Safety Issue

CASA did not have a systematic process for determining the relative risk levels of airline operators.

This issue was discussed in the analysis section of the draft report but was not listed as a safety issue. However, it has now been included as a safety issue following assessment of comments on the draft report.

Safety Recommendation

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority address this safety issue.

CASA has a project underway to review, and if necessary, redesign elements of the oversight regime. The implementation phase of the project commences in early 2008.

This project also includes a risk assessment module. It is intended that the entire surveillance system be based upon an integrated risk framework.

The ATSB notes the actions being taken by CASA to address this safety issue and has amended the status of this recommendation to 'Monitor'.

There is significant progress of the Industry Oversight Project in developing the systematic assessment of relative risks of airline operators. A large group of smaller operators were assessed for relative safety risk when they became part of the oversight responsibility of CASA's Air Transport Operations Group. This assessment was achieved using a method initially developed between the Group and the Project and this method is currently being further developed to be applied across all Air Operators under the Group's oversight. This enables the Group to target its resources effectively and identify clearly operators who may not be managing safety appropriately based on risk. The same method is to be further developed, adapted and applied for all CASA oversight activity. 

The ATSB acknowledges that CASA is undertaking positive action to address this safety issue. Before the ATSB closes this safety recommendation it would like to be advised about the success and outcomes of the actions described by CASA.