This Day in History: 1998-10-22

The Airspace 2000 Class G airspace trial commenced between Canberra and Ballina on 22 October 1998 amid concerns expressed by pilots, ATC staff and others. In early November, Qantas acted to stop flights into four regional centres until CASA made some changes. After receipt of over 70 air safety incident reports and a BASI investigation of two of them, CASA terminated the trial on 13 December 1998, noting that much had been learned. The interim BASI report found ten major safety concerns. The BASI investigation had required BASI to access CASA files, much to the chagrin of Chairman Mr Dick Smith, who had strongly championed the trial. Source: Australian Aviation, January and February 1999; Aviation Week and Space Technology, 1 March 1999; Sydney Morning Herald, 7 November 1998. via aph.gov.au website