Dr Adrian Park
Adrian, or 'Parky', has some 30 years military and civilian helicopter rescue experience in frontline, instructional, managerial, human factors, fatigue management and safety director roles. He began his career as an army pilot flying the ubiquitous UH-1H Huey in a number of aeromedical roles that took him from the Australian outback to the jungles of Bougainville. On finishing a US Army Instructor Pilot course in Fort Rucker, Alabama, Adrian began flying and instructing on Blackhawk helicopters and continued flying in rescue and aeromedical-related roles in Australia and overseas. In 2006 he took up employment with Careflight QLD as a rescue pilot and continued to fly as an Army Reserve pilot on his off-days which meant, in the 2010/2011 Queensland floods, Adrian flew both military and civilian rescue missions and was then employed as a aviation tasking coordinator out of Grantham. Over the last ten years Adrian has fulfilled a number of safety, quality, wellness and human factors roles at the director level and has successfully implemented three CASA-approved FRMS's for a number of emergency services helicopter providers. On the academic side, Adrian has recently completed a PhD in aviation human factors highlighting issues of regulatory excess and examining the question "How safe are the safety regulations and what does safety really mean anyway?". He lectures for the University of Southern Queensland's Aviation Department and is a regular contributor to the Flight Safety Australia magazine and has spoken at various conferences and symposiums.