The New South Wales Rural Fire Service did not have a procedure for ensuring that when large air tankers were dispatched by the state air desk their tasking was coordinated with the incident management team and integrated into the existing incident plan.
The NSW Rural Fire Service has implemented a policy to ensure that pilots in command of Large Air Tankers receive a briefing from the incident management team (IMT) regarding incident strategy prior to departure.
In addition, the NSW RFS has developed new procedures for state air desk and IMT liaison and structured lines of communication between the IMT and air attack supervisors.
The ATSB is satisfied that these procedures adequately address the safety issue. It is also noted that they have already been utilised, and their effectiveness verified through operational feedback, post‑season review and an independent capability review.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service advised that in November 2023, an operational directive mandated that no large air tanker (LAT) departed until the pilot in command had received a briefing from the Incident Management Team (IMT), ensuring all deployments were directly aligned with the incident strategy. This reform clarified accountability between the state air desk (SAD), State Operations Centre, and field‑level IMTs.
Throughout 2024, the Aviation Airspace Management Project (AAMP) redesigned LAT tasking and communication pathways to align with IMT planning cycles. This included new procedures for verifying incident objectives, formalising SAD to IMT liaison, and embedding structured lines of communication between Air Attack Supervisors (AAS) and IMTs.
By March 2025, these arrangements had been incorporated into the AAMP, significantly improving coordination, timeliness and resource utilisation. Their effectiveness has been validated through operational feedback, post-season reviews, and an independent aviation capability review (April 2025), confirming stronger task alignment and situational awareness.
