Pat Rabbitte
Question:52 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Defence the staffing levels of the Air Corps safety office; the resources available to the office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4001/01]
Written Answers. - Air Corps Safety Office.
Pat Rabbitte
Question:56 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Defence the number of cases investigated by the Air Corps safety office to date; the action taken in each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4002/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 56 together.
The Air Corps flight safety office is in operation and will be an intrinsic part of the new Air Corps organisational structure upon its formal implementation. I have approved in principle the proposed new Air Corps organisation and this will be put in place once consultations with the representative associations, which are at an advanced stage, are completed. The flight safety officer of lieutenant colonel rank has been appointed in the interim. The flight safety office will also have an officer of captain rank.
The Air Corps flight safety officer's function is not solely to investigate incidents but also to monitor trends so as to identify hazards, which enable the organisation to put defences against such hazards in place. In addition the office provides advice through the chain of command on changes to current practices or the implementation of new practices.
Since September 2000, the Air Corps flight safety officer has investigated three cases as a result of reports received and I will now outline the action taken in each case.
The first case was in relation to impact damage, as a result of a ground incident, to the leading edge of the wing of the Gulfstream IV. The flight safety officer issued recommendations in relation to the use of ground handling equipment and these were accepted and implemented.
The second case is in relation to the serious increase in bird activity around Casement Aerodrome and the consequent inherent risks involved. The flight safety officer has made recommendations in relation to methods of minimising and controlling this hazard and these are currently under consideration.
The flight safety officer is also involved in addressing the issue of military air space violations. There has been an increasing number of violations of the Baldonnel airspace by private light aircraft which have resulted in several reports of air proximity or airmiss incidents. This is a current issue and is being dealt with through the standing civil/military air navigation committee which comprises representatives from the Air Corps, the Irish Aviation Authority and the Air Traffic Control Services.
The Air Corps flight safety officer has also issued six internal flight safety notices, in order to raise awareness within the Air Corps on specific issues.
In addition to the above, the Air Corps flight safety office receives an increasing level of reports both through the confidential and open reporting system. These reporting systems are common practice in most military and civil flight safety systems. Many of the inputs received, in themselves do not comprise flight safety but they are entered by the flight safety officer on a database for trend analysis and frequency so as to identify hazards and make risk assessments.