Safety issue

Safety issue description

The En-Route Supplement Australia included a requirement to add 1,000 ft to the prescribed practice instrument approach ‘altitude’ at Mangalore Airport. The procedure did not detail whether this height was to be applied to the minimum descent altitude or to all approach altitudes, resulting in varied application and an increased risk of traffic conflicts. (Safety issue).

Response by Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)

CASA is reviewing the entries in AIP-ERSA for Mangalore as well as Ballarat, Busselton and Latrobe Valley for conducting training on NDB, VOR and RNP approaches to determine if it is appropriate to add 1,000 ft to all of the procedure altitudes. This may result in the removal of these published training procedures. If this is the case then CASA undertakes to engage with all flying schools and organisations that conduct this type of training prior to their removal from the AIP-ERSA.

ATSB comment

The ATSB notes that the AIP-ERSA requirement for Mangalore has been in place for a considerable period of time and is concerned about the indefinite nature of the proposed evaluation and other associated activities to address the safety issue.

As a result, the ATSB has issued the following safety recommendation.
Issue number AO-2020-012-SI-01
Issue owner Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Transport function Aviation: General aviation
Issue status Closed – Adequately addressed
Date issue released 31/03/2022

Safety action

Action type Safety recommendation
Action number AO-2020-012-SR-06
Organisation Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Action date 31/03/2022
Action description

The ATSB makes a formal safety recommendation, either during or at the end of an investigation, based on the level of risk associated with a safety issue and the extent of corrective action already undertaken. Rather than being prescriptive about the form of corrective action to be taken, the recommendation focuses on the safety issue of concern. It is a matter for the responsible organisation to assess the costs and benefits of any particular method of addressing a safety issue.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority addresses the ambiguity in the En Route Supplement Australia requirement relating to practice instrument approach altitudes at Mangalore Airport to reduce the variation in application and risk of traffic conflicts.
Action status Closed

Organisation response

Date received 19/05/2022
Organisation Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Response status Closed
Response text

In response to the Safety Recommendation from AO-2020-012 please see below the update to the ERSA that will be published on 8 September 2022.
ATSB response

The ATSB recognises the changes made by CASA in response to the safety recommendation. The ATSB will continue to monitor until the ERSA is published on 8 September 2022.
ATSB response date 29/06/2022

Organisation response

Date received 16/09/2022
Organisation Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Response status Closed
Response text

The ATSB acknowledges the work completed by CASA to respond to this recommendation. The En-Route Supplement Australia, valid from 8 September 2022, contains updated local procedures at Mangalore as well as three other affected aerodromes (Ballarat, Busselton and Latrobe Valley) to specify:

The ATSB also acknowledges that the new wording should reduce the risk of the safety issue. Therefore the safety recommendation is closed.
ATSB response date 16/09/2022