Unauthorised low level flying could be fatal – ATSB

A new bulletin released by the ATSB shows that unauthorised and unnecessary low level flying has resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people over the past 10 years.

The bulletin, which is aimed at educating the flying community about the hazards of unauthorised low level flying, presents a number of case studies of accidents involved in low level operations and the safety lessons learnt from them.

“The key lesson we’ve learnt from this report is that these tragedies were avoidable. Low level flying is risky and should be avoided when there is no reason to do it,” said ATSB director of safety data, research and technical Julian Walsh.

“When a pilot flies low they encounter obstacles, such as powerlines, that are difficult to see and difficult to avoid. There’s also very little time to recover control of the aircraft if something goes wrong.”

The report is the first in a series on avoidable accidents, and is available from the ATSB website.