Pilots Perturbed By New Safety Order

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29366, 19 November 1960, Page 12

Pilots Perturbed By New Safety Order

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, November 18. Civil airline pilots in New Zealand believe the safety of travellers is jeopardised so long as a Civil Aviation Administration safety order introduced on October 15 remains in force. The secretary of the New Zealand Airline Pilots’ Association, Mr H. M. McElroy, said that the possibility of pilot fatigue was a matter of grave concern. Mr McElroy gave an example of the effect of the order. He said it was possible that the pilot of a registered commercial flight could face a diversion in bad weather. His new destination might be 200 miles away, after he had been on duty for 12 hours that day and for eight hours every day for the last seven days. Mr McElroy said his association had written to the Minister in charge of Civil Aviation (Mr Mathison) on October 13, expressing concern at the amendment, but had received ho reply. Over a year ago the Civil Aviation Administration began negotiations to have the then current safety order on flight time limitations rewritten in a form more reflective of up-to-date research on aircrew fatigue problems, said Mr McElroy. Operating companies and his association made submissions at two meetings with the administration, the last in March this year.

Airline pilots submitted that the maximum duty time of 15 hours a day for two pilots on external flights and the maximum of from between 14 hours and 16 hours’ duty time for two pilots on internal flights was excessive. he said.

This hardly compared with other world companies’ external duty times of from' eight to 11 hours a day. Duty Times Reduced

As a result a new safely order was prepared which reduced maximum duty times for two pilots on external flights to 13 hours a . day and for those on internal flights to 11J hours, said Mr McElroy.

But on August 31 Jhis year, the day before the new order was due to be effective, a telegram was received from the Civil Aviation Administration saying that the order had been temporarily deferred.

After consultation with the operating companies k had beendecided to amend the order, he said. Variations reduced the maximum duty times for two pilots on external flights to 141 hours and for those on internal flights to 13 hours. In addition, he said, where the origrnal draft provided i that a pilot was to have 24 hours free of all duty in every seven consecutive days, the amendment prescribed 24 hours off in every calendar week. This was a totally different proposition. Mr McElroy said that a letter was received from the administration saying a meeting had been held on August 30 between representatives of the administration’s operations section, Tasman Airways, the National Airways Corporation and Straits Air Freight Express.'Ltd. The companies believed the new order unreasonable and unrealistic, said the letter. A further joint meeting had been held on September 8 and the administration had reserved its decision, said Mr McElroy. Btween then and October 15. when the revised safety order came into force, operating com-

panies had made further objections, which had resulted in the amendments. Mr McElroy said his association was deeply concerned that these amendments had been made without the approval of the Air Department’s principal medical officer, Group Captain A. H. Marsh, who was overseas.

“The association objects strongly that a document involving the safety of the travelling public can be summarily altered because of economic considerations,” said Mr McElroy.

Pilots believed the situation was aggravated by the fast speeds of modern air travel and the poor radio aids used in New Zealand.