t have time to make the right decisions,” he said.
Mr Powell believes the industry’s main problem is that there are too few helicopter engineers in the West.
“We’re in big demand but there are only two of us engineers west of Mareeba,” Mr Powell said.
“CASA makes it very hard for us to get our licences and the average age of helicopter engineers is 54 years old.”
Heli-mustering pilot Frank Hoare, who works for North Australian Helicopters (NAH) which has bases in Katherine, Kakadu and Mount Isa, said he is impressed by the safety standards.
“The industry is 100 per cent safer than it used to be,” Mr Hoare said.
“We undergo two check flights a year with a more experienced pilot as well as an R22 safety course.
“These options weren’t available to us when I began work at the company a few years ago.
“Our chief pilot John Logan really drills safety into us.
“We’ve learnt that while a cow might be worth $1,000 we shouldn’t push a machine because of just one cow, as our machine and our safety are more important.”
However, while Mr Hoare believes safety has improved, the industry’s young pilots still need more training and guidance.
“Many older pilots have now retired and there are a lot more young pilots entering the industry,” he said.
“I think it’s too easy to become a helimusterer as you only need to fly for 10 hours with a more experienced pilot to obtain a licence.”
Mr Hoare said under this system, young pilots were being rushed through important training.
“CASA needs to hold onto some of the older pilots so they can train our younger pilots more,” he said.
“Heli-mustering is such a high-risk job and young pilots need as much dual mustering time as possible.”
CASA corporate communications manager Peter Gibson explained that while pilots and engineers may have issues with CASA, there was only so much the organisation could do to help them, especially as so much heli-mustering occurred in remote parts of Australia.
“It’s hard to get CASA inspectors out to these places when they’re in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
“Surveillance of the industry is very difficult.”
However, Mr Gibson said that even with distance as an obstacle, he believed that there were now very few companies who did the wrong thing.
“The accident rate in the industry is certainly not going up,” he said.
“Yet there are a few companies who try to keep costs down by doing the wrong thing and they are the ones we’re trying to catch.
“If they are caught, we’ll take the appropriate action which could include cancelling their licences.”
Mr Gibson said since CASA inspectors couldn’t always be on hand to keep an eye on heli-mustering companies, the organisation continually emphasised the importance of education and training.
“It’s critically important not to fly too many hours and to accurately record every hour a chopper flies,” he said.
“Safety is ultimately in the hands of pilots and their companies and the onus has to be on them to do the right thing.
“There are always going to be people who don’t do the right thing, but we’ll do our best to combat that.”
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it is also more aware of the industry’s safety problems and continually emphasised the importance of education and training.
However, there are still industry issues that concern both heli-musterers and aircraft engineers, such as a lack of skilled employees and sufficient training for young heli-musterers.
Cloncurry Mustering’s chief engineer, Dick Powell, said the company had only experienced three heli-mustering incidents in recent years.
“Safety has improved lately,” Mr Powell said.
“But many industries continually suffer from safety issues, such as the trucking industry.
“It’s just human nature to try and cut corners because many people are too lazy to do it the right way.
“Most heli-mustering companies are now above board because they have to be, but it’s a lot harder for those who live far away from maintenance facilities.
“If they can cheat, they will.”
Mr Powell emphasised that accidents were always bound to happen in such a dangerous job where pilots fly low and fast, even in such a “robust and survivable” machine as the small Robinson 22 (R22), the helicopter most often used to muster cattle.
“Anytime you’re flying low, the risks will go up because you don’t have time to make the right decisions,” he said.
Mr Powell believes the industry’s main problem is that there are too few helicopter engineers in the West.
“We’re in big demand but there are only two of us engineers west of Mareeba,” Mr Powell said.
“CASA makes it very hard for us to get our licences and the average age of helicopter engineers is 54 years old.”
Heli-mustering pilot Frank Hoare, who works for North Australian Helicopters (NAH) which has bases in Katherine, Kakadu and Mount Isa, said he is impressed by the safety standards.
“The industry is 100 per cent safer than it used to be,” Mr Hoare said.
“We undergo two check flights a year with a more experienced pilot as well as an R22 safety course.
“These options weren’t available to us when I began work at the company a few years ago.
“Our chief pilot John Logan really drills safety into us.
“We’ve learnt that while a cow might be worth $1,000 we shouldn’t push a machine because of just one cow, as our machine and our safety are more important.”
However, while Mr Hoare believes safety has improved, the industry’s young pilots still need more training and guidance.
“Many older pilots have now retired and there are a lot more young pilots entering the industry,” he said.
“I think it’s too easy to become a helimusterer as you only need to fly for 10 hours with a more experienced pilot to obtain a licence.”
Mr Hoare said under this system, young pilots were being rushed through important training.
“CASA needs to hold onto some of the older pilots so they can train our younger pilots more,” he said.
“Heli-mustering is such a high-risk job and young pilots need as much dual mustering time as possible.”
CASA corporate communications manager Peter Gibson explained that while pilots and engineers may have issues with CASA, there was only so much the organisation could do to help them, especially as so much heli-mustering occurred in remote parts of Australia.
“It’s hard to get CASA inspectors out to these places when they’re in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
“Surveillance of the industry is very difficult.”
However, Mr Gibson said that even with distance as an obstacle, he believed that there were now very few companies who did the wrong thing.
“The accident rate in the industry is certainly not going up,” he said.
“Yet there are a few companies who try to keep costs down by doing the wrong thing and they are the ones we’re trying to catch.
“If they are caught, we’ll take the appropriate action which could include cancelling their licences.”
Mr Gibson said since CASA inspectors couldn’t always be on hand to keep an eye on heli-mustering companies, the organisation continually emphasised the importance of education and training.
“It’s critically important not to fly too many hours and to accurately record every hour a chopper flies,” he said.
“Safety is ultimately in the hands of pilots and their companies and the onus has to be on them to do the right thing.
“There are always going to be people who don’t do the right thing, but we’ll do our best to combat that.”
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