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All Tiger pilots being retrained under conditions imposed by CASA on its AOC
July 1, 2011 – 6:20 pm, by Ben Sandilands
The breach by Tiger Airways last night of the safe minimum altitude while recovering from a missed approach to Avalon airport is only part of a bigger set of problems with the Singapore owned low cost carrier.
Special conditions have been imposed on its air operator certificate giving the airline 60 days from mid June to complete instrument rating renewals for all of its pilots and pass them through proficiency check exercises in A320 flight simulators.
According to information from pilots the recent volcanic ash problems that lead it to variously cancel all or a selection of its scheduled flights on some days have also helped it get pilots into simulator sessions which are a prerequisite for the airline avoiding the cancellation of its licence to fly.
In March Tiger was served a show cause notice by CASA, the Australian air safety regulator. It met the immediate requirement of that notice to provide responses to the issues CASA had raised in relation to its safety and maintenance oversight and processes.
However since then CASA has worked through those responses, and according to pilots, demanded action plans from the carrier to address the issues that it had with the carrier’s responses.
On June 7 a Tiger flight approaching Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport from Brisbane at night broke the safe minimum altitude for the route it was following when near Epping, dropping to around 1500 feet above the terrain where it was required to remain above around 2500 feet.
That incident was reported by air traffic controllers, and is under ATSB investigation.
Late last night a Tiger A320 from Sydney approaching Avalon airport from the north abandoned its landing when it had crossed over the end of the runway at around 800 feet altitude at about 11.02 pm after experiencing a higher than expected tail wind.
The 180 seat jet then climbed to more than 3000 feet as directed by air traffic control and returned from the south to land at about 11.11 pm.
During that approach and at about 15 kilometres from Avalon the jet was tracked as descending suddenly to as low as about 1600 feet at a point where the minimum safe altitude is 2500 feet.
After this it landed on the Avalon runway without getting clearance from air traffic control which was left uncertain as to the flight’s intention despite having been in radio contact with the crew.
The summary of the incident on the ATSB web site assigns a time of 11.03 pm to the safe minimum altitude breach, but at that point the jet was powering away from the runway and climbing.
The safe altitude breach actually occurred later during the flight’s return for a second and successful landing, and one made into the wind instead of with it.
Why the Tiger flight first attempted its landing with a tail wind component when for a few minutes additional time in the air it could have made a conventional landing into the wind will no doubt be explored by the ATSB.
It is true that the straight in approach with the tail wind component could have been an attempt to save fuel, but that would be inconsistent with Tiger’s insistence that safety is its number one priority.
All Tiger pilots being retrained under conditions imposed by CASA on its AOC
July 1, 2011 – 6:20 pm, by Ben Sandilands
The breach by Tiger Airways last night of the safe minimum altitude while recovering from a missed approach to Avalon airport is only part of a bigger set of problems with the Singapore owned low cost carrier.
Special conditions have been imposed on its air operator certificate giving the airline 60 days from mid June to complete instrument rating renewals for all of its pilots and pass them through proficiency check exercises in A320 flight simulators.
According to information from pilots the recent volcanic ash problems that lead it to variously cancel all or a selection of its scheduled flights on some days have also helped it get pilots into simulator sessions which are a prerequisite for the airline avoiding the cancellation of its licence to fly.
In March Tiger was served a show cause notice by CASA, the Australian air safety regulator. It met the immediate requirement of that notice to provide responses to the issues CASA had raised in relation to its safety and maintenance oversight and processes.
However since then CASA has worked through those responses, and according to pilots, demanded action plans from the carrier to address the issues that it had with the carrier’s responses.
On June 7 a Tiger flight approaching Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport from Brisbane at night broke the safe minimum altitude for the route it was following when near Epping, dropping to around 1500 feet above the terrain where it was required to remain above around 2500 feet.
That incident was reported by air traffic controllers, and is under ATSB investigation.
Late last night a Tiger A320 from Sydney approaching Avalon airport from the north abandoned its landing when it had crossed over the end of the runway at around 800 feet altitude at about 11.02 pm after experiencing a higher than expected tail wind.
The 180 seat jet then climbed to more than 3000 feet as directed by air traffic control and returned from the south to land at about 11.11 pm.
During that approach and at about 15 kilometres from Avalon the jet was tracked as descending suddenly to as low as about 1600 feet at a point where the minimum safe altitude is 2500 feet.
After this it landed on the Avalon runway without getting clearance from air traffic control which was left uncertain as to the flight’s intention despite having been in radio contact with the crew.
The summary of the incident on the ATSB web site assigns a time of 11.03 pm to the safe minimum altitude breach, but at that point the jet was powering away from the runway and climbing.
The safe altitude breach actually occurred later during the flight’s return for a second and successful landing, and one made into the wind instead of with it.
Why the Tiger flight first attempted its landing with a tail wind component when for a few minutes additional time in the air it could have made a conventional landing into the wind will no doubt be explored by the ATSB.
It is true that the straight in approach with the tail wind component could have been an attempt to save fuel, but that would be inconsistent with Tiger’s insistence that safety is its number one priority.
