Approximately 1.5 to 2 billion passengers fly on the world's civil aircraft each year. As the population ages, the number of air travellers increases and longer routes are flown by bigger aircraft, the number of medical events involving passengers is anticipated to increase. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, nature, type and extent of medical problems and injuries occurring in passengers on board civil registered aircraft. The aim, in particular, was to determine the most common in-flight medical problems in passengers, and what proportion of these events result in an…

On the 20th May 1988 at approximately 1609 hours, a Cessna 172 collided with a Piper Tomahawk in the circuit area at Coolangatta, Queensland. The accident, in which four people died, occurred in conditions of good visibility. This collision and others which occurred in the late 1980s drew attention to the deficiencies of the see-and-avoid concept. The Coolangatta accident report stated that: 'As a result of this accident, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation has undertaken to conduct an evaluation and prepare a report on the practicability of the see and be seen (see-and-avoid) principle in…

This study provides an overview of aircraft cabin safety communications in Australia, in terms of effectiveness, passenger attitudes to such communications and opportunities that exist for improvement. Most passengers agreed that paying attention to cabin safety communications is important. However, results revealed that behaviours do not always match this perception. Perceived relevance of safety information and frequency of travel were found to be significant factors affecting passenger attitudes and behaviours. High levels of message recognition, combined with excessive levels of…

Significant attention has been given in the literature to aviation safety, with emphasis on the importance of developing and maintaining resilience to accidents.  To date, this attention has remained at the conceptual level, with comparatively little empirical research undertaken to test the validity of concepts put forward in the literature. This report presents the findings of a qualitative study, investigating the factors perceived to facilitate safety culture and institutional resilience within airlines.  Thirty-two senior managers, drawn from Safety Departments and Flight…

This report presents a tool for representing and analysing recorded voice data in investigations of aviation occurrences, or other transport occurrences. The report is one part of a research consultancy project conducted by the author for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). The two project outcomes are the result of around one month's full-time activity, conducted over March to June 2006. The overall aim of the project is to explore the potential value of an established sociological academic research methodology, called conversation analysis (often CA), for representing and…

Civil aviation safety is based on managing the safety of knowledge of things that can affect the safety of flight. One of these sets of knowledge is confidence that the facilities at the destination will be good enough to give confidence of a safe landing. Weather at the destination can affect the safety of a landing. Detailed historical records are kept of weather observations and weather forecasts. This study has analysed the level of statistical confidence that has been achieved with destination weather forecasts under various conditions. It has also looked at other mechanisms that are or…

How does Australia's aviation safety record compare with that of other Western countries? To answer this, fatal accident and fatality rates for Australia were compared with similar rates for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, between 1995 and 2004 (the latest year for which comparable data was available). The ATSB aviation accident and incident database was searched to identify all fatal accidents involving Australian civil registered aircraft during this period. The dataset was then matched with comparable datasets for the overseas countries, taking into…

Technical Analysis Report " Short Bros. SD360-300, VH-SUM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On 13 August 2000, a Shorts SD-360 aircraft (VH-SUM) sustained an in-flight shutdown of the right engine, which was later attributed to the seizure of the gas generator and power sections of the turbine. Further examination of the engine by the ATSB and Pratt & Whitney Canada showed the seizure to have stemmed from the distress and severe overheating of the engine number one bearing in the compressor section. Despite the degree of damage to the bearing races, evidence of electrical arcing damage was found on the…

Producing the annual review is in line with a recommendation of the McGrath report into the former Bureau of Air Safety Investigation released in August 1999 to improve the transparency and accountability of the Bureau. Creation of the ATSB on 1 July 1999 brought together the safety investigation, statistical analysis, research and safety program management of the Commonwealth's transport safety role in one multi-modal agency within the Department of Transport and Regional Services. ATSB intends to prepare an annual review to provide all stakeholders with an overview of its activities and…

Executive Director's message The 2005-06 financial year continued to have a substantial building element for the ATSB as rail investigation further matured and aviation investigators were trained and prepared for 2006-07 implementation of a new aviation safety database with associated project and risk management. The Bureau is continuing its commitment to training its investigators through the Diploma of Transport Safety Investigation. In 2005-06, ten staff completed the Transport Safety Investigation (TSI) Diploma and a further 25 were progressing through the coursework and mentoring. In…