Aircraft accidents that hit too close to home sparked Toowoomba-based helicopter pilot Courtney Ryan’s interest in safety management.
‘I lost a couple of friends in aircraft accidents and safety became more important,’ she says. ‘I decided I would like to contribute to reducing the number of accidents.’
Courtney was already building her safety-related expertise when she won a CASA Safety Manger Scholarship in 2024.
This included safety management system (SMS) and human factors training as well as a safety and lead auditors course and a Certificate IV in Work, Health and Safety.
‘Human factors is huge, it’s a massive part of flying,’ she says. ‘So much comes from understanding how you react to things and how you can train yourself to react better and understand the situation fully instead of focusing on one point.’
‘SMS, the whole SMS manual and everything that’s coming in through CASA tries to document safety management principles that go beyond just having an operations manual.
Not content to sit on her laurels, Courtney saw the $5,000 scholarship as a way of further improving her skills through a safety investigator’s course and training in leadership and management.
‘It definitely improved my knowledge on both of those topics, especially the investigator course,’ she says. ‘There was new information I could apply to my work.’
The win further enriched a career that began in Nowra in 2010 as a participant in the Australian Defence Force Gap Year for 17- to 24-year-olds interested in getting a taste of military life.
‘I was in the navy at an aviation base and I went for a couple of back-seat flights and just fell in love with helicopters,’ she says.
‘I loved the ability to land anywhere and take it anywhere – you don’t have to go to an airport or an airstrip.’
While the Navy wasn’t for her, Courtney was determined to get into aviation and worked to gain her pilot’s licence at V2 Helicopters in Brisbane.
Her aviation career began in earnest in 2016 as a hangar attendant at Queensland’s Sea World Helicopters before a move to 12 Apostles Helicopters in Victoria as a scenic flight pilot.
The arrival of the COVID pandemic saw her work briefly as a corporate pilot before a move to Canada to work among the rugged scenery of that country’s remote North-West Territories.
‘I spoke to some people who had done it and I decided that was what I wanted to do, so I got the visa and everything else, got a job and went over there flying,’ she says.
‘I did utility work, and I worked way up north. I flew to some amazing places and met some amazing people.
‘I enjoyed the variety of work – remote area work, pipelines, mining, fighting fires – it was great.’
When Courtney’s visa expired, she returned to Australia and began her current job at Stirling Helicopters, which is headquartered in Rockhampton with bases in various locations around Queensland.
Her interest in safety and accident prevention was accompanied by a desire to expand her skillset to foster job security and deepen her knowledge as a pilot.
The safety manager role fit the bill and offered the added incentive of work-life flexibility, something that would prove important for a mother with a young family.
She says maintaining a good safety culture is just one of the many facets of a varied job but an important one.
She sees relationships, including team meetings and actively engaging staff in safety culture, as the most important aspect of her safety manager role.
‘You have to maintain good communications between everyone so everybody shares their experiences, and everyone can learn from them,’ she says.
One mistake she advises young pilots to avoid is the urge to ‘tick-and-flick’.
‘Try and understand exactly why all these procedures are in place,’ she says. ‘They are there for a reason.’
Expanding her understanding is also a continuing goal for Courtney.
‘I’m still really enjoying this role,’ she says. ‘I’ve still got a lot of room to grow and Stirling Helicopters is also growing so I’m keen to continue on here.
‘It’s been interesting so far – we’ll see where it takes me.’
Safety manager scholarship program now open
If you’re committed to the development of a healthy aviation safety culture in your organisation, apply now for CASA’s safety manager scholarship program.
Visit the CASA website for more details.
