The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is leading the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean. The most promising clues to the final location of the aircraft are satellite communication (SATCOM) signals between MH370, the Indian Ocean Region Inmarsat satellite, and the Inmarsat ground station in Perth, WA. Work by an international team of specialists using the Burst Timing Offset (BTO) identified the seventh arc as the likely final location of MH370. Further work has been done using the Burst Frequency Offset (BFO) to identify the priority search…

The Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin covers a range of the ATSB’s short investigations and highlights valuable safety lessons for pilots, operators and safety managers. Released periodically, the Bulletin provides a summary of the less-complex factual investigation reports conducted by the ATSB. The results, based on information supplied by organisations or individuals involved in the occurrence, detail the facts behind the event, as well as any safety actions undertaken. The Bulletin also highlights important Safety Messages for the broader aviation community, drawing on earlier ATSB…

The Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin covers a range of the ATSB’s short investigations and highlights valuable safety lessons for pilots, operators and safety managers. Released periodically, the Bulletin provides a summary of the less-complex factual investigation reports conducted by the ATSB. The results, based on information supplied by organisations or individuals involved in the occurrence, detail the facts behind the event, as well as any safety actions undertaken. The Bulletin also highlights important Safety Messages for the broader aviation community, drawing on earlier ATSB…

Amended: 30 March 2017This amended version corrects the previous version’s formatting errors. __________________ Requests have been received from external interested parties to release any information from the SU logs (recorded at the ground earth station for the communications with the terminal on 9M-MRO) containing BTO and BFO values prior to those originally published. There are two logs that contain BTO and BFO data prior to 1600 UTC while 9M-MRO was powered-up at the gate in Kuala Lumpur. The two additional log messages have been incorporated into the first two lines of the table in the…

The Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin covers a range of the ATSB’s short investigations and highlights valuable safety lessons for pilots, operators and safety managers. Released periodically, the Bulletin provides a summary of the less-complex factual investigation reports conducted by the ATSB. The results, based on information supplied by organisations or individuals involved in the occurrence, detail the facts behind the event, as well as any safety actions undertaken. The Bulletin also highlights important Safety Messages for the broader aviation community, drawing on earlier ATSB…

When aviation safety incidents and accidents happen, they are reported to the ATSB. The most serious of these are investigated, but most reports are used to help the ATSB build a picture of how prevalent certain types of occurrences are in different types of aviation operations. The ATSB uses this data to proactively look for emerging safety trends. By monitoring trends, issues of concern can be communicated and action taken to prevent accidents. Proactive trend monitoring is a data-driven process, reviewing all occurrences to see if there are subtle changes that may point to a larger issue.…

The Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin covers a range of the ATSB’s short investigations and highlights valuable safety lessons for pilots, operators and safety managers. Released periodically, the Bulletin provides a summary of the less-complex factual investigation reports conducted by the ATSB. The results, based on information supplied by organisations or individuals involved in the occurrence, detail the facts behind the event, as well as any safety actions undertaken. The Bulletin also highlights important Safety Messages for the broader aviation community, drawing on earlier ATSB…

The Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin covers a range of the ATSB’s short investigations and highlights valuable safety lessons for pilots, operators and safety managers. Released periodically, the Bulletin provides a summary of the less-complex factual investigation reports conducted by the ATSB. The results, based on information supplied by organisations or individuals involved in the occurrence, detail the facts behind the event, as well as any safety actions undertaken. The Bulletin also highlights important Safety Messages for the broader aviation community, drawing on earlier ATSB…

This is the first publication in a series from the ATSB on aerial application (agricultural spraying and firefighting) accidents during the previous operational year (May 2014 to April 2015). Aerial application operations have a notably high accident rate relative to other aviation sectors. These operations involve inherent risks that are not present in most other types of flying. Risks include low-level flying with high workloads and numerous obstacles, in particular powerlines and uneven terrain. This report will focus on the aerial application accidents that occurred between May 2014 and…

Introduction The ATSB 2013–14 Annual Report outlines performance against the outcome and program structure in the 2013–14 Infrastructure and Transport Portfolio Budget Statements.  Chief Commissioner’s review 2013–14 2013–14 was the ATSB’s fifth year in its current form as a fully independent agency within the Infrastructure and Regional Development portfolio. I am honoured that the Deputy Prime Minister has appointed me to continue as Chief Commissioner for the next two years, which I take as a strong vote of confidence in the organisation and the work we do. We have had another…