Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain, VH-WGI, Launceston, Tasmania, on 17 September 1993

The main purpose for investigating air safety occurrences is to prevent aircraft accidents by establishing what, how and why the occurrence took place, and determining what the occurrence reveals about the safety health of the aviation system.

Such information is used to make recommendations aimed at reducing or eliminating the probability of a repetition of the same type of occurrence, and where appropriate, to increase the safety of the overall system.

To produce effective recommendations, the information collected, and the conclusions reached must be analysed in a way that reveals the relationships between the individuals involved in the occurrence, and the design and characteristics of the systems within which those individuals operate.