ATSB has received a large number of media calls referring to the article on page 1 of today's Sydney Morning Herald. The article incorrectly reflects the current status of ATSB's investigation and needs to be clarified. The ATSB's Executive Director has written a letter to the editor of the newspaper in the following terms:
Editor
Today's page 1 article "Ansett beats threat to shut it down" includes a number of statements purporting to reflect the current status of ATSB's investigation that are incorrect.
ATSB's safety deficiency investigation was formally commenced on 11January2001 and includes the roles of Ansett, CASA, Boeing and the FAA. Its terms have been posted on ATSB's web site with updates as appropriate.
The investigation is ongoing and other than in respect of the two safety recommendations released on 12 April, it is not correct that ATSB has reached any conclusions with respect to CASA or anyone else. ATSB has received full cooperation in its investigation to date from Ansett, CASA, Boeing and the FAA.
ATSB has not assessed the contents of the CASA internal audit report. ATSB received a copy of the CASA internal audit report after it became public this week.
Yours sincerely
Kym Bills
Executive Director
20 April 2001