We are now just over two months out from PACDEFF 2024, which will be held at Rydges Hotel, CBD, in Melbourne, over 29 and 30 October. Numbers are very strong again this year and we remain on track for a record crowd.

The program for this year’s event remains unchanged and is available on our website, with abstracts where available, at www.PACDEFF.com, under the PACDEFF 2024 menu Tab. A copy of the program is attached below for your info. Our keynotes this year are world class and include:

Professor Sidney Dekker – Director of the Griffith University Safety Innovation Lab, a world-renowned safety and Human Factors expert, and a prolific author.

Pip Spence – CEO and Director of Aviation safety at CASA. CASA have long been sponsors and supporters of PACDEFF and we welcome the opportunity to hear Pip’s views on where we stand on the ongoing HF battle in Aviation.

Matt Hall – Matt is world-renowned as a long-time member of the Red Bull Air Race fraternity, and has had his fair share of challenges, in Air Racing, in his career as an RAAF Fighter Pilot, and in his ongoing role as a display pilot, amongst other things. Matt brings a very real-world, grounded view to managing challenges in high-risk endeavours.

Nicole Ashcroft – Nicole, as the head of Safety at Uber Australia/New Zealand, faces a lot of the same challenges we do in Aviation. Tasked with getting passengers safely from A-B, consistently, requires strong management of both technology and Human Factors, and it will be great to see the parallels and how Uber meets these challenges.

In addition to our keynotes, we have three workshops which will appeal to a large number of our delegates:

Workshop 1 will be a Facilitator Skills workshop, provided by Jana Ewing and Andy Elliott. Jana and Andy have run this workshop brilliantly in the past, and while they will be missing Kiralee Tynan this year, they continue to innovate and to provide strong ideas for better ways to get the HF message across, within the Aviation Industry.

Workshop 2 will be a Masterclass from Captain Steve Swauger in improving CRM and NTS skills in Aviation Crew members. Steve has a wealth of experience as a Captain for many Years at Southwest Airlines in the USA, and was a leading Human Factors proponent in the Southwest Pilot group for most of his career. Steve retired from active flying duties a few years ago, which gave him time to write a superb book for pilot entitled: Master Airline Pilot: Applying Human Factors to Reach Peak Performance and Operational Resilience. This book is a superb read and is recommended reading for all pilots and other HF practitioners.

Workshop 3 will be an alternative spin on Human Factors training by a team of medical professionals at PA Hospital in Brisbane. Doctor Kim Vidhani, Andi Thompson and Elizabeth Willis will present a workshop entitled: Using an Escape Room Methodology to Practise CRM Skills. This workshop, which is likely to be strongly attended, uses an off-beat methodology which allows practical NTS/CRM skill development, which is directly transferable to any aviation training setting. The workshop will be open to the first 48 participants, however others are welcome to attend as observers.

In addition to the very strong conference program, there will also be many opportunities for networking outside the conference rooms themselves. The conference will be opened on the evening of the 28th of October, with a free welcome event from 1730-1930. Drinks and some nibbles will be provided and partners are welcome. This is simply an open opportunity to meet other delegates and speakers in a relaxed setting on the Rydges rooftop terrace, and is once again sponsored by Southpac Aerospace, one of our long-term major sponsors.

The conference dinner is also a great opportunity to interact with speakers and other attendees in an informal setting. The dinner will be a three-course setting, with a three-hour drinks package. It will kick off with a welcome cocktail from 1830 and run through until 2200. The menu will be an alternative drop setting with the following choices:

Entree:
Char-grilled Lamb Cutlet, Skordalia, Mint Sauce
Candy Pork-Belly, Grapefruit Caramel, Blackened Peppers

Main:
Gippsland Eye Fillet, Tarragon, Crushed Peas, Potato, Chive and Jus
Roasted Chicken Breast, Potato Puree, Dijon Sauce, King Mushroom and Watercress

Dessert:

Roasted Macadamia Cheescake Tart, Coffee Gelato and Caramel Sponge
Chocolate Textures, Dark Chocolate Sponge, Milk Chocolate Bark, caramelised White Chocolate, and Chocolate Mousse

There are still dinner spots available but we will be limited to 220 people, so we may need to close this off closer to the time. Please feel free to register for the dinner via the PACDEFF website, and advise us of any dietary requirements if any of these choices don’t suit your dietary needs.

It would also be remiss not to acknowledge our sponsors this year, all of whom contribute to making the event a very affordable, professional, and enjoyable one. We once again would like to think our principal sponsors AFAP, CASA and UNSW Aviation in Sydney. We hope that you will take the time to visit these organisations’ sponsor desks at the conference, as well as our other long term major sponsors, Southpac Aerospace, The Honourable Company of Air Pilots, Australia, SYSTEMiQ, and The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia. We sincerely thank all of our sponsors for their ongoing support of Aviation Safety.

Accommodation at Rydges is still available, but our block booking is almost full. If you are likely to require accommodation at the hotel, we would recommend booking this as soon as possible to guarantee availability at the amazing PACDEFF rate of just $220 per night. This is well below the normal rate and that of similar hotels in Melbourne’s CBD. The rooms are fully refundable up until 24 hours before the conference, if you still are unsure whether you can make it.

Last but not least, we have been approached by a research student, Brian Mok, a previous PACDEFF speaker, who is conducting some Masters level research into the degradation of Pilot skills in high-capacity operations. If any of the pilots out there would be happy to assist him with a short research survey, please find the details here:
Survey Link – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T35ZVD3
These projects all contribute to the greater HF literature, which helps us in our ongoing battles in the real world. Please note that the survey closes at the end of August.

We look forward to seeing you all at the conference in October and especially anybody new to the PACDEFF family.

Kind regards,
Wayne
For the PACDEFF Organising Committee

Day 1 (29 October)
Plenary Session – Centre Stage Room (Click on Link for Abstracts)

0900-0915    Welcome

0920-1005    Keynote 1: Professor Sidney Dekker – Griffith University

1010-1055    Keynote 2: Pip Spence – CEO and Director of Aviation Safety, CASA

1055-1125    Morning Tea

1125-1150    Self-evident Approaches to Managing Human Factors – Ken Wylie (Buried, 2020 Author)

1150-1215 CRM – What is it for? Preventing Error or Saving the Day? – Dr. Dirk Maclean – Swinburne University

1215-1315    Lunch

1315-1340    Fatal Solution – Building a Fair and Just Culture in Healthcare – Prof. Jan Davies (Professor Emerita, University of Calgary)

1345-1410    Improving Pilot Training and Operations using Predictive Analytics & Insights – – Alexander Robinson – Ocean Software

1415-1440    The Evolution of Women in Air Traffic Control – Associate Professor Selina Fothergill (RMIT)

1440-1505    Challenging the Efficacy of a Just Culture – Curtis Calabrese (UNSW Aviation)

1505-1535   Afternoon tea

1535-1600    Multimodal Sensory Effectiveness and the Realism of Virtual Cabin Door Trainers – Moving Beyond the Digital Twin – Denis Manson – Alliance Airlines

1605-1630    A Graphical Model for Improving Flight Crew Resilience – Capt. Ping Lee – EVA Air

1630-1655 Human Performance and CRM/NTS Through the Lens of Contemporary Safety – David East – Crew Fusion

1655-1705 Day 1 Wrap Up

1900-2200 Conference Dinner – Pre-dinner drinks outside Function Room at 1830

Day 2 – (30 October)

Plenary Session – Centre Stage Room

0900-0910    Welcome

0910-0955    Keynote 3 – Matt Hall – Matt Hall Racing

1000-1045    Keynote 4 – Nicole Ashcroft – Uber Safety (TBC)

1045-1115    Morning Tea

Helicopter Safety Collaborative Human Factors Parallel Forum – Meeting Place 1&2

0800-1100: Program TBA

Pilot Human Factors Forum 1 – Centre Stage Room

1115-1140    Psychophysiological Responses in Aircraft Upsets – Shane Tobin – UPRT Australia

1140-1205   Eye Tracking Results from a Large Study into Pilot Startle and Surprise – Aruna Ranganathan – CQ University

1205-1230   Evaluation of Heights Used in Simulated Engine Failures in Twin-engine Aeroplanes under 5,700 kg – Stephanie Sabadas

Human Factors Forum 2 – Meeting Place Rooms 1&2

1115-1140    Surviving the Aircraft Accident – A Critical Review of Head Injury Criterion (HIC) – Prof. Jan Davies (Professor Emerita, University of Calgary)

1140-1205    The typography of Flight Deck Documentation and its Effects on Safety – Pascal Schmid – Griffith University

1205-1230    ‘The Cultural Leader. Giving our ‘crew’ reason to follow us, for good’ – Capt. Chris Smith

Workshop 1 – Meeting Place 3&4

1115-1230 Facilitator Skills – Jana Ewing – Collaborative Training Group

1230-1315    Lunch

Human Factors Forum 3 (Mental Health, Peer Support, and Resilience) – Centre Stage Room

1315-1345 Pilot Mental Health and Aviation Rule Making – Capt Herwin Bongers – Air New Zealand

1345-1415 Providing Support in General and Regional Aviation – Angela Garvey – Navigating Aviation

1415-1445 Creating the Resilient Pilot – Naomi Radke – AFAP

Workshops 2 and 3 – Meeting Place 3&4

1315-1445    Workshop 2: A Master Class for Improving CRM & NTS in Airline Pilots – Capt. Steve Swauger (Author, Master Airline Pilot – ex Southwest Airlines)

1445-1515    Afternoon Tea

1515-1645    Workshop 3: Using an Escape Room Methodology to Practise CRM Skills – Andi Thompson, Elizabeth Willis, Dr Kim Vidhani (Princess Alexandra Hospital) [48 pax + Observers]

Human Factors Forum 4 – Meeting Place Rooms 1&2

1515-1540 The Effects of Distraction and Recency on Mid-air Collisions – Billie Petty – University of Otago

1545-1610 Dr Tony Power – An analysis of Different Models of Just Culture.

1610-1645 Presentation Topic TBA- Carolyn Vaughan – Qantas

1645-1700 Day 2 and Conference Wrap Up

Standby Workshops and Presentations (TBC)

Capt Tarryn Ryan – Instructional Techniques (Workshop)

Capt Nitya Jain – Effect of Training Experience and Type of Classroom Training Exposure on
Inter-rater Agreement/Reliability (IRA/IRR) for Nontechnical Skills Assessment of
Pilots in Indian commercial airline environment.

Chanika Mannawaduge – Analysing the Flight Crew Fatigue Management Regulation (CAO 48.1) Using a Framework that Includes Factors Related to Fatigue.

Dr Rithi Baruah – “Fostering Psychological Safety Through Effective CRM to Enhance Aviation Safety and Maintain a Just Culture”

Katherine Hill – Keil Institute

Vanessa Venture – Joby Aviation, USA.