Date Issue Released
Issue number
Issue Owner
Agusta, S.p.A, Construzioni Aeronautiche
Safety issue title
Aircraft design permitted avionics malfunction via moisture
Safety Issue Description

The design and relative positioning of the external air vent and avionics modules permitted the ingress of moisture and particulates that led to corrosion and contamination of electronic avionics components and consequently the generation of multiple erroneous crew alerting system (CAS) messages due to electrical shorting.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Other
Issue number
Issue Owner
Helicopter operator
Safety issue title
Lack of formalised monitoring role
Safety Issue Description

The lack of formalised procedures in place requiring the Air Crew Officer (ACO) to monitor key instrument indications probably contributed to the undetected altitude loss.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: General aviation
Issue number
Issue Owner
Department of Defence
Safety issue title
Lack of deviation alert on ATC system
Safety Issue Description

The absence of an altitude deviation alert within the Australian Defence Air Traffic System increases the risk of undetected altitude variation and contributed to the significant loss of altitude.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Airspace
Issue number
Issue Owner
Agusta, S.p.A, Construzioni Aeronautiche
Safety issue title
Electrical interuption due to water ingress
Safety Issue Description

Interruption of electrical power to the multi purpose flight recorder due to water ingress removed of an important source of information used to identify safety issues.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: General aviation
Issue number
Issue Owner
Component manufacturer
Safety issue title
Aileron servo valve adjustment
Safety Issue Description

The servo valve within the left green aileron servo was incorrectly adjusted during manufacture.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Other
Issue number
Issue Owner
Tiger Airways Australia Pty Limited
Safety issue title
Reporting of incidents
Safety Issue Description

The aircraft operator did not comply with the reporting requirements of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Air transport
Issue number
Issue Owner
BF Goodrich
Safety issue title
Nose landing gear residual stress and hydrogen embrittlement
Safety Issue Description

Fatigue cracking originated within the aircraft nose landing gear (NLG) right axle as the result of surface damage associated with grinding during manufacture, and was probably assisted in its initiation by hydrogen evolved during plating processes.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Other
Issue number
Issue Owner
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Safety issue title
Robinson training requirements
Safety Issue Description

There were no specific training requirements for Robinson helicopters in Australia, such as those in Federal Aviation Administration Special Federal Aviation Regulation 73-2.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: General aviation
Issue number
Issue Owner
Helicopter Flight Centre (Australia)
Safety issue title
Instructor induction process
Safety Issue Description

The helicopter operator's induction checklist did not include the notation of instructors’ ratings and validity periods.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Air transport
Issue number
Issue Owner
CFM International (General Electric / SNECMA)
Safety issue title
Inadequate maintenance intervals
Safety Issue Description

The CFM56-7B engine had sustained bushing and shroud wear sufficient to cause rotor-to-stator contact, after a time in service that was less than the minimum threshold period specified by the manufacturer, for an initial inspection targeted at identifying this problem

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aircraft Maintenance
Issue number
Issue Owner
CFM International (General Electric / SNECMA)
Safety issue title
Engine failure susceptibility
Safety Issue Description

The CFM56-7B engine design was susceptible to VSV bushing and shroud wear that can lead to internal mechanical damage and potential in-flight performance difficulties.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Air transport
Output Number
Title
AO-2009-053-SAN-038
Organisation
Operators of CFM56-7 and CFM56-5 engines
Date released
Approval Date
Status
Closed
Recommendation type
Output Number
Title
AO-2009-032-SAN-019
Organisation
Operators and pilots
Date released
Approval Date
Status
Closed
Recommendation type
Issue number
Issue Owner
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Safety issue title
CASA Documentation
Safety Issue Description

The flight planning requirements at page 88 of the Visual Flight Guide included a transcription error that inadvertently limited the application of the requirements of Civil Aviation Regulation 239.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Other
Issue number
Issue Owner
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Safety issue title
Flight Review guidance
Safety Issue Description

The current advice in Civil Aviation Advisory Publication 5.81-1(0) Flight Crew Licensing Flight Reviews in relation to the assessment of navigation skills, represents a missed opportunity to identify a pilot's capacity to make safe and appropriate decisions during cross country flying.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: General aviation
Issue number
Issue Owner
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Safety issue title
Robinson-specific training
Safety Issue Description

There was no Australian requirement for endorsement and recurrent training conducted on Robinson Helicopter Company R22/R44 helicopters to specifically address the preconditions for, recognition of, or recovery from, low main rotor RPM.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: General aviation
Issue number
Issue Owner
Heliwork WA Pty Ltd
Safety issue title
Pilots operating outside level of competence
Safety Issue Description

There was a lack of assurance that informal operator supervisory and experience-based policy, procedures and practices minimised the risk of pilots operating outside the individual pilot’s level of competence.

Date issue released
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: General aviation
Output Number
Title
AO-2007-066-SR-081
Organisation
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Date released
Approval Date
Status
Closed - Action Taken
Recommendation type
Issue number
Issue Owner
Alliance Airlines
Safety issue title
Multiple occurrences of the speed selector knob not being set correctly and flight crews not detecting the incorrect setting
Safety Issue Description

Likely due to a training deficiency, Alliance Airlines flight crews' conduct of the Before start procedures and Pre-take-off brief review were not being performed effectively to ensure the speed selector knob was correctly set and checked, which increased the risk of a low-speed event after take-off. 

Issue Status
Closed – Adequately addressed
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Aviation: Air transport
Issue number
Issue Owner
Airservices Australia
Safety issue title
Risk management of specific threat scenarios
Safety Issue Description

Although Airservices Australia used applied operational risk assessments to high-level threats, it did not formally assess and manage the risk of specific threat scenarios. As a likely result, Airservices did not formally identify and risk manage the threat of separate aircraft concurrently carrying out the MARUB SIX standard instrument departure and a missed approach from runway 34R at Sydney Airport, even though it had been a known issue among controllers generally.

Issue Status
Closed – Adequately addressed
Mode of Transport
Aviation
Transport Function
Airspace