Fed: Safety scares up under new airspace system, union =2

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2004
Fed: Safety scares up under new airspace system, union =2

National Airspace System Implementation Group director Mike Smith dismissed the figures,
saying the union was engaged in "unnecessary scaremongering" to make an industrial point.

Mr Smith said the figures cited included all potential safety incidents, not just those
related to aircraft separation.

"What you are looking at are figures that include bird strikes, when birds run into
aeroplanes, or a fire in a galley," he said.

"You can't just say 'Well, there were 300 incident reports submitted and so the airspace
system is unsafe'."

Mr Smith said in the year to when the new airspace system was introduced there had
been 160 violations of aircraft separation rules.

"To say that the new system is in any way less safe than the new system is ignoring
the reality that the old system is not perfect," he said.

AAP bp/gfr/cjh/de }

KEYWORD: AIRSPACE 2 MELBOURNE (REOPENS)

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