Each year, 'responsible persons', as defined in the Transport
Safety Investigation Regulations 2003, Part 2.5, provide the
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) with reports on aviation
accidents and incidents, collectively termed occurrences. These
reports are used by the ATSB to assist with the independent
investigation of occurrences and for identifying safety trends.
This report provides aviation occurrence data for the period 1
January 1999 to 31 December 2009. The data contained herein is
dynamic and subject to change pending the provision of new
information to the ATSB. The data will be adjusted biannually to
reflect new information received during the reporting
period.
For commercial air transport (high capacity regular public
transport (RPT), low capacity RPT and charter), although the
accident rate had climbed in 2007 and 2008, the number of accidents
reduced from 29 (2008) to 11 in 2009. This accident trend was
mostly driven by changes in the accident rate for charter
operations. Similarly, the number of serious incidents for
commercial air transport reduced from 45 (2007 and 2008) to 26 in
2009. There were no fatal air transport accidents in 2009. One
significant accident in 2009 involved the tail scrape and runway
excursion at takeoff of a foreign-registered Airbus A340-500 in
Melbourne on 20 March. Charter has an accident rate that is about
five times that of low capacity and high capacity RPT. Most fatal
accidents in commercial air transport are in charter operations,
and it has a similar rate of fatal accidents to all general
aviation.
For general aviation (aerial work, flying training, and
private/business and (VH-registered) sport aviation), accidents and
serious incidents have remained generally consistent since 2007. In
2009, there were 126 accidents, including 18 fatal accidents, and
95 serious incidents. Compared with flying training, aerial work
has an accident rate per million hours that is two times higher,
and private/business has an accident rate that is 2.5 times higher.
In terms of fatal accidents per million hours, the fatality rate in
aerial work is three times higher than flying training, and
private/business is at least six times higher.