THE COURSE
The CAA recommends, where appropriate, that pilots who have infringed controlled or notifi ed airspace undertake these courses as part of any licensing action.
Each case is assessed individually based on the incident, the pilot’s actions and whether the pilot has previously been involved in airspace infringements. Turning off the transponder and diving for the deck if you realise you’ve infringed is more likely to put you in court.
At work in groups
The courses, organised by GASCo, cost £200 to cover expenses (including lunch) and are held around the country; infringing pilots are given a date by which they must complete one to avoid further action.
So, how good was the planning? From the outset there’s no big telling off ,
quite the reverse in fact as Michael Benson — who has paired up with Keith Thomas as tutors for the day — points out, no one in the room has bust airspace intentionally (they’d be more likely to be explaining themselves to the bench in court if they had), they simply want to understand where the gaps might be in the attending pilots’ knowledge and set about fi lling the holes. So the approach is friendly rather than
sermonising: “We don’t want to go into what happened in your cases, today is about learning and perhaps fi nding out what you don’t know you don’t know,” says Michael. “We’re here to listen.” That latter point is fundamental to
the course because it’s so important to understand people’s lack of knowledge, or perhaps simply remind them of things they might have forgotten over years of fl ying: “We all forget things,” says Michael, “I know I do.”
Reassuringly for those in the room (think
hotel business seminar with tables and chairs in a semi-circle, a projector, sweets on the tables and bottled water) there’s no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ as such at the end of the day, but there are rules: in addition to being on time, you have to attend all of the day’s sessions, complete the relevant exercises, make ‘a positive contribution’ and ‘demonstrate a willingness to improve airspace management skills’. Essentially, if you don’t join in and engage, further action could be taken. As the morning rolls on, there’s a lot of talk about general issues with airspace, aided by videos and charts. Surprisingly, as it turns out, one big issue is that pilots (and not necessarily those on the course…) still aren’t even aware that fl ying through an airfi eld’s Aerodrome Traffi c Zone is an infringement that can land them in trouble. Other threats, are pointed out, too; for
example, fl ying over, or through, a gliding or other fl ying site that doesn’t have an ATZ➤
Summer 2018 CLUED UP 33
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