Recreational Aviation Australia is proud of our just culture and philosophy of providing member support through education first, and regulation second.
Unfortunately, some members may be mistaken in believing that this is an opportunity to disregard the rules and regulations, underestimating the possible consequences of their actions. If caught, they might expect a mere slap on the wrist before continuing merrily on their way. It is extremely important for all members to understand that this may not be the case, and with wilful violations come significant penalties, such as suspension, cancellation of authorisations, or even criminal convictions (including possible jail time).
So, let’s break down what it means to have a just culture. A just culture is where individuals are not punished for actions, omissions, suggestions, or decisions that are commensurate with their experience and training, but also where gross negligence, wilful violations and destructive acts are not tolerated. In simplified terms, this means that individuals will not be punished for making a genuine mistake. After all, we accept that incidents and accidents happen and that these may occur due to slips in judgement, lack of experience, or poor decision making. In fact, I love nothing more than receiving a proactive occurrence report where a pilot admits that they made a mistake. Perhaps they unintentionally breached controlled airspace, or had the wrong frequency tuned on their radio, resulting in an incident. What’s important
here is the opportunity to own the mistake, learn from it, and implement processes to minimise the likelihood of a reoccurrence.
On the other side of this equation, is the fact that a just culture does not absolve members from their requirement to abide by the rules. In fact, when it becomes obvious that someone has chosen to wilfully ignore the rules when they know, or would be reasonably expected to know their requirements, this behaviour is not tolerated. Examples of this include failing to comply with aircraft maintenance standards, operating without the required certificate, endorsements, membership and a BFR, or operating illegally at low level.
In the past few months RAAus have varied, suspended or cancelled a number of aircraft registrations, pilot certificates, and flight training school authorisations based on;
- Failure to comply with maintenance standards, including conduct of maintenance by unauthorised personnel, failure to conduct mandatory service bulletins, or aircraft operating non-compliantly on condition (over TBO).
- Conduct of unauthorised low-level flying.
- Falsification of records, including aircraft and pilot logbooks.
- Operation of an aircraft without holding the required authorisations.
- Operation of an aircraft above maximum take-off weight (MTOW).
In addition to any actions taken by RAAus, we also have a mandatory requirement to report non-compliances to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Whilst in most cases no further action will be taken, it is possible for CASA to issue further charges for breaching the Civil Aviation Act. Non-compliance identified in an accident may void your insurance, and individuals may also be held legally liable for their actions. According to multiple news reports, a Queensland pilot has recently been charged with
manslaughter after a plane crash killed his passenger in December 2021. Police allege the pilot was unlicensed and failed to carry out required maintenance on the aircraft. If found guilty, manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
RAAus does not enjoy taking disciplinary action against any of our members. We would much prefer to spend our limited resources educating and supporting members, naturally improving awareness and compliance. In reality, many of the non-compliances for which further action may be taken can result in unsafe actions, incidents and serious or fatal accidents. Sadly, our staff have attended many fatal accident scenes which have uncovered non-compliant actions and, in some cases, heard reports and rumours of previously unsafe actions by the pilot, which went unreported.
We urge all members to consider their actions and keep up to date with their requirements. Remember that a particular action may seem harmless in the spur of the moment, but could lead to unintended consequences. Nobody intends to have an engine failure due to non-compliant maintenance, an accident due to exceeding weight and balance limitations, or to impact terrain because of low-level flying. These are possible consequences that could not only impact you but also your family, friends, witnesses, first responders, and the entire aviation community. We must use self-reflection to ensure that we are not allowing complacency to creep into our daily operations. What are we accepting that we know is not 100% by the book? Are we accepting information about rules from well-intentioned fellow pilots, without
confirming the rules ourselves? Just because we got away with something once, twice, even 100 times, doesn’t negate our responsibilities to comply with the rules. As a pilot, maintainer, instructor, or flight training school we all have duties and responsibilities to stay up to date, and comply, with the requirements of our authorisations. It is essential that we continue to develop our skills and education over time and continue to operate compliantly and safely.
