The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has found that fatigue cracking in the blade slots of a high-pressure turbine disk led directly to the uncontained failure of the left engine of a Boeing 767 aircraft that occurred near Brisbane on 8 December 2002. The aircraft was operating a scheduled passenger service to Auckland, New Zealand and was forced to return to Brisbane airport after the failure. Damage to a wing leading-edge flap from engine debris and the weight of the fuel being carried for the trans-Tasman flight led the flight crew to perform a prepared emergency landing, during…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is seeking assistance from the public to locate a door that fell from an aircraft at about 0715 EST Tuesday 7 September 2004. The aircraft, a Raytheon Beechcraft King Air B300, was en route from Brisbane to Central Queensland at position 149 degrees 51 minutes East, 25 degrees South (approximately 14 NM WSW of Theodore township) and descending through 17,000 ft when the cabin door separated from the aircraft. The door is curved, coloured white and about 1.5 m by 0.8 m by 15 cm. The likely area of interest is bounded by Theodore, Glenbar Station,…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that the door that fell from a Raytheon Beechcraft King Air B300 aircraft on Tuesday 7 September 2004 has been located. The ATSB would like to thank media outlets for their cooperation in publicising our request for assistance in finding the cabin door. The door was located to the south-west of Theodore, Central Queensland. With the assistance of the Queensland Police Service the door will be delivered to the ATSB's laboratories in Canberra for examination. The ATSB will now be in a much better position to determine why the door fell…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been advised that two people were fatally injured in a Robinson R44 helicopter crash which occurred at about 6.30pm on 8 September 2004. The accident occurred some 30NM, West South West of Roma, Queensland. The ATSB is sending an investigation team to the site to attempt to determine the causal factors that led to this tragic accident and to make any necessary recommendations to prevent future accidents. Until the team has arrived on site the ATSB will not be able to comment on the circumstances of this tragic accident.

After allowing for activity levels, ATSB research indicates that Robinson R22 helicopters have a similar safety profile to other comparable helicopters. This study was prompted by increasing concerns about light utility helicopter safety in Australia. Light utility helicopters make up half the registered fleet yet were involved in 72 per cent of all helicopter accidents between 1985 and 2003. The report compared accident involvement and accident rates of four helicopter models; Robinson R22, Bell/Agusta/Kawasaki 47G, Hughes/Schweizer 269 and Hiller UH-12E. The Robinson R22 was involved in…

The ATSB's aviation safety survey of commercial pilots, Common Flying Errors, has revealed that, violations of standard operating procedures were more prevalent in general aviation and were involved in 11.8% of all events. The survey asked pilots to identify the main factors contributing to errors and the defences they used to recover. Most errors occurred en route, distantly followed by flight preparation errors. All categories of pilot experienced errors while executing procedures en route, such as not completing their landing checklist, and misprocessing information from their operational…

The failure of officers to use modern navigation bridge management principles was the major factor in the grounding of the Bahamas registered passenger ship Astor during the ship's departure from Townsville at around 7 pm on 26 February 2004, according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report released today. The ATSB report into the Astor grounding released today states that the ship grounded on its port side as it was turning from Townsville harbour into Platypus Channel. The ship heeled about three degrees to starboard and, after about three minutes, slid clear…

A study by the ATSB has shown that just under half of the general aviation fatal accidents in the ten year period between 1991 and 2000 were Uncontrolled Flight Into Terrain (UFIT) accidents, where an intact aircraft collided with a stationary obstacle or terrain after an in-flight loss of control had occurred. In more than half of the UFIT fatal accidents an event that was either not averted, or not managed appropriately by the pilot, or was not within the pilot's control, preceded the loss of control. However, in the vast majority of UFIT fatal accidents that occurred during low-level…

The ATSB has found that the fatal accident at Camden aerodrome on 7 February last year was the result of a simulated engine failure during a flight test at night that was initiated at too low a height to ensure safety. The Beech Duchess twin engine aircraft, VH-JWX, crashed shortly after takeoff, seriously injuring the trainee pilot and fatally injuring the pilot in command who was an Approved Testing Officer (ATO) authorised by the regulator. The aircraft was recovering after the engine failure simulation when the right wingtip collided with a tree. Shortly after, the aircraft impacted the…

The ATSB has found that a stabilised approach and a ground proximity warning system would have reduced the risk of the controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accident that occurred at Coffs Harbour on 15 May 2003. The final Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report was released today. According to the ATSB, the King Air aircraft hit the sea or a reef near the Coffs Harbour boat harbour during an instrument approach in heavy rain and poor visibility. Although the aircraft was damaged and the left main landing gear was broken off, the aircraft kept flying and just cleared a…