The company delivers quality SMS training to the aviation community. Our experience and exposure to high risk aviation activities provides a unique insight into SMS, suitable and tailored to meet the size and complexity of your organisation.

Publicly available courses are delivered via Southpac Aerospace administration, per the Contact us link and the Southpac website.

Training and implementation assistance is available for individual organisations. This website can be used for organisational facilitation via membership access.

Training and mentoring for SMS facilitation delivery for safety critical personnel is also available.

Please contact us for details.

Our facilitators

Matthew McKay

Matt was a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot and flying instructor. After leaving the RAAF he was a military contract pilot training the Royal Saudi Air Force pilots and Weapons Systems Operators.

On return to Australia he was a manager in CASA. After working in the oil and gas off-shore human performance, he now consults in aviation safety management throughout the Australasia.

Matt spends his summers in Antarctica with the Australian Antarctic Program.

Mike Hutchinson

Mike has over 35 years’ experience in aviation including a range of roles with defence, the private aviation sector and the Australian civil aviation regulator. Mike holds a Master’s Degree in Aviation Management and is an aviation safety management and human factors specialist, certified trainer and assessor

Mike has worked extensively throughout the Asia-Pacific region and has held senior roles in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and the Solomon Islands. He has also worked in various United Nations’ projects and deployments, including India and East Timor.

Mike has developed and facilitated aviation safety and human factors courses, workshops and training programs for a wide range of organisations and audiences, including specialised programs for the Australian aviation regulator, CASA. Mike has also developed and delivered SMS and HF workshops for the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority, as part of the Indonesian Transport Safety Assistance Package (ITSAP).

When Mike isn’t absorbed in all things aviation-related, he enjoys working with his partner Jacqui on their farm in regional Victoria. Mike is also the proud father of three strapping sons and an ever-expanding brood of grand-children.

Steve ‘Freddie’ Kruger

Steve ‘Freddie’ Kruger is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy. He then went on to RAAF Pilots course and graduated in 1990. He was an operation C-130 Hercules pilot for 5 years before becoming the Unit Test pilot at 2FTS at RAAF Pearce.

Freddie then re-roled as a fighter pilot and flew F/A-18 aircraft out of both Tindal and Williantown. In 1996 he became a Qualified Flying Instructor and taught at 2FTS to young RAAF pilot cadets

He left the RAAF in 2004 and joined BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia. He taught on both PC-9 aircraft and Hawk jet trainers.

Freddie joined Check-6 in 2014, working on off-shore oil rigs in Australia and Asia

Freddie lives outside Perth in rural bliss with his wife and two daughters

Martin McFarlane (ST)

Marty McFarlane commenced his career through the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1989. After graduation from RAAF Pilots course his was posted to fly F/A-18 Hornets.

Marty draws his SMS knowledge on fifteen years experience in the Royal Australian Air Force as an operational F/A-18 Fighter Pilot, Roulette Formation Aerobatic Team member, Flying Instructor, Training Flight Commander, and as the RAAF Fast Jet Training Standards Checker.

After leaving the RAAF Marty commenced a career as an Airline pilot and now fly’s for a major national carrier as well as being a simulator instructor for the same.

Marty is a sought after as a keynote speaker on the topics of performance development, teamwork, leadership, instruction and safety management. His message is that the keys to individual and team success in high performance aviation teams are universal – corporate teams and leaders can maximise their performance by using simple SMS principles and processes.

Marty and his wife have three children and live in Melbourne