Safety in Australian skies will be enhanced through a new aviation threat and error management (TEM) training course for passenger and general aviation operations, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile, announced today.

A media conference to launch the training package will be held today, Monday 20 August 2007 at the Human Factors in Transport 2007 Conference

Where: Rendezvous Hotel, 328 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
Time: 13:30 local time

The Executive Director of the ATSB, Mr Kym Bills and the chairman of the Australian region of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN), Mr John Whittington will discuss the training package, which will be delivered around Australia from 24 August 2007.

GAPAN Press Release [ 76 kB PDF]

ATSB has received a large number of media calls referring to the article on page 1 of today's Sydney Morning Herald. The article incorrectly reflects the current status of ATSB's investigation and needs to be clarified. The ATSB's Executive Director has written a letter to the editor of the newspaper in the following terms:

Editor

Today's page 1 article "Ansett beats threat to shut it down" includes a number of statements purporting to reflect the current status of ATSB's investigation that are incorrect.

ATSB's safety deficiency investigation was formally commenced on 11January2001 and includes the roles of Ansett, CASA, Boeing and the FAA. Its terms have been posted on ATSB's web site with updates as appropriate.

The investigation is ongoing and other than in respect of the two safety recommendations released on 12 April, it is not correct that ATSB has reached any conclusions with respect to CASA or anyone else. ATSB has received full cooperation in its investigation to date from Ansett, CASA, Boeing and the FAA.

ATSB has not assessed the contents of the CASA internal audit report. ATSB received a copy of the CASA internal audit report after it became public this week.

Yours sincerely

Kym Bills
Executive Director

20 April 2001

A media conference discussing the progress of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Aero Commander fatal accident on 31 July 2007 will be held today, Wednesday 1 August 2007

Where: On the road between West Wallan and Clonbinane, East of Monument Hill in Victoria. (37deg 21.4S 145deg 05.8E)
Time: 13:30 local time (Eastern Standard Time)

Mr Alex Hood, the investigator in charge (IIC), will discuss factual information known to the investigation team at this time and will outline the investigation process.

Any person/witness with information about the accident is encouraged to contact the ATSB on 1800 020 616.

No further media briefings will be conducted by the on-site team. After this briefing, all media enquiries must be directed to the media contact listed below.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) advised (Media Release of 10 April 2001) that it was widening the safety deficiency investigation that commenced on 11 January 2001 into airline aircraft maintenance requirements. The widening of the examination will include a review of procedures employed by manufacturers, regulatory and certifying authorities and airline operators.

On two recent occasions, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority found it necessary to specifically mandate operator compliance with an aircraft manufacturer's airworthiness recommendation contained in a Service Bulletin, even though compliance was not mandatory in the country of design and manufacture.

Today, the ATSB is releasing the following two safety recommendations:

• Recommendation 20010092 states: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority take steps to ensure that the continuing airworthiness requirements for Australian registered Class A aircraft are not compromised through any lack of action by the national airworthiness authorities of other countries.

• Recommendation 20010093 states: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority take responsibility to ensure that all service bulletins relevant to Australian registered Class A aircraft are received and assessed for safety of flight implications. The assessment process should ensure that those aspects affecting the safety of flight of Class A aircraft are implemented or mandated as necessary and that appropriate systems are in place to ensure compliance.

A media conference discussing the progress of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Piper PA-30, Twin Comanche fatal accident on 4 February 2007 will be held today, Monday 5 February 2007

Where: Casuarina Housing Estate, Kingscliff Beach NSW
Time: 15:00 local time (NSW Time)

Mr Rod Fearon, the Operations investigator, will discuss factual information known to the investigation team at this time and will outline the investigation process.

Any person/witness with information about the accident is encouraged to contact the ATSB on 1800 020 616.

No further media briefings will be conducted by the on-site team. After this briefing, all media enquiries must be directed to the media contact listed.

If you have read an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation, research, or statistical report in the past 12 months the ATSB wants to hear from you.

The ATSB is an operationally independent bureau within the Australian Government Department of Transport and Regional Services and is Australia prime agency for transport safety investigations. It is entirely separate from transport regulators and service providers; The Bureau investigates and produces reports and statistics on all modes of transport: rail, sea, air and road.

The ATSB has commissioned Colmar Brunton to conduct a survey on its behalf so that it can better understand your needs and find out how satisfied you are with reports published by the Bureau.

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

Responses to the survey are anonymous and confidential, and Colmar Brunton will only provide the ATSB with their analysis of the responses to ensure that readers are able to provide honest and complete feedback.

Questions about the survey can be directed to 1800 020 616.

On 11 January 2001, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau advised that it had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the omission by Ansett Australia to undertake specified maintenance requirements for Boeing 767 aircraft [Media Release]. This situation was regarded as having the potential to affect adversely the safety of aviation and was a safety deficiency. Accordingly, a safety deficiency investigation was commenced. The investigation is continuing with the full cooperation of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the United States Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and Ansett Australia.

On 9 April, the ATSB was notified that cracks had been located during inspections of the engine pylon wing attachment fittings on Boeing 767 aircraft operated by Ansett. These fittings were the subject of a Boeing Service Bulletin issued on 2 March 2000.

The safety deficiency investigation that was commenced on 11January2001, has been extended today and will include an examination of procedures for the control of the continuing airworthiness of Class A aircraft, which includes the Boeing 767. The examination will include a review of procedures employed by manufacturers, regulatory and certifying authorities and airline operators.

The ATSB wishes to thank the many people who have participated in our readership survey over the last week. If you have not yet participated, but wish to, you only have a few more days. The survey concludes this Sunday 10 June.

Please follow this link to have your say about ATSB reports: http://surveys.cbr.com.au/atsb(Opens in a new tab/window) "CLOSED"

We encourage you to take this opportunity to provide us with your valuable feedback. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the ATSB on 1800 020 616.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's prime air safety investigation agency. It conducts independent investigations of civil aviation accidents, incidents and safety deficiencies.

The former Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) no longer exists.

The ATSB was formed almost two years ago as a multi-modal safety bureau and incorporated the functions of the former BASI. Part of its mission is to maintain and improve transport safety and public confidence through excellence in open and 'independent' no-blame systemic transport accident, incident and deficiency investigation.

The ATSB has statutory powers for aviation and marine investigation independent of parties that may be the subject of a safety investigation such as operators, manufacturers, service providers and regulators.

The ATSB's other safety roles include statistical analysis and research, coordination of the national road safety strategy and responsibility for the Black Spot Road Safety Program and Vehicle Recall Unit.

Contacts

24-hour Information Hotline: 1800 020 616
Aviation Accident Notification Hotline: 1800 011 034

Today the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released its report on the contaminated aviation gasoline (Avgas) investigation that followed the grounding of thousands of piston engine aircraft across eastern Australia in January 2000.

The investigation found that a very small amount of an anti-corrosion chemical that was not removed in Mobil's avgas refining process in late 1999, and not detected by the usual tests, led to the safety problem.

The ATSB has made 24 separate recommendations that include recommended safety actions for Mobil Oil Australia, US and UK fuel standards bodies, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and other Australian regulatory organisations.

ATSB Executive Director Kym Bills said, "The scale of the avgas contamination was an unprecedented event anywhere in the world and was unexpected in such a mature industry as fuel refining. As a result, it caught the refiner and regulators by surprise. The investigation highlighted certain deficiencies in international fuel standards."

The investigation found that a temporary variation in the production process at Mobil's Altona refinery in late 1999 involving problems with reduced caustic wash and increased acid carry over, led to an increased dosage of an alkaline anti-corrosion chemical by a contractor. This was not totally removed from the final avgas. The normal tests for the quality of avgas did not pick up the very small concentration of the chemical contaminant in the avgas that was sufficient to react with brass in aircraft fuel systems and form a black 'gunk' that clogged them.

A number of warning signs and system deficiencies that could have been better dealt with by the refiner and other parties are the subject of safety recommendations.

"ATSB's role is not to ascribe 'blame' to any party. It is our task to uncover the facts including all of the significant contributory factors (including weaknesses in defences), and then to publish findings and recommendations as we have done today.

"As with all ATSB's investigations, it is important that relevant parties learn from these safety deficiencies and act promptly on the 24 recommendations made by us to reduce the chances of a recurrence, either with Avgas or jet fuel, that could endanger flight safety," Mr Bills said.

The report, Systemic Investigation into Fuel Contamination.