A message from David Anderson

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Discussion Forum was held last week, with over 30 attendees across 6 countries. The Forum is a unique opportunity to expand regular discussions with our BMO community on safety matters of immediate concern and enhance developments within the Program. It is held in between the biannual TAC Meetings each May and October.

The format of this Forum is to highlight one or two matters of concern and break them up into areas for discussion. This August, our focus was on issues surrounding RPAS: RPAS Sim Ops, spectrum management, and process failure risk; and Crew Rostering: Issues with extended/disrupted rosters and regulatory exemptions for simulator training.

The topic of RPAS generated a significant discussion given the mining communities' exposure to RPAS utilization.

Potential interaction between RPAS use and conventional aviation operations underway simultaneously in the same air space was recognized early as a key safety matter in the development of the RPAS Standard, and this discussion has promoted further examination into the effective implementation of the controls required. Many mine sites have a helipad or airstrip flight path in areas where RPAS operations are utilized; a lack of thorough planning and communication of RPAS operations to neighboring aviation operations could be devastating.
 
It was clear that this topic is not just confined to the onshore resource sector as similar issues were presented by our diverse participants at the forum which included representatives from HeliOffshore, the Victorian Government, Australian Defence and the Insurance sector in addition to our mining sector members.

Looking at the global aviation media, there is much discussion on how urban air mobility will interact with current air activity as RPAS vehicles become a tool for movement and as a source of exploration within our cities. The reality is that the integration of RPAS alongside conventional aviation presents a real and present safety threat right now for many sectors. It is crucial that the BARS Program shows the leadership to identify the key issues and bring together the stakeholders involved to provide possible Industry solutions. 

The BARS Program Office is currently developing the RPAS Standard Implementation Guidelines, which will complement the current version of the RPAS Standard. You can expect to see the integration/separation material in this document. The draft version will be made available for comment to the TAC representatives of our BARS Member Organizations in October, with the final document expected to be released by the end of 2021 - this will be available publicly through the BARS website when completed. 

David Anderson
Managing Director
BARS Program