The ATSB has released recommendations to CASA relating to fitment of aircraft autopilot equipment and crew instrument approach qualifications as part of the investigation into the Lockhart River fatal accident on 7 May 2005. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that the Metroliner aircraft that crashed near Lockhart River on 7 May 2005 was not fitted with an autopilot and the copilot was not qualified to conduct the instrument approach the crew were conducting. Addressing both is seen by the ATSB as desirable to improve future safety. The aircraft was being operated on a scheduled…

A media conference for the release of the interim Report and the two discussion papers will be held on Thursday 31 August 2006. Where: 15 Mort Street, Canberra City (ATSB Headquarters) Time: 10:30 local time Mr Alan Stray, Deputy Director, Information and Investigations will discuss factual information contained in the Report and the two discussion papers.

The ATSB's final investigation report into the Piper Aztec accident which killed a family of five near Mareeba, Queensland on 1 October 2003, has found that the pilot was probably incapacitated as a result of a cardiac event. The pilot, his wife and three children were conducting a private flight from Mareeba, to Roma, Queensland, in the Piper Aztec aircraft, registered VH-WAC. Witnesses reported that shortly after the aircraft took off from runway 28, it started to bank to the left. The left bank gradually steepened…

An execution error by the helmsman of a ship led to a ship running aground in Sydney Harbour. The Maltese registered general cargo ship Tauranga Chief ran aground on a mud/sand patch just south of Bradleys Head light in the middle of Sydney Harbour at 0339 in the morning of 17 January 2003. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report released today states that the ship arrived at Sydney Heads at 0300 on 17 January 2003 and a harbour pilot boarded. The pilot took charge of the conduct of the ship and it continued into the harbour…

An ATSB report has found that a recent airspace incident was both an 'airprox' and a 'serious incident' and that a Brasilia and a Partenavia aircraft passed about 40 m horizontally at the same altitude from each other. The flight crew of the instrument flight rules (IFR) Brasilia was on descent through 9,500 ft from Darwin to Kununurra Airport on airway J72 in visual meteorological conditions (VMC). The flight was a scheduled Regular Public Transport (RPT) service. The pilot of a visual flight rules (VFR) Partenavia was tracking in the opposite direction…

As an operationally independent body within the Australian Government Department of Transport and Regional Services, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's prime agency for Transport Safety Investigations. It is therefore essential that the agency's name is reported correctly: AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT SAFETY BUREAU (ATSB) when covering the Bureau's activities.

A media conference discussing the factual information contained in the preliminary Report into the circumstances surrounding the fatal aircraft accident near Lockhart River on 7 May 2005 will be held today, Friday 3 June 2005. Where: 15 Mort Street, Canberra City ACT (ATSB headquarters) Time: 15:00 local time Mr Alan Stray, Deputy Director, Aviation Safety Investigation, will discuss only factual material known to the investigation team at this time. Any person/witness with information about the accident is encouraged…

A media conference discussing the factual information contained in the interim Report into the circumstances surrounding the fatal aircraft accident near Lockhart River on 7 May 2005 will be held on, Friday 16 December 2005. Where: 15 Mort Street, Canberra City ACT (ATSB headquarters) Time: 10:00 local time Mr Alan Stray, Deputy Director, Aviation Safety Investigation, will discuss only factual material known to the investigation team at this time. The investigation is continuing.

The ATSB has released a Preliminary Investigation report into an 11 October 2004 Boeing 737 incident at Perth when the aircraft's tailskid struck the ground during the takeoff from runway 03. The tailskid strike resulted in minor damage to the tailskid shoe at the rear lower fuselage. The crew and passengers were not injured. The ATSB has classified this occurrence as a category 3 serious incident. The investigation is continuing and is analysing recorded weather information and data from the aircraft's flight data…

The ATSB has released a second interim factual Report on the Piper Cheyenne accident on 28 July 2004 in which the pilot and five passengers died. The ATSB has established that the aircraft diverged between 3.4 and 4 degrees left of the intended track between a point abeam Ulladulla and where it disappeared from radar. The ATSB is conducting further tests of the modes and functionality of the GPS receiver type that was used on the aircraft, to determine if the flight path can be replicated with a copy of the data used…