Section 21 (2) of the Transport Safety Investigation Act
2003 (TSI Act) empowers the ATSB to discontinue an
investigation at any time. Section 21 (3) of the TSI Act requires
the ATSB to publish a statement setting out the reasons for
discontinuing an investigation.
The ATSB had commenced an investigation into the triggering of
GPWS alerts in a Boeing Company 737 during its approach to land at
Darwin Airport, NT on 9 November 2009. Information obtained from
the aircraft operator and the aircraft manufacturer indicated that
the alerts signalled a minor problem with flap settings that the
crew rectified without difficulty. The ATSB has assessed that the
occurrence was unlikely to have any significant implications for
transport safety and has elected to discontinue the
investigation.
The data collected in the course of the investigation may be used
by the ATSB for future statistical analysis and safety research
purposes.