The 'Black Box' flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the fatal Metroliner aircraft accident near Lockhart River on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland are arriving at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau headquarters at 15 Mort St in Canberra at 7 pm today, Monday 9 May 2005. The ATSB will provide the opportunity for a photo shoot (only) of the recorders arrival. Channel 9 and The Australian Newspaper have agreed to film/photograph the recorders on a pool basis and make it available to all media outlets. Please note, due to space and security requirements this will be a strictly…

A media conference discussing the factual information contained in the report and the progress of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Piper Chieftain fatal accident on 2 December 2005 will be held on, Tuesday 31 January 2006. Where: Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour SYDNEY (Rotor Tech 2006 - Hall 3 ATSB Booth No.2) Time: 15:00 (local time) Mr Alan Stray, Deputy Director, Aviation Safety Investigation will discuss the factual material contained in the report and progress of the investigation.

At the request of the Queensland Government, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has dispatched a team of Transport Safety Investigators to conduct an investigation into the Tilt Train Accident near Bundaberg which occurred in the early hours of 16 November 2004. An initial team of three ATSB Transport Safety Investigators from Brisbane and Adelaide will be onsite this morning to commence the safety investigation. The investigation will be run in conjunction with Queensland Transport. Any person/witness with information about the derailment should contact the ATSB on 1800 020 616.

An ICAO audit of the ATSB has reported high satisfaction with Australia's legislative, organisational and training framework for aircraft safety investigation and the professional and efficient conduct of the ATSB investigations reviewed in detail. The audit by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was sought by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to ensure that the ATSB met international best practice for aviation accident and incident safety investigation. The ICAO audit team 'commended the positive and professional approach of the ATSB in proactively…

In a pro-active move to reduce the number of collisions between trading ships and commercial fishing vessels on the Australian coast, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has launched an Australia-wide safety awareness campaign. The campaign is designed to raise the awareness of commercial fishermen to the contributory factors which the ATSB has identified during its investigation of 21 collisions between trading ships and fishing vessels since 1990 that have ongoing relevance. The aim of the campaign is to highlight some of the risks associated with fishing on the Australian coast.…

The ATSB has found that the third officer of the Panamanian tanker Port Arthur suffered a fracture of his cervical spine during a lifeboat drill on 20 October 2003. Three other crew in the lifeboat escaped serious injury when the boat fell 10 metres into Port Botany after its suspension hooks opened prematurely while it was being launched. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its investigation report into the accident which concludes that the lifeboat's on-load release hooks had not been correctly reset when the boat was last lowered. Lack of effective maintenance had…

On 21 March 2003 the port main engine of the Australian cargo ship Searoad Mersey failed catastrophically leaving the vessel disabled in Bass Strait. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its investigation report into the incident. At 1612 on 21 March 2003, the roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel Searoad Mersey departed from Melbourne on a scheduled service to Devonport in Tasmania. By 1924 the ship had cleared Point Lonsdale and was heading in a south-easterly direction in Bass Strait. At about 2118, the duty engineer received an engine room alarm and made his way to the…

The ATSB investigation into the fatal Piper Seneca accident on 11 November 2003, at Bankstown Airport has found that the aircraft banked right and speared into the ground during a go-around manoeuvre. The aircraft was being operated on a multi-engine endorsement training flight with an instructor and student on board. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the post-impact fire. The student was fatally injured in the accident and the instructor received severe burns and died three and a half weeks after the accident. The ATSB interim factual report finds that the engines were…