In 2004, there were two wirestrike accidents in New South Wales involving helicopters undertaking locust control operations. The first accident occurred in October 2004 near Forbes and resulted in minor injuries to one occupant and extensive damage to the helicopter. The second accident occurred in November 2004 near Dunedoo and resulted in the death of two occupants. A third occupant was seriously injured and there was extensive damage to the helicopter. A third accident, near Mudgee in November 2004, involved a helicopter that was being used for locust control, although the helicopter was…

The ATSB Annual Review documents ATSB's achievements and safety activities from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005 and outlines its business planning for 2005-2006. Executive Directors message In 2004-05 the ATSB benefited considerably from the funding boost for aviation investigations and aviation database replacement that was provided in the May 2004 Federal Budget. During the year, the Bureau recruited and commenced training 12 extra aviation safety investigators, instigated 109 aviation occurrence investigations and released 98 aviation investigation reports, up from around 60 in recent years.…

Recorded voice data, such as from cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) or air traffic control tapes, can be an important source of evidence for accident investigation, as well as for human factors research. However, most of the analysis has been based on subjective interpretation rather than the use of systematic methods, particularly when dealing with the analysis of crew interactions. Conversation analysis uses highly detailed and revealing transcriptions of recorded voice (or video) data that can allow deeper analyses of how people interact. When analysing recorded voice data, and especially for…

Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group, 747-436, G-BNLD 1. FACTUAL INFORMATION 1.1. History of the flight On the evening of March 1, 2002, Boeing 747-436 aircraft G-BNLD sustained the failure of the number-3 (right inboard) engine during a scheduled regular passenger transport flight from Sydney to Bangkok. The flight crew experienced vibrations and received an ENG 3 REVERSER engine indicating and crew alerting system (EICAS) message. The crew shut down the number-3 engine and completed checklist items before returning the aircraft to Sydney. An initial engineering examination found that a fan…

Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group, 747-436, G-BNLK 1. FACTUAL INFORMATION 1.1. Examination brief The disassembled components of an electric air-cooling fan (figure 1) were received by the ATSB Technical Analysis unit for examination and analysis of the damaged fan impeller. The fan unit had been fitted to a Boeing 747 aircraft (registration G-BNLK) to provide forced air circulation for a forward galley chiller unit. During the early stages of a flight on 10 August 2002, a small fire developed in the forward cargo compartment adjacent to this unit (figure 2). Physical and recorded evidence…

There has been a long standing interest among various transport safety organisations, researchers, other stakeholders and the public concerning the relative safety of various transport modes. Questions are often posed along the lines: on average, is travel in a light aircraft safer than a typical journey in a private car? or - what is the safety difference between motorcycle riding and driving a car ? Consideration of relative transport safety risks also has potentially important policy implications, particularly where contingent resource allocation or risk management decisions are involved.…

During a routine departure from Melbourne aerodrome, the inner left main landing gear wheel separated from a B727 aircraft (registration VH-TXH) and was later recovered near the aerodrome perimeter fence. Preliminary examination showed that the outer axle bearing had failed, allowing the wheel hub to move axially outward over the retaining nut and off the stub axle (figure 1).

Sikorsky S76 Helicopter, VH-EXX 1. FACTUAL INFORMATION 1.1 Introduction A Sikorsky S76C helicopter (VH-EXX) sustained a failure of the number-two engine during cruise flight. The failed engine was a Turbomeca Arriel 1S1 turboshaft engine, serial number 15038 and had accumulated 7,935 hours and 6,784 cycles since new. Reports from the flight crew indicated that the engine failure was associated with a loss of gas-generator turbine speed and an escalation of turbine outlet temperatures. Fire warnings for the engine were also received, prompting the pilot commanded shutdown of the engine and…

Boeing 767-238, VH-EAQ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The left engine of a Boeing 767-238 aircraft (VH-EAQ) failed during the climb phase of a regular passenger transport flight from Melbourne to Sydney. After the failure, which was characterised by a single loud 'bang' and severe vibration, the engine was shut down and the aircraft returned to Melbourne. Engineering inspections of the JT9D-7R4 engine found that one of the fan blades had failed part-way along its length and impacted the fan case at the 11 o'clock position, causing the failure of several nose-cowl bolts and substantial damage to components…

The ATSB Annual Review 2002 documents ATSB's achievements and safety activities from 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002 and outlines its business planning for 2002-2003 Executive Directors message The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has made significant progress since it began on 1 July 1999 as an operationally independent body within the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS). During 2001-02, the ATSB assisted the Minister for Transport and Regional Services to develop new legislation that would enable the Bureau to investigate rail accidents on the increasingly…