Light utility helicopters made up half the fleet of registered helicopters in Australia yet were involved in 72 per cent of helicopter accidents between January 1985 and December 2003. This report compared the relative safety of four light utility helicopter models. These are the: Robinson R22, 47G (made variously by Bell Helicopter Company, Agusta SPA Costruzioni or Kawasaki Heavy Industries), 269 (made by Hughes Helicopters or Schweizer Aircraft Corporation) and Hiller UH-12E. These helicopters are primarily single engine, reciprocating engine aircraft and the demand for them in Australia…

October Audit Report of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) of Australia (Field work conducted in Canberra, 31 May to 4 June 2004). Executive Summary The ICAO audit team commended the positive and professional approach of the ATSB in proactively seeking the audit. The team was highly satisfied with the legislative and organizational framework established by Australia and the ATSB enabling the conduct of aircraft accident and incident investigations. Nevertheless, the audit focussed on all areas related to accident and incident investigation and found possible areas of improvement.…

When fishing in waters off the Australian coast, fishermen will encounter large trading ships. Unfortunately, sometimes ships and fishing vessels collide. The ATSB has investigated 21 of these collisions since 1990. In two collisions investigated, the skippers of the fishing vessels were trapped in their wheelhouses and drowned when the vessels sank. The investigations have revealed that in almost all the collisions, there were similar factors present which contributed to the accident and precautions had not been taken that may have saved a life or at least aided the search for survivors.

The ATSB Annual Review 2003 documents ATSB's achievements and safety activities from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003 and outlines its business planning for 2003-2004 Executive Director's message During 2002-03, the ATSB assisted the Minister for Transport and Regional Services with new legislation to enable the Bureau to investigate rail accidents on the increasingly important interstate system. The Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI Act) also updates and harmonises the Bureau's aviation and marine investigative powers. The Transport Safety Investigation Regulations 2003 were also…

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…

The adequacy of MBZ procedures to ensure the safety of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), Regular Public Transport (RPT) and charter aircraft has been questioned several times since their inception in 1991. The former Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) recommended in 1993 that, to enhance safety within MBZs (then called MTAFs), areas such as pilot education and training, along with stricter surveillance and enforcement of procedural compliance, be reviewed. BASI further recommended in 1997 that options for pilots to confirm the correct operation of communication equipment be examined. The…

Alcohol is a widely used drug, and its abuse is a serious public health problem. Alcohol has many widespread effects on the body, and impairs almost all forms of cognitive function, such as information processing, decision-making, attention and reasoning. Visual and vestibular functions are also adversely affected. The performance of any demanding task, such as flying an aircraft, is thus impaired by the effects of alcohol. Many studies have shown a significant proportion of aircraft accidents associated with alcohol use. Alcohol increases the risk of spatial disorientation, hypoxia and poor…

Cannabis is a commonly used recreational drug, which has widespread effects within the body. Smoking is the most common form of administration. The adverse effects of cannabis on behaviour, cognitive function and psychomotor performance are dose-dependent and related to task difficulty. Complex tasks such as driving or flying are particularly sensitive to the performance impairing effects of cannabis. Chronic cannabis use is associated with a number of adverse health effects, and there is evidence suggesting the development of tolerance to chronic use as well as a well-defined withdrawal…

Executive summary Australian aviation is, by world standards, extremely safe. Fatal accidents in regular public transport (RPT) operations are low and, since the late 1960s, have been confined to low capacity operations. Australia has not had a high capacity RPT fatal accident since 1968 and has not had a RPT jet fatal accident.  The vast majority of Australian civil fatal aircraft accidents occur in general aviation (GA) operations. This study examined Australian ‘VH-registered’ civil aircraft involved in GA fatal accidents for the period 1991 to 2000, and covers fatal accident numbers…

Error Management Training - Defining best practice [Download complete report - PDF: 743KB] Error Management Training- Interview study to identify error management practices in experienced training captains [Download complete report - PDF: 805KB] Error Management Training - Simulator study to identify error management training in current practice [Download complete report - PDF: 1.18MB]