Safety issue
The company operations manual did not specify any recovery
procedures in the event of inadvertent entry into Instrument
Meteorological Conditions (IMC).
Operator comment
During the investigation and consideration of the draft report,
the operator indicated that it would develop procedures for
application by pilots in the event of inadvertent entry into IMC
for inclusion in its operations manual. The operator suggested that
those procedures would be incorporated into existing emergency
training, and would include the initial requirement to control the
aircraft and options for recovery to Visual Meteorological
Conditions (VMC).
ATSB comment
The ATSB made a number of attempts to obtain confirmation of any
safety action taken by the operator in response to this safety
issue. However, due to circumstances beyond the operator's control,
the operator has, as yet, been unable to respond.
This investigation report could be expected to prove relevant to
a number of other operators and to pilots in general. That
relevance is timely, given the approach of winter and the
accompanying weather patterns in a large part of Australia. On that
basis, it was decided to progress the release of the final report
to the public, rather than delaying the release pending the
operator's input.
A safety risk analysis was carried out by the ATSB and, on that
basis, it was determined that safety action would be sought by the
operator via the following safety recommendation.
Safety Recommendation
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the
operator address this safety issue.
ATSB assessment of response/action
Despite a number of unsuccessful attempts over an extended
period of time to contact the operator, the ATSB has been unable to
confirm any safety action taken by the operator in response to this
safety issue. On that basis, and given the intervening time since
the issue of the recommendation, the recommendation has been closed
- no action.