As part of its national safety awareness campaign for commercial fishermen, announced in December 2004, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will be conducting a series of informal face-to-face meetings with fishermen in two ports in northern WA, this week. The aim of the meetings is to raise the awareness of commercial fishermen to similar causal factors, identified by the ATSB during investigations of 23 collisions between trading ships and fishing vessels conducted since 1990. The meetings will complement a safety bulletin, published by the ATSB in December 2004, and form an…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the circumstances surrounding a Virgin Blue Boeing 737 emergency descent incident on 2 December 2005. The Boeing 737 was being flown from Townsville to Brisbane with a total crew and passengers of 104. During the rapid descent, a number of passengers suffered ear discomfort and some minor injuries. On arrival at Brisbane the injured passengers were taken to hospital for observation and treatment and were discharged following treatment. None of the passengers were admitted to hospital. The flight recorders are being replayed and…

The ATSB's final report into the terrain proximity caution incident to the south-south-east of Canberra at 0544 am on 24 July 2004 has found that the flight crew of the Boeing 737 were affected by fatigue and they misinterpreted the instrument approach chart and entered incorrect data into the flight management computer. The aircraft was being operated on an overnight service from Perth to Canberra, when it proceeded beyond the limits of the Church Creek Holding pattern, 10.9 NM south of Canberra. In doing so the crew manoeuvred the aircraft closer to terrain than intended. As a consequence…

Fatigue was a major contributing factor to the longline fishing vessel Ocean Odyssey collision with the side of the container ship P&O Nedlloyd Taranaki. The ship was drifting while assessing its engine problem when the fishing boat ran into it, according to an ATSB investigation report released today. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau report states that the N.S.W registered Ocean Odyssey collided with the port side of the container ship at about 0244 local time on 29 June 2004 near the entrance to Port Botany, after the boat's skipper had fallen asleep on watch. The boat was…

The ATSB's Preliminary Aviation Safety Investigation Report into the 7 May 2005 Lockhart River accident in which two pilots and 13 passengers perished has found that the Metroliner had descended about 1000 ft below the minimum obstacle clearance altitude when it collided with terrain. The aircraft had cut a swath of less than 100 m through heavy timber on the steep slope. Preliminary information recovered from the flight data recorder and on-site examination of components indicates that both engines were producing about 30 to 35% torque. This is consistent with an approach power setting. The…

The ATSB's final investigation report has found that an Airbus A330 passenger aircraft that landed at Sydney in fog on 6 April last year did so because the adverse weather conditions were unforecast and the flight crew continued to manoeuvre the aircraft for a landing at Sydney past the time they had previously nominated as the latest time for a diversion to Canberra. Since the occurrence safety action has been taken by the air traffic services provider and the Bureau of Meteorology to improve the reporting of weather information to flight crews and to improve the accuracy of fog forecasting…

The engineers placed themselves in danger to save a ship in gale force weather conditions in Bass Strait after its main engine became disabled according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report released today. The ATSB report states that the Hong Kong registered container ship, Maersk Tacoma, spent 19 hours adrift before being taken in tow on 8 August 2001. The incident is still the subject of legal action in London between the ship's owners and various other parties. The ATSB waited for 34 months to obtain the engineering report from the owner's representatives on…

One seaman died and another was severely injured when a large wave broke over the bow of the container vessel Aotearoa Chief on 14 August 2004, according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report released today. The ATSB report into the incident states that the Hong Kong registered Aotearoa Chief disembarked its harbour pilot at about 6 pm, shortly after the ship had cleared the entrance to Melbourne's Port Philip Bay. The master then ordered an alteration of course to take the ship away from the coast. While on this new course, an abnormal wave broke over the…

The ATSB investigation into the fatal Piper Seneca accident on 11 November 2003, at Bankstown Airport has found that the aircraft departed from controlled flight at a height from which recovery was not possible. The reason for the loss of control could not be determined. The aircraft was being operated on a multi-engine aircraft training flight with a flight instructor and student pilot on board. After commencing a go-around, the aircraft was observed to diverge to the right of the runway centreline, climb and bank steeply to the right before impacting the ground in a steep nose-down attitude…

The ATSB's final report into a Boeing 747 brake fire accident that resulted in the serious injury of three passengers and one pilot found that incorrect grease had been applied to the aircraft's landing gear and that one of the over-wing evacuation slides had failed due to overload of its fabric fibres during the evacuation. The aircraft had just arrived at the Sydney terminal after a flight from Singapore. The factors that contributed to the three small brake fires included: the presence of incorrect and excessive amounts of grease on the aircraft's landing gear axles, the inadvertent de-…