Mr WOOD - 2009-08-19
I recently visited the small community of Amanbidji, about 60 km south of the Victoria Highway and roughly 80 km east of the Northern Territory/Western Australia border. I was asked by a senior member of the community to inspect the airstrip, which I did, and it seemed to be in perfectly good condition. The reason I was asked to look at the condition of the airstrip was that I was told that the aeromedical plane would not land at that airstrip, meaning a person required evacuation by road. Could you please advise whether the aeromedical operator has refused to land at Amanbidji? If so, how many times and what was the reason?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is a very important question, because a lot of the communities rely on medical evacuation. The Amanbidji airstrip is used for day-time evacuation, only because it does not have appropriate lights for night-time evacuation. The reason the aeromedical service refuses to land there is because there are no lights; they refuse to land at night. However, I understand that solar-powered lights have now been purchased to be installed, so it will enable the aeromedical service to land there at night and that will increase safety for night-time landings.
We have to remember that the pilot is in control of the aeroplane and makes the ultimate decision to land or not. If they make the decision not to land, there must be very serious reasons behind it. My understanding is that during day time the evacuation takes place as normal. The aeromedical service refuses to land at night for safety reasons, and that is going to be rectified.
However, the last inspection of the airstrip indicated the condition of the airstrip is very good. If there is a reason people cannot land at night, even after the lights are installed, arrangements will be made for the safe evacuation of people at night time. However, if the installation of the lights is adequate, the pilots have no option but to land the aeroplane.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is a very important question, because a lot of the communities rely on medical evacuation. The Amanbidji airstrip is used for day-time evacuation, only because it does not have appropriate lights for night-time evacuation. The reason the aeromedical service refuses to land there is because there are no lights; they refuse to land at night. However, I understand that solar-powered lights have now been purchased to be installed, so it will enable the aeromedical service to land there at night and that will increase safety for night-time landings.
We have to remember that the pilot is in control of the aeroplane and makes the ultimate decision to land or not. If they make the decision not to land, there must be very serious reasons behind it. My understanding is that during day time the evacuation takes place as normal. The aeromedical service refuses to land at night for safety reasons, and that is going to be rectified.
However, the last inspection of the airstrip indicated the condition of the airstrip is very good. If there is a reason people cannot land at night, even after the lights are installed, arrangements will be made for the safe evacuation of people at night time. However, if the installation of the lights is adequate, the pilots have no option but to land the aeroplane.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016