More low-level hazards

The operational environment is also getting more crowded with new hazards such as windfarms, wind monitoring towers and NBN and other communication towers adding to the more traditional array of trees, powerlines and birds.

Another two application pilots were killed recently in the US following collisions with a decommissioned wind tower and a wind monitoring tower.

In a 2011 Churchill Fellowship, ag operator Mark McDonald identified windfarms as a major emerging safety issue in the US. It was clear from Mark’s report the US was probably a decade ahead of Australia in having to deal with windfarms and many of the concerns identified are now emerging here. A key finding was that windfarms had a direct negative effect on both safety and economics for low-level aviation and especially aerial application.

It may not be obvious to pilots who don’t fly in the low-level environment that hazards such as towers are often extremely difficult to see, given they are seldom lit in daytime by a flashing strobe and that they often blend into the background – especially from low altitude.

It seems Australia’s energy, communication and aviation safety regulators simply don’t care about the safety of pilots conducting legitimate and essential operations. It seems aviation safety is simply viewed as a tick-the-box exercise where a consultant is engaged by the developer to provide the right answers. Mostly, the process feels like a foregone conclusion – almost always in favour of the wind industry at the expense of aviation and agricultural safety and economics.

Despite a promising start with the development of the National Airport Safeguarding Advisory Group (NASAG) Guideline for windfarms, there remain a number of missed opportunities for improved safety and co-existence.

The NASAG guideline on wind tower marking seems to be more of a state secret than the valuable tool it should be. It does not appear to have penetrated to either state planning or local government officers. And of course, it is only voluntary rather than mandatory.

There is still no coherent national, real-time system of notification of wind monitoring towers to legitimate aviation operators. Wind monitoring towers are used to assess areas for wind harvesting and can be erected in 24 hours. They are generally around 80 metres tall, which is under the mandatory notification height for the RAAF tall structures database. Although some developers report voluntarily, they may not be aware that the relevant information is not available to the pilot population in an operationally appropriate timeframe.

There has been no independent research to establish the impact, if any, on the downwind turbulence generated by wind farms on both the safety of aircraft or the impact on sprayed material.

And finally, there has been no attempt to quantify the long-term economic impact of windfarms on neighbouring agricultural enterprises or the aerial application companies that service them.

In some cases, paddocks previously treated from the air are now nearly enclosed by wind turbines on three sides, making applications difficult or impossible depending on treatment direction.

As the aviation and windfarm industries transition from a focus on development applications to an environment of dealing with the safety and economic issues of working around wind farms, AAAA is starting work on national protocols for working around windfarms.

This does nothing to change the very clear AAAA opposition to all windfarms in areas of agricultural production and high bushfire risk, but is simply an effort to avoid the problems already seen, tragically, in the US.

It is immediately clear that a one size fits all approach will simply not work. Any national protocol is likely to describe a process of risk management to guide local operators. It should also provide wind developers with a sound process for their coexistence with aviation and agriculture and how to compensate them for increased costs.

It would be encouraging if all government agencies concerned – commonwealth, state and local – started to treat the issue seriously before we start to suffer the problems now clearly evident overseas.