We were pleased to be able to interview Deborah Lawrie AM, Australia’s first female mainline airline pilot, for the Winter edition and put her photo on the cover. She did not set out to be a social pioneer of any description: she just want to fly for a living. She had to go to the High Court to achieve that ambition, after she was rejected by Ansett. She never looked back, although the 1989 Australian pilots’ strike was a painful episode, after which she moved to the Netherlands and flew for KLM Cityhopper where she obtained qualifications in safety investigation. In 2008 she returned to Australia and flew with Jetstar, Tiger Airways and Virgin Australia. She has 21,000 hours and ratings on types including the Airbus A320, A330, Boeing 727, Boeing 737 Classic, NG and Max, DC-9 and Fokker 70/100. In 2019 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and in 2022 was inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame.
The overall theme of this edition is non-controlled ops, Kreisha Ballantyne takes up that topic in ‘There’s always next time: the fine art of going around’ in which she says deciding to push the throttle forward, go around the circuit one more time and begin a fresh approach is a sign of judgment rather than failure or inability. By contrast, forcing a landing carries far more risk than discontinuing an unstable approach. Air traffic controller James Fisher says pilots should try to recognise early when an approach is not working. ‘What nobody wants is for a dodgy final to lead to a dodgy landing.’
What should you do if the propellor stops or the oil pressure drops to zero? No pilot wants to experience ‘that’ moment. But if you do, writes Angela Stevenson, you may be thrust into an exclusive club of aviators who have no option but to perform a forced landing. Increase your chances of survival through procedural preparation, practice, and, most importantly, the right mindset. Benjamin Franklin proclaimed, ‘By failing to prepare, you prepare to fail’. To manage ourself and our machine through an engine failure to forced landing, we won’t have time to wing it. We need to know our mind, our machine and our plan – before we go.
The historical feature revisits an Australian-made warplane, the Bristol Beaufort, that was deadly to the enemy, and to its crews. The Beaufort’s bitter lessons about how to build, maintain and fly any type of aircraft are still relevant, says Senior Writer Robert Wilson. He examines the crash of a Beaufort into the sea near Woodside, Victoria, in October 1943, with no survivors. It was one of 6 fatal accidents of this aircraft type between April and September 1943. What destroyed the aircraft can never be known with certainty but there are 2 plausible suspects – a problem with the trim and carbon monoxide incapacitation.
In the close call, ‘Make yourself heard’, a VFR pilot was monitoring the Area frequency as they began a climb to avoid terrain ahead. They heard ATC warn an IFR aircraft at a higher level that an aircraft was climbing and would be in conflict in about 3 minutes. The VFR pilot levelled out at 4,000 and identified themselves to Melbourne Centre. Speaking up and taking action meant the separation between the 2 aircraft could be safely maintained.
This 64-page edition includes a crash comic, quizzes and valuable safety insights, making it a must-read for aviation enthusiasts.
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