This study reviewed safety trends in the Australian aviation
charter industry for the period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2006.
It builds on a previous descriptive study that reviewed immediately
reportable matters (IRMs) for regular public transport (RPT)
aviation operations. Together, charter and RPT operations make up
the air transport sector in Australia. Similar to the previous
report, a subset of generally more serious IRMs were reviewed
including: accidents; violations of controlled airspace (VCA);
breakdowns of separation (BOS) and airproxes; fire, smoke,
explosions or fumes; crew injury or incapacitation; fuel
exhaustion; and uncontained engine failures. Charter flying
activity, measured as flying hours and number of charter operators,
was also reviewed.
Hours flown in charter operations initially declined over the
study period with an increase across 2004 to 2006. However, the
number of hours flown in 2006, the latest year reviewed, was not as
high as the historical peak in charter hours observed in 1999. The
number of charter operators decreased in 2005 and 2006, so fewer
operators conducted more of the hours flown in those years.
Total IRMs reported and the IRM categories examined, were
generally stable with the exception of accidents. The rate of
accidents decreased significantly between 2001 and 2006.
Occurrences involving fire, smoke or fumes, and airspace-related
occurrences such as VCA and BOS/airprox, remained stable with no
statistically significant increase in the rate across 2001 to 2006.
The rate of fuel exhaustion occurrences for the period was 0.4
occurrences per 100,000 hours flown. The other IRM categories; crew
injury/incapacitation and uncontained engine failures, were
rare.
This review provided encouraging data on the charter accident
rate, emphasised the stability of the rate of airspace related
occurrences, and the rarity of uncontained engine failures and crew
incapacitation in charter operations.