Human factors passion leads to aviation safety scholarship
11 Feb 2016
A former commercial pilot with a passion for understanding the ‘human factors’ aspect of aviation safety has been awarded the 2016 Jilly Murphy Memorial Scholarship for Aviation Safety.
Kate Cook now works in the operational safety team of Airways New Zealand in Christchurch, and is currently completing a Bachelor of Aviation Management degree through Massey University. She will use the $5000 scholarship, jointly offered by Airways and Christchurch International Airport Ltd in memory of the late Christchurch air traffic controller Jilly Murphy, to help fund her post-graduate study in human factors, including areas like fatigue, distraction or impaired reasoning that can impact on human performance.
Jilly Murphy was a controller at Christchurch control tower, and died in central Christchurch during the earthquake of 22 February 2011. Aviation safety was very important to Jilly – in her honour, scholarship applicants are required to demonstrate a tangible benefit to aviation safety.
Kate says her experience as a commercial pilot set her on a path towards learning more about the impact that human behaviours can have on safety in the aviation sector.
“I find it a fascinating subject. During my time as a pilot, I found that talking with more experienced pilots and reading accident reports was a great way to learn and understand where improvements could be made in this area," Kate says.
Airways Chief Executive Ed Sims says he and fellow judges John Murphy (Jilly Murphy’s father) and Christchurch Airport Manager of Quality and Security, Ford Robertson felt that Kate stood out as a truly dedicated aviation safety professional.
“We were also struck by her emphasis on the ‘mana’ of winning the scholarship over and above any financial gain. She shares the same absolute commitment to keeping our skies safe as Jilly, and that makes her a very deserving winner,” says Mr Sims.
For more information please contact:
Angela Lamont
Senior Communications Advisor
Airways New Zealand
Ph: +64 21 438 243
Email: communications@airways.co.nz
About Airways New Zealand
Airways New Zealand is a world-leading commercial Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP), and operates in New Zealand as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE). We look after key aviation infrastructure around New Zealand and manage the more than 1 million traffic movements per year into and around New Zealand’s 30 million square kilometres of airspace.
Airways provides air traffic control and engineering training, and has delivered air traffic management, Flightyield revenue management solutions, navigation services and consultancy in more than 65 countries.