Plane Chain
Aerial bush firefighting has grown rapidly in the last decade, as the advantages of fire suppression in early stages in remote areas have become recognized.
In recent years, state and territory bushfire authorities in Australia have taken steps to develop aerial firefighting methodologies and systems. However, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Australia's civil aviation regulatory body, seems not to have played any significant role in contributing to the development of aerial firefighting guidelines or in approving documents or procedures set down by the states. The key stakeholders in aerial firefighting, including the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the state aerial firefighting agencies and the aerial operators, appear to have no over-riding framework in which they can jointly engage in systematic development processes.
The Australian Constitution provides the framework of legislation and allows an understanding of the division of responsibilities between commonwealth and state governments. The constitution requires Federal Parliament to enact legislation for the common good and to establish a legal framework for the states and territories of Australia. Section 109 of the constitution states that “when a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth the later shall prevail, and the former, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.”
Under the constitutional powers, Federal Parliament enacted the 1988 Civil Aviation Act and the 1995 Air Services Act. Section 51 of the constitution requires that states and territories are responsible for primary emergency responses. This includes preparedness for and mitigation of potential emergencies and response and recovery action. However, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority oversees all civil air operations in Australia, including the approval and certification of air operators, chief pilots, pilots, air traffic services providers and air traffic controllers.
Under the separation of powers, the states are responsible for the provision of emergency services, including response to minimize impacts of fires in the urban and rural environments.
In New South Wales, for example, urban fires are addressed by the New South Wales Fire Brigade and rural fires by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service was formed by the 1997 Rural Fires Act and was the successor of the Department of Bush Fire Services. Currently, bushfire mitigation is governed by the Rural Fires Act, the 2002 Environmental Legislation Bill, the 2002 Rural Fire Regulations and the 1989 Fire Brigades Act. According to Section Three of the Rural Fires Act, its objectives are to provide:
“(a) for the prevention, mitigation and suppression of bush and other fires in local government areas (or parts of areas) and other parts of the State constituted as rural fire districts, and
“(b) for the coordination of bush fire fighting and bush fire prevention throughout the State, and
“(c) for the protection of persons from injury or death, and property from damage, arising from fires, and
“(d) for the protection of the environment by requiring certain activities referred to in paragraphs (a)-(c) to be carried out having regard to the principles of ecologically sustainable development described in section 6 (2) of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991.”
New South Wales Rural Fire Service controls rural fires with both ground and aerial resources, uses an Incident Control System and is led by an operations officer appointed by its commissioner. Because many state agencies are involved in rural fire management, the Bushfire Coordinating Committee's role is to coordinate them, including the New South Wales Fire Brigade and the Department of Environment and Conservation, which is responsible for state and national parks.
Policy Number 4/01, Aviation Support to Firefighting, states that the New South Wales Rural Fire Service will coordinate the hire and allocation of nonagency aircraft. It also states that “State Forests and the National Parks and Wildlife service own and operate their own fire management aircraft.” New South Wales Rural Fire Service selects specific air operators certificate holders to be part of its aerial firefighting system. This selection endows on certificate holders an ability to operate in accordance with New South Wales Rural Fire Service requirements and limitations. The certificate holder is subject to “strict policies, standards and procedures for agency fire and non-fire aircraft operations” as prescribed by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Air Operations Manual. The acknowledgements paragraph in this document does not include the Civil Aviation Safety Authority or its personnel, and it is not clear if the authority is aware of the manual.
This manual has as its stated aims to: “… set down strict policies, standards and procedures for agency fire and non-fire aircraft operations; provide personnel with a ready source of information to enable them to conduct safe and efficient air operations; [and] facilitate training and accreditation of personnel for operational duties.”
Issues covered by this manual include responsibilities of Rural Fire Service personnel involved with aerial firefighting activities and the management and conduct of aerial firefighting operations. Specific personnel required by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service for aerial firefighting include the air operations manager, the aircraft officer, the air attack supervisor, the aviation radio operator and the air observer. None of these personnel presently require certification by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Other issues addressed in the manual include general workplace health and safety guidance, aviation safety, refueling, retardants, and other technical issues associated with firefighting. There are references in this manual to the authority of the pilot-in-command, and more generally to commonwealth aviation documents.
Another relevant publication of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service is the Cockpit Handbook. Its stated aim is to “provide a quick reference to pilots and air crew to facilitate improved communications in the interest of safety and efficiency”. Within this handbook there exist Draft Aviation Standard Operating Procedures with 36 SOPs. These include communication with aircraft, flight planning, flight and duty limitations of flight crew, and refueling. Reference is made to the requirements to comply with all commonwealth aviation publications.
It appears that New South Wales Rural Fire Service has as its objectives the management of all operations (including aerial operations) involved with firefighting, and has acted to produce operations manuals and personnel training requirements for aerial operations. But the Civil Aviation Safety Authority doesn't appear to have played any role in the development of manuals or the accreditation of state fire agency officers having direct responsibility for aerial firefighting operations.
It appears that pilots and aircraft operators certificate holders are also required to act in accordance with requirements set down by New South Wales Rural Fire Service. An example is that aircraft operators certificate holders must have permission from New South Wales Rural Fire Service to apply to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for flight and duty time amendments.
The bodies coordinating aerial firefighting at the national level are known as the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and the National Aerial Fire Fighting Centre.
The Australasian Fire Authorities Council is the peak representative body for fire and emergency services and land management agencies in the Australasian region. It was established in 1993 and has 23 full members and 14 associate members, including Australian fire and emergency services and land management agencies; the Australian Council of State Emergency Services; and the New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Hong Kong and East Timor Fire Services. The council strives to achieve regional focus for industry, coordination of activities and resources, policy formulation, and information sharing.
The Australasian Fire Authorities Council commenced the development of the Wildfire Aviation Industry Protocol by establishing a working group of technical specialists in the aerial firefighting area. Eleven agencies are participating and represent both Australian and New Zealand fire and land management agencies. National agreement to a framework was the group's first challenge. The framework describes the relationships between each of the aviation roles and identifies those roles that are stand-alone and those that require prerequisite competencies. Thus, the development pathways for personnel in this field are clearly identified, thereby highlighting and streamlining the training required to move between roles.
The working group chose the Department of Sustainability and the Environment's Aviation Training and Accreditation Program as the starting point for development. A process of debate and negotiation resulted in national agreement to a revised document that identifies each role relevant to aerial operations at wildfires, together with the relevant public safety competencies required for the role. Thus, the framework provides the foundation for a consistent approach to the implementation of the Aviation Unit within the Australian Inter-service Incident Management System when used at wildfires and also specifies the training for each of the relevant specialist aviation support roles. In 2003 the commonwealth government provided $50,000 to the Australasian Fire Authorities Council to undertake an assessment of aerial firefighting capabilities. This report apparently led to the formation of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre.
The National Aerial Fire Fighting Centre was incorporated in July 2003 and coordinates and manages the acquisition and deployment of firefighting aircraft for the commonwealth and the states and territories of Australia. To achieve Australian government funding requirements, the National Aerial Firefighting Centre is required to provide detailed reports on the deployment of aircraft and their effectiveness and suitability in meeting normal and crisis demand, as well as value for money in terms of expenditure and outcomes.
The Australian National Training Authority has now become the training organization for aspects of firefighting, including aerial firefighting. The authority is responsible for setting syllabi and training criteria for a range of occupational duties. There are syllabi and training requirements for those personnel involved with all aspects of firefighting, in particular for all personnel described in the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Air Operations Manual. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority appears to play no role in certification or syllabus advice.
The following questions are those that arise in those with some knowledge of aviation regulations and practices but no specific training in law. To the extent that most employees (managers and pilots) of Civil Aviation Safety Authority-approved air operators are in the same situation, the following arguments are intended to help clarify the situation.
New South Wales acts and legislation concerning rural fire mitigation don't appear to mention aviation specifically, so the question of conflict between state and federal acts and legislation remains ambiguous. New South Wales Rural Fire Service documentation makes scant reference to Civil Aviation Safety Authority accreditation for any of its aerial firefighting participant roles, except pilots. New South Wales Rural Fire Service does not appear to have an aircraft operators certificate, a chief pilot or a Civil Aviation Safety Authority-approved operations manual, yet its Air Operations Manual and Cockpit Handbook give guidance as to control and operation of aircraft.
Questions emerge over possible anomalies between commonwealth and state regulations and guidelines as follows:
- To what extent does the Civil Aviation Safety Authority control aerial firefighting in Australia beyond certificate approvals and pilot licensing?
- Is it necessary for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to accredit any activities of aerial firefighting management being undertaken by state bodies such as New South Wales Rural Fire Service or accredit training syllabi presently approved by the Australian National Training Authority?
- What is the status of authority of New South Wales Rural Fire Service manuals?
- Does a formal process exist to ensure that there's no contradiction between New South Wales Rural Fire Service manuals and Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations?
- Can the New South Wales Rural Fire Service legally place conditions on aerial operations additional to those specified in the operations manual of the certificate holder and their employed pilots, such as restricting an aircraft operators certificate holder's right to apply to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for flight and duty time amendments?
Furthermore, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service doesn't appear to be an accredited air traffic services provider or employ personnel as approved air traffic controllers. Further questions arise:
- Does the New South Wales Rural Fire Service have the authority to approve activities that might be construed as air traffic control functions?
- Do New South Wales Rural Fire Service aviation radio operators require Civil Aviation Safety Authority approval to operate radios in the aviation band?
Pilots and aircraft operators certificate holders have the responsibility to operate in accordance with the laws and regulations set down by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, including compliance with their company's operations manual, but also are required to operate in accordance with local criteria, such as that of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Further questions arise, including:
- Does the Rural Fire Service meet the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's aviation communication requirements?
- Is New South Wales Rural Fire Service acting in ultra vires, or beyond the powers given by Parliament, because the Rural Fires Act does not refer specifically to aviation operations?
As managers of significant commonwealth finances and as private corporations limited by guarantee, but with directors, commissioners and secretaries being state and interstate employees, presumably the Australasian Fire Authorities Council and National Aerial Fire Fighting Centre are subject to corporations law and state acts. A question emerges over senior state public servants acting as heads of these agencies: Being both state and corporate employees, do these directors and secretaries have any conflict of interests, and if so, how are they being addressed?
Overall, there appear to be a number of questions relating to authority that aren't delineated or understood. There are two possibilities:
The situation is perfectly and legally proper as it stands, although the documentation may need some clarification.
The situation may not be legally acceptable, with the need for additional regulations being made at the state or commonwealth level, or both, to create acceptability.
One practical problem is that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority doesn't appear to be proceeding with the development of any detailed structure of aerial firefighting regulations. In addition, in the absence of its explicit input or Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia involvement, the state authorities have developed guidelines for aerial firefighting activities. Thus, the state authorities appear to be developing and implementing systems to control aerial firefighting but without input from approved aviation operators or the aviation regulator.
The possibility of confusion of regulatory authority is not one limited to questions of law. Safety also may be compromised. In some senses, safety is unrelated to legality: An action can be safe but illegal, or unsafe yet legal. In the matter of aerial firefighting, the complexity of authority and control has many potential threats to the safety of aerial firefighting, and that action needs to be taken to simplify circumstances to facilitate safe operations. Operational safety issues were examined by Flight Safety Australia in March 2003, with pilots listing fatigue, coordination, communication, situational awareness and hot refueling as key issues in aerial firefighting.
Approval of an aerial firefighting operator by a state agency establishes a master-servant relationship, in which the master has no responsibility for legality of flight operations but significant control over them. In this regard, state authorities may apply pressures to perform the job without fully understanding the legal or practical limitations on air operations. The financial incentive to “get the job done” and satisfy state authorities to retain favor may appear compelling to an operator or pilot. State personnel such as an aircraft officer, aviation radio operator or air attack supervisor (not having Civil Aviation Safety Authority accreditation) may exacerbate this situation by having direct input to the control of flying operations.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has set stringent knowledge standards, as shown in thresholds for determining adequate visibility. Aerial firefighting aircraft fly close to the ground and need to fly in visual meteorological conditions while flying outside of controlled airspace, as is usual in aerial firefighting. Important criteria are: visibility of 5,000 meters in the direction of flight and clear of cloud, when flying within 1,000 feet above ground level or at or below 3,000 feet above mean sea level.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has documented cases of firefighting aircraft flying through smoke and clearly not in visual meteorological conditions. The possibility of a mid-air collision or controlled flight into terrain is unknown but potentially high, particularly if there are a number of aircraft fighting a particular fire front or if the ground is highly irregular. In addition, pilots may be subject to high cockpit temperatures while conducting operations, presumably adding to potential fatigue problems that may develop from the periods of high concentration required for low level flying. While the act of flying in non-visual meteorological conditions may be thought of as simply a pilot error, it may be because the smoke environment is rapidly changing. Intended violations could occur as a result of strong pressures from firefighting agencies to “get the job done.”
Additionally, a pilot is trained to obey air traffic control instructions, yet a state-trained aviation radio operator may not have the background to fully understand the possible impact of unsafe instructions. State-approved radio officers are not trained as air traffic controllers, yet they would appear to be directing traffic to and from fires as well as in their vicinity.
Lastly, the effect of state manuals such as the Cockpit Handbook and the Air Operations Manual on safety remains to be determined. It's possible that, with the best intent of the authors and agencies, use of such manuals may compromise safety. This could occur through complexity or through naïve interpretations of Civil Aviation Safety Authority rules and regulations. Input from the authority may well address some issues, but this can't be known unless it reviews the process.
Australia's aerial firefighting issues are complex, as roles are played by the commonwealth government, state agencies, aerial agriculture operators, private companies and others. Their roles appear to have developed somewhat independently, and the result is a matrix of strongly related responsibilities.
From an administrative perspective, several main points arise:
- While legally responsible for regulation and control of civil aviation in Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority appears to be addressing aspects of this core activity (drafting of specific regulations for aerial firefighting) only in general terms, leaving some of this responsibility to the aerial application operators, represented by the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia.
- The Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia doesn't appear to have been allocated resources or been officially commissioned to contribute to drawing up draft aerial bush fire fighting regulations. Its personnel have significant experience in this operational area and would appear to be able to provide effective input to regulatory development. It appears that the association has contributed to recent Civil Aviation Safety Authority notices of proposed rule-making but has had little or no input into state operational aerial firefighting procedures.
- State employees appear to be conducting aerial firefighting duties in roles such as air attack supervisor, aircraft officer and aviation radio operator without Civil Aviation Safety Authority accreditation, and without its input into training syllabi.
- State agencies are developing operations manuals that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority isn't reviewing and approving to ensure they comply with commonwealth requirements.
- The Australasian Fire Authorities Council, National Aerial Fire Fighting Centre and Australian National Training Authority manage and operate aspects of aerial firefighting and training without input from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority or the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia. The first two are private companies with state public servants taking roles as board members, so there may be conflicts of interest. Their effectiveness at managing aerial firefighting (and significant federal funds) without independent directors who have substantive experience in the aviation industry is perhaps not optimum from either an operational or from a safety perspective.
- Under the Civil Aviation Act, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority appears to be the only agency with a direct responsibility to conduct aviation safety regulation, and it is important to emphasize that it certifies all aircraft operators certificate holders and their pilots. Indeed, the authority requires the management and organizational structure of certificate holders to be submitted with their applications so that it can make judgments as to the management capability of an aircraft operators certificate organization. While the rural fire authorities have the financial resources and authority to manage and control aerial firefighting, they have no direct responsibilities in the aviation safety regulatory process.
Although bush firefighting is largely a state responsibility, the Australian government is providing long-term financial assistance with the aim of achieving a cooperative national approach to aerial firefighting. The development of shared and joint resources and management arrangements for aerial firefighting appears to be a prerequisite for continued Australian government funding. It appears that most state fire agencies have adopted the model of sourcing aircraft from their local certificate-holding organizations, operating fixed-wing aerial agricultural aircraft or appropriate rotary-wing aircraft. These operators are required to meet that state's fire agency requirements.
These circumstances don't seem to constitute an arrangement that promotes safe and effective aerial firefighting operations. The development, implementation, management and regulation of aerial firefighting should ideally be an activity in which all of the stakeholders play a significant role through a consultative process. Two major failures of the present arrangements would appear to be the absence of influence of the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia or its member aircraft operators certificate holders in the key deliberations of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre and in the development of guideline and manuals for aerial firefighting by state authorities, and the lack of influence of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in the regulation of aerial firefighting.
One logical solution would be the establishment of a commonwealth/state framework for aerial firefighting, in which all stakeholders are required to work in a consultative process to ensure that operations are effective, legal and as safe as possible.
Peter Smith is a doctoral candidate at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Jason H. Middleton is a professor at the University of New South Wales, where he heads the Department of Aviation.
