In 2009, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) produces its third edition of Australian Aviation Safety in Review as part of its role to enhance public awareness of aviation safety. This Review has been developed to provide a readily accessible analysis of the Australian aviation industry, with a major focus on communicating the key safety trends. This publication covers the major aircraft operation categories of passenger transport (regular public transport and charter) and general aviation. Sport and recreational aviation is also discussed, as is the burgeoning trend towards amateur…

Non-factory amateur-built and experimental (ABE) aircraft are a popular alternative to general aviation aircraft. In Australia, there is little comprehensive data on these aircraft and what people do when building or buying them second-hand. Key players in this part of aviation were consulted in developing a survey to better understand these aircraft builders and owners. The survey was distributed electronically and in hard copy to owners of VH-registered ABE aircraft, and about 50 per cent of active ABE aircraft owners answered the survey. It focussed on choice of aircraft, construction and…

The aim of this study was to investigate the safety climate1 of Australian aviation as perceived by commercial pilots. To do this, the ATSB sent a survey to 5000 commercial pilots throughout Australia. The survey had two parts: one was a safety climate scale and the other asked about safety experiences during the last year. Demographic information was also sought. This report is limited to the demographic data and the first part of the survey, the safety climate scale. Safety climate perceptions are also reviewed. The safety climate instrument was developed as a generic measure of safety…

(a report produced and published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Canberra, Feb 2004) 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. Data for this…

Following three midair collisions at major general aviation airports in Australia between February and July 2002, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) conducted a review of midair collisions in Australia between 1961 and 2003. The objectives of the review were to identify common characteristics and contributing factors, assess whether there had been a change in the midair collision rate in recent years, and to compare the characteristics and rate of midair collisions with those of other countries.

Although most runway incursions do not result in accidents, the potentially catastrophic consequences of runway incursions place them high on the agendas of aviation safety agencies internationally. The majority of runway incursions in Australia have a low potential to result in an accident. Australia has never experienced a large scale accident due to a runway incursion but vigilance is required to maintain this safety record. Data described and analysed in this report were sourced from the ATSB's OASIS database. The data have been reviewed and analysed to better understand runway incursions…

At about 0110, on 21 June 2000, a fisherman from Iluka, New South Wales, was killed when his 14 m trawler was run down and sunk by a 181 m long, 42 717 tonne deadweight bulk carrier.

The purpose of this publication is to examine trends in the numbers of transport accident deaths in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s in the light of the most recent comparable data from most 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 transport safety improvement compared favourably with that of other OECD countries and performance reached OECD median levels in the 1990s. Data for this publication have been obtained from the World Health Organisations Mortality…

To facilitate comparisons between rail safety in each of the jurisdictions in Australia, comparisons between rail safety in Australia and in other countries, and comparisons between the safety of the different modes of transport (air, water, road and rail), the ATSB has referred wherever possible to national and international standards. The Australian standard AS 4292, Railway safety management, includes an appendix titled 'Incident definition and recording requirements'. State rail safety regulators have also devised a national standard called 'Occurrence categories and definitions'. Both of…

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…