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Gerard Frawley
Author Gerard was Australian Aviation‘s managing editor from March 2005 to February 2019.
Bell 505 Jet Ranger X on show at Rotortech
May 24, 2018 1 commentHawker Pacific is demonstrating the new Bell 505 Jet Ranger X light single-turbine helicopter at the Rotortech conference on the Sunshine Coast this week. Launched at the 2014 Heli-Expo in Los Angeles, the 505 features a 505shp Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine with dual-channel full authority digital engine control (FADEC), a high inertia rotor system, and
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Helicopter pilots encouraged to "don’t push it, land it"
May 24, 2018 0 commentA new safety message encouraging helicopter pilots to find a safe place to land when they encounter an abnormal situation while in flight has been launched at the Rotortech conference on the Sunshine Coast on Thursday. The joint initiative from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Australian
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Home again – the repairs and the return of Qantas A380 VH‑OQA Nancy-Bird Walton
May 11, 2018 31 comment“Profound” is how Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny described the significance of A380 VH-OQA Nancy-Bird Walton’s return to the Qantas fleet. Qantas’s first Airbus A380 and hence the symbolic flagship of the airline’s fleet, VH-OQA returned safely to Singapore under Captain de Crespigny’s command after an uncontained explosive failure of its number two Rolls-Royce Trent
Read moreATSB highlights importance of underwater escape training after EC135 crash
May 4, 2018 1 commentA pilot who died in an accident off the West Australian coast in March had not completed a helicopter underwater escape training (HUET) course in more than nine years, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has found. The accident took place on March 14 2018, when Eurocopter EC135 P2+ VH-ZGA crashed off the coast of
Read moreAviation human factors expert Dr Rob Lee remembered
May 1, 2018 10 commentLong-time aviation administrator and human factors expert Rob Lee died on Friday. “It is our melancholy duty to advise that Dr Rob Lee AO, a great leader and aviation safety visionary passed away peacefully on Friday morning 27 April 2018,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Monday afternoon. “Whilst he will long be
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CHC awarded RAAF SAR contract extension
April 24, 2018 1 commentSearch and rescue (SAR) coverage for RAAF flying operations from five air force bases around the country will continue to be provided by CHC Helicopter under a 30-month contract extension announced last week. Under the extension, which came into effect last November, CHC’s Australian operation is replacing existing Sikorsky S-76A+ SAR helicopters with six Leonardo
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