I am pleased to note that our cadets and staff have been actively participating in the Kelantan community affairs through community service and sponsorship, throughout the year. I hope this will continue and more activities are planned for this year.

On 17th December 2009, we witnessed the 5th graduation of APFT cadets. The Director General of DCA Malaysia, Dato’ Azharuddin presented the wings. In the same occasion, the Director General of DGCA Indonesia, YTht Bapak Heri Bakti presented APFT with the letter of approval for the training of Indonesian cadets to obtain the DGCA Indonesian license. I look forward to a growing relationship with Indonesia and hope to see more Indonesian cadets in Kelantan.

APFT signed an agreement with University Tun Hussien Onn, which incorporated the CPL training at APFT into their 4-year degree course in Engineering. As an IPTS, we aim to bring pilot training to a higher standard.

The first Alumni Dinner in December brought together the instructors and ex-cadets from batches 1 till 16. I am happy that the old boys attended the event and hope that the elected committee members will play their part in making the Alumni a success.

We look forward to a challenging year 2010, and with the support given by the authorities and Government agencies we should be able to take the opportunities that come with the global financial recovery.

APFT sponsored over 10,000 copies of News Straits Times newspapers to 10 schools around Kota Bharu. The aim is to promote English in these schools. Yang Berhormat Dato’ Mohd Amar bin Abdullah was the guest of honour and also present was Dato’ Syed Nadzri Syed Harun, Group Editor of NST.

APFT is saddened by the recent natural disasters that happened in Indonesia and Philippines. APFT staff and cadets all came together and donated a sum of RM10,000 towards the Tabung Bencana NSTP-Media Prima. Our Chairman presented the cheque to Y Bhg Dato’ Syed Nazri, Group Editor of NST on the 11th of October 2009.

The Ministry of Transportation Directorate General of Civil Aviation Indonesia has approved Asia Pacific Flight Training to train Indonesian pilots and cadets. On 17th December 2009 the letter of approval was presented to the Chairman of APFT by YTht Bapak Heri Bakti.

On 20th August 2009, Dato’ Faruk Othman, Chairman of Asia Pacific Flight Training Sdn Bhd received the Most Promising Entrepreneurship Award from the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards ceremony held in Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

Asia Pacific Flight Training (APFT) and University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) signed a Memorandum of Agreement enabling engineering students of UTHM to pursue the integrated pilot training course at APFT. This collaboration is the first ever in Malaysia and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing whose Dean is Prof. Dr. Sulaiman bin Hj. Hasan, aims to provide a competitive academic programme. This programme will produce a technologist who has a professional commercial pilot license.

The first alumni gathering was attended by the instructors, staff and cadets from batches 1 to 16. They all came together to elect the organising committee and also to start off the alumni activities. The Principal, Dato’ Mej(Rtd) Khalid Ali expressed his appreciation to the earlier batches for making the effort to come to the dinner. Chief Instructor, Captain Syed Abdullah, led the nominations and voting. A BBQ buffet spread was prepared together with plenty of lucky draw gifts with the first prize of a whole year’s subscription of Today’s Pilot magazine, won by Ridhwan Ab Rahman from Batch 14. The alumni committee together with APFT will be organising annual events for networking and keeping in touch. Also, with the growing number of graduates, the alumni services will include job placements,career advice and also mentoring for the current cadets.

Alumni Committee Members:

• Mohd Idham bin Abu Bakar (President)
• Ahmad Azuan bin Ton Mohamed
• Khairul Afam
• Ahmad Afiq bin Zainuddin
• Ramadhani Sutrisno
• Adam Shafiq bin Dato’ Sukri
• Syed Naguib bin Syed Abd Rani
• Joshua Marc Bansh
• Khairul Ammar Junaidi bin Abd Habib
• Noor Azhar bin Muhammad.

Case Studies on Airline Safety

Captain Kamil was invited once again to the Crew Residence, taking time off his busy schedule to talk to a group of cadets on two local accidents. The first accident he discussed involved an Airbus A-300 aircraft at Subang International Airport on the 18th December 1983. The accident occurred during a manually flown ILS approach to runway 15, at dusk in bad weather. The aircraft descended substantially below the glide slope and struck trees at a height of 174 feet amsl approximately 2km from the threshold. The aircraft came to rest 1.2km from the runway and experienced post impact fire. However, evacuation was successfully accomplished with all passengers and crew out with nobody suffering any serious injury. The second accident mentioned about an F-27 Aircraft in Tawau on the 15th September 1995. The aircraft callsigned MH2133, overshot the runway following a very steep and fast approach for runway 17 in Tawau airport. The aircraft broke up on impact and subsequently caught fire, fatally injuring 2 crew and 32 passengers.

For both case studies, he analysed all the elements namely the machine (aircraft), medium (weather), management (procedures) and man (the pilots) that could be the causal factors leading to the accidents. A lively discussion took place there from. He advised the cadets how to avoid accidents; simply by always maintaining a high level of self-discipline, ie. doing what they are supposed to do and not doing what they are not supposed to do. And always respect the weather.

Talk on Substance Abuse (Drugs and Alcohol)

Dr. Khairul Anuar, who is with Malaysia Airlines, was invited to APFT to give a talk on the effects of drugs and alcohol, especially on pilots. With his experience working with Malaysia Airlines, he touched upon very relevant and important issues which the cadets found interesting and helpful. He described substance abuse as a global issue affecting almost everybody including the corporate sector. This encompasses the critical “economic” age range (21-40) for all sectors. It is seen as a danger to flying safety in the aviation industry and is a very dangerous and deadly combination if not addressed with serious effort to prevent substance abuse. Flying requires focus, concentration and abuse can affect the ability of the crew carrying out their respective duties. According to Dr. Khairul, denial of the problem is the issue most industries are facing currently and this can have deadly consequences. It requires team effort to ensure a safe work place for all sectors by having regular checks and screening for all personnel. The feedback from cadets was positive and they are also more aware now that they need to take good care of their health. Routine urine checks are done at APFT to ensure that the cadets are not under any substance abuse.

Aircraft Type: L Piper L4J Cub
Date & Time (UTC): March 1, 2009 at 1610hrs

The aircraft was taxiing for Runway 26 at Lains Farm Airstrip when it struck a bracing cable attached to a tall electrical power supply pole. This was adjacent to a low hedge forming the boundary to the airstrip. When the pilot saw the cable, he decided he did not have sufficient time to turn right or stop to avoid the impact so, in an attempt to minimize the damage, he turned left and braked. The left wing struck the cable and the aircraft yawed further left, allowing the propeller to strike the cable; this caused the engine to stop suddenly. Both occupants were uninjured. The pilot reported that he was distracted from maintaining directional control by looking across to the windsock and inside the aircraft to check the instruments.

Aircraft Type: Piper PA-34-220T Seneca III
Date & Time (UTC): April 29, 2009 at 1537hrs

A crosswind landing was being carried out on Runway 24 with the wind from 160º at 14kts. The aircraft bounced on touchdown before settling on its nosewheel and right mainwheel, causing the right propeller to make contact with the runway. The pilot considered that he had made a handling error.

Aircraft Type: Boeing ST 75 Stearman
Date & Time (UTC): July 26, 2009 at 1015hrs

The aircraft was on an approach to Runway 24 at Edinburgh Airport. The surface wind was 160º /10kts, the visibility was 10km and there was overcast cloud at 1,500 ft. The aircraft made a “normal, gentle touchdown on the left hand main wheel” as was required in the crosswind. The pilot held the right main wheel and tail wheel off the ground, lowering them to the runway at approximately 40kts. As the wheels touched the runway, the “aircraft executed a small swing to the right”. The pilot corrected the swing but almost immediately the aircraft “swung rapidly to the left”. The pilot was unable to prevent the swing with full right rudder and brake and the aircraft started to ground loop. During the turn, the right wingtip touched the ground and the right tyre burst before the aircraft came to a halt. The pilot believed that the “unusually rapid” swing to the left might have been caused by a gust of wind combined with too much correction for the earlier swing to the right.

Ground Examination Requirements for Professional Flight Crew Licensing and Instrument Rating

As per AIC 03 / 2009 dated 29 Sep 2009, DCA Malaysia is replacing the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) papers with the European Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) papers. The syllabus for this new scheme has been adopted and implemented on 1st January 2010.

Salient Features of the New Syllabus

The new syllabus is essentially an update of the old UK CAA Syllabus. A large portion of the new syllabus is common to the old syllabus. However, some knowledge aspects and practices which are now considered dated, have been removed and some new aspects included. There has also been some relocation of contents of subjects, from one subject to another. The total hours allocated for theoretical training however, remains the same, i.e. 80 hours for PPL training and an additional 750 hours for CPL/ ATPL training.

The major differences are:-

• A new Subject – Operational Procedures has been included.
• Meteorology Practical has been merged with Meteorology Theory.
• In Flight Planning, the syllabus has been expanded to include Flight Planning Considerations for light aircraft and Medium Range jets. Flight Planning as per Data Sheets 33 & 34 has been removed. CAP 697 will be used.
• In Instrumentation, Engine Instruments and Automatic Flight have been included.
• In Performance, the syllabus has been expanded to include Performance Considerations for Class A, B and C aircraft. CAP 385 is no longer required, CAP 698 will be used.
• Load and Balance has been renamed Mass and Balance, CAP 696 will be used.
• The original DCAT examinations, Air Law 1 & Air Law 2, Human Performance Limitations, Principles of Flight, Airframes, Electrics and Aero engines which were set and evaluated by DCA Malaysia, have now been split.
Radio Telephony Theory has been replaced with VFR Communications and IFR Communications.
• Now only Air Law 1, Air Law 2 and Human Performance Limitations will constitute the DCA Malaysia (DCAM) papers. These papers will be set and answers evaluated by DCA Malaysia. Of the remaining papers, Airframes, Electrics and Aero engines, have been merged into one subject, Airframes, with an examination paper of two hours duration. The Question Papers for Airframes and Principles of Flight will be set, and the answers evaluated by UK CAA International.
• The examinations will be held in three Phases, Phase 1, Phase 2 & Phase 3, each of two days duration.
• Phase 1, Air Law 1, Air Law 2, Human Performance Limitations, Airframes and Principles of Flight.
• Phase 2, General Navigation, Radio Navigation, Meteorology, Flight Planning and Monitoring, and Instrumentation.
• Phase 3, Performance A, Mass and Balance, Operational Procedures, Type Technical.