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6
WING
SPAN
FEBRUARY
SAFETY
MATTERS
Taking to the skies and watching
your aircraft soar, provides the
greatest thrill and fun for any
modeller. Whether you are young
or old, just finding your wings or a
professional pilot, you can safely
enjoy the adrenalin rush of a
seriously fun flight, while forming
great friendships.
In order to keep our airways safe
and minimise any serious injuries to
our pilots, there is some basic first
aid advice our members can follow,
so that you can continue to enjoy
the fun, thrills and camaraderie,
knowing that everyone within your
club are in safe hands.
Don’t flyalone
Aside from having fun on the field,
personal safety as well as the
safety of others, should always be
at the forefront of any modeller’s
mind. The MAAA encourages its
10,000+ members to get out and
enjoy the sport of modelling, while
surrounding yourself with like-
minded friends.
When flying a model aircraft, it is
important that you never fly alone
and always have a second set of
eyes, not only on the skies, but to be
there if an accident were to happen.
Even if you are an experienced pilot,
accidents can occur at any time.
Flying with a friend (a fellow club
member) not only ensures your
safety in an event of an accident but
there is always someone there to
call emergency personnel or provide
first aid.
If for some reason you are on the
field flying alone, it is advised that
you have a process in place, so that
someone knows where you are at
all times. Our fields can be isolated
from the public and if you are flying
alone and had an accident, it could
take hours for someone to find you
and alert authorities. We advise
that clubs also have an emergency
procedure in place to mitigate any
risk to club members in an event of
an accident or serious injury.
Whenanaccident
happens
The MAAA is the only national body
in Australia that is recognised
by CASA for model aviation as a
recreational aviation administrative
organisation. Our task and
mission is in helping to make
model aeroplane flying safer for
everyone to enjoy. But with any
sport, accidents can happen and
it is important to follow the right
safety procedures to ensure all
club members are safe and that the
person injured is treated with the
right level of care.
Even experienced pilots face
problems when flying. There
have been cases where a pilot’s
transmitter has slipped from
their hand while pre-flighting his
electric powered model. This has
resulted in the model starting up,
moving forward and cutting off the
modeller’s fingers.
Another example of an on field
accident, has been when a model
has been flying normally, hit
turbulence and struck another
modeller on the ground, causing
serious injury and lacerations.
As a regular modeller, it is important
to have a clear understanding
of your club’s rules and know
the location of the emergency
equipment (first aid, fire blanket,
extinguisher).
When an accident/injury occurs
you can follow these simple safety
procedures:
• Check for danger to you and
your bystanders and then the
injured person
• Check whether the person is
conscious and whether they are
responding to you
• Send for help (call 000)
• Check whether the injured
person is breathing and
whether their airways are clear
• Assess how you can help with
the injury (whether that be
applying pressure to the wound)
• Monitor the person’s breathing
until help arrives
• If the adult is not breathing
and is unconscious, then an
experienced person in CPR can
attempt to resuscitate until the
ambulance personnel arrives.
KNOW YOUR FIRST AID BASICS FOR MEMBER’S SAFETY