An irritating puzzle.
"There is a possibility that the increase in the dollar trigger may permit larger buildings to be constructed under that trigger which may inadvertently have an effect on aviation safety."
[which] may inadvertently have an effect on aviation safety.
Irritating, I keep going back to that statement; it is so blasé and dismissive. Weasel words. The purpose of it troubling; in the final analysis it is not ‘aviation safety’ which is at risk, but the public. Anything relatively large, travelling at speed, loaded with fuel hitting a building will cause damage, fire and possibly take lives. There is a sensible prohibition against building in the median between motorways; I imagine some smart developer would just love to build a shopping mall and a few blocks of home units between the lanes – life near the fast lane. Granted, the percentage chance of carnage is much higher building there than building close to an airport; and, people can ‘understand’ that. What seems difficult to grasp is the amount of ‘space’ in three dimensions an aircraft needs; particularly when in trouble. All ‘folk’ see is great empty spaces which could be ‘utilised’, the temptation of ‘low’ rents makes the cheese in the trap almost irresistible.
But take a look at the flight path of the Essendon King Air. If you draw a ‘splay’ from the beginning of the runway which captures the aircraft track, you can see that the impacted building is actually located in a most deadly spot. If you move the ‘splay’ forward to the runway intersection once again, the buildings are at risk. The proof is graphically depicted in the media coverage of this accident.
I’ve no quarrel with ‘development’ on aerodromes – provided the public safety (including passengers and crew) is not compromised; as it stands the risk to the public is not being considered, as aviation is ‘so safe’ now. And, so it is - in the normal run of things you could pitch your tent anywhere you like on an airfield and be as safe as houses. Aircraft line up, get airborne and bugger off to wherever they’re bound, straight ahead until something goes pear shaped; then all bets are off as Murphy takes a hand and Sods law rules the day.
Can this happen again? That depends on how you do the numbers. Will this happen again? It must, eventually, mathematical certainty. But where and when is the risk DoIT is taking a gamble on. There are simple solutions which a decent safety regulator could foster, enforce even; alas….you’ve all seen the Estimates video.
Toot toot.
"There is a possibility that the increase in the dollar trigger may permit larger buildings to be constructed under that trigger which may inadvertently have an effect on aviation safety."
[which] may inadvertently have an effect on aviation safety.
Irritating, I keep going back to that statement; it is so blasé and dismissive. Weasel words. The purpose of it troubling; in the final analysis it is not ‘aviation safety’ which is at risk, but the public. Anything relatively large, travelling at speed, loaded with fuel hitting a building will cause damage, fire and possibly take lives. There is a sensible prohibition against building in the median between motorways; I imagine some smart developer would just love to build a shopping mall and a few blocks of home units between the lanes – life near the fast lane. Granted, the percentage chance of carnage is much higher building there than building close to an airport; and, people can ‘understand’ that. What seems difficult to grasp is the amount of ‘space’ in three dimensions an aircraft needs; particularly when in trouble. All ‘folk’ see is great empty spaces which could be ‘utilised’, the temptation of ‘low’ rents makes the cheese in the trap almost irresistible.
But take a look at the flight path of the Essendon King Air. If you draw a ‘splay’ from the beginning of the runway which captures the aircraft track, you can see that the impacted building is actually located in a most deadly spot. If you move the ‘splay’ forward to the runway intersection once again, the buildings are at risk. The proof is graphically depicted in the media coverage of this accident.
I’ve no quarrel with ‘development’ on aerodromes – provided the public safety (including passengers and crew) is not compromised; as it stands the risk to the public is not being considered, as aviation is ‘so safe’ now. And, so it is - in the normal run of things you could pitch your tent anywhere you like on an airfield and be as safe as houses. Aircraft line up, get airborne and bugger off to wherever they’re bound, straight ahead until something goes pear shaped; then all bets are off as Murphy takes a hand and Sods law rules the day.
Can this happen again? That depends on how you do the numbers. Will this happen again? It must, eventually, mathematical certainty. But where and when is the risk DoIT is taking a gamble on. There are simple solutions which a decent safety regulator could foster, enforce even; alas….you’ve all seen the Estimates video.
Toot toot.