Hughes 369HS, ZK-HCC Accident near Fox Glacier, New Zealand, 30 November 2003 FACTUAL INFORMATION On 30 November 2003, a New Zealand registered Hughes 369HS, ZK-HCC, was operating on a standard scenic flight over the Fox Glacier, New Zealand. The intended track was over Fox Glacier, around Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, returning via the Fox Glacier to land at Fox Glacier township. After a normal climb to 9,500 ft and commencing level forward flight, the pilot noticed the power turbine speed and main rotor speed reduce. The pilot descended to 6,500 ft where power was restored. Several minutes…

This report examines what, if any, trends may be emerging as a result of the introduction of NAS stage 2b from 27 November 2003. Four indicators - airprox, breakdown of separation (BOS), resolution advisories (RA) and violation of controlled airspace (VCA) - were analysed to assess any net effects resulting from NAS 2b changes. There was no significant change in the rate of airproxes per aircraft movement in the 180-day period after NAS 2b was introduced relative to the 180-day period immediately before. There was also no significant change in airproxes involving RPT aircraft. There was a…

The safety of fishermen and people in small boats is a continuing concern in terms of safety at sea. In the course of your voyages you encounter many types of fishing operations from dug out canoes, with sometimes a candle or oil lantern, to large fishing/factory ships. In and around the Australian coast fishing vessels tend to be less than 20 m in length with a crew of two or three. They often exhibit very bright working lights, though these should be shielded in order to ensure that the fishing lights required by the Colregs can be seen clearly.

This report has been produced by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) using data supplied by the rail safety regulators in each State and the Northern Territory of Australia since 2001. The ATSB does not collect the data itself and depends entirely on the efforts of the rail safety regulators to provide accurate and reliable information. Train kilometres Year NSW NT Qld SA Tas Vic WA Australia 2001 53,086,392 157,051 36,238,151 13,604,617 - 36,830,251 16,205,715 156,122,177 2002 60,015,964 178,007 39,004,733 14,785,344 - 37,903,716 18,779,675 170,667,439 2003 60,668,790…

The purpose of this publication is to examine trends in the numbers of railway accident deaths in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s in the light of comparable data from other countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Overall, the data indicate that in the period from 1980 to 1999 Australia's rail safety improvement compared favourably with that of other OECD countries and performance reached OECD median levels in the 1990s.

Fuel exhaustion and fuel starvation accidents continue to be a problem in the Australian aviation industry, accounting for over 6 per cent of all accidents between 1991 and 2000. Within Australia, fuel exhaustion refers to those occurrences where the aircraft has become completely devoid of useable fuel. Fuel starvation refers to those occurrences where the fuel supply to the engine(s) is interrupted, although there is adequate fuel on board the aircraft. The current study investigates the overall rates of, factors contributing to and significance of fuel-related accidents between 1991 and…

Birdstrikes continue to be a problem for aviation worldwide, costing approximately $US3 billion annually. Increasingly, funds are being directed towards research which focuses on bird control and avoidance methods. Two such methods which are proving to be successful, are the use of hand held laser devices to scare birds from the airport environment, and the use of the US developed Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS), which allows aircraft to avoid high-risk birdstrike areas. This study investigated the Australian birdstrike data for the period 1991 to 2001. Although limited, the available…

The objectives of this draft report are to: Provide objective, statistical measures of the safety of Australian aviation (excluding sport and military) Provide a document that highlights broad trends and developments that have occurred in aviation safety Provide a document that offers a basis to compare aspects of Australian aviation safety against the safety of aviation in other countries Deliver the above utilising a process that is acceptable to stakeholders. Data concerning aviation activity, the aviation industry and aviation accidents were collected from four main sources. Data are…

Introduction The problem of collisions at railway crossings is an on-going one for rail operators, track providers and regulators and road authorities in Australia. While the number of deaths and injuries is small in comparison to other road casualties and has been reduced considerably in recent years, they are the most serious safety issue faced by the rail system in Australia. The genesis of the present project was at a special meeting of the Australian Transport Council (ATC) on 8 August 2002 that considered the outcome of recent tests of locomotive auxiliary lighting. It was agreed at…

Pratt & Whitney Canada PW118A, Engine s/n 115120 INTRODUCTION Airnorth Regional experienced operational problems with a Pratt and Whitney Canada PW118A engine (engine s/n PC-E 115120). The problems ranged from hung starts resulting in aborted hot starts to vibration (sub-idle vibration) and noise from the high pressure (HP) rotor. These problems occurred over a period of several days. In order to resolve the problems the engine was removed from the aircraft to allow further investigation through disassembly. Disassembly revealed that the bolted joint between the HP turbine disk and…