The ATSB has found that deficient boat design and construction, inadequate equipment and training, fatigue and poor decision-making, weather conditions and regulatory confusion, all combined in the tragic loss of five Torres Strait Islanders travelling on board the 6 metre boat Malu Sara in Torres Strait on 15 October 2005. According to the final investigation report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the boat did not meet basic freeboard or stability requirements. When operating at slow speed or stopped, water flooded the boat's cockpit from the stern freeing port. The four…

ATSB data and analysis released today refutes recent claims reported in the media that the commercial aviation fatal accident rate in Australia is increasing and that the number of aviation fatalities involving professional pilots in Australia over the last three years is very high compared with the years since 1990. Australia still has the best international record in high-capacity regular public transport (RPT) with no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft. Even using the broadest definition of commercial aviation to include both RPT and General Aviation except for…

An ATSB investigation has found that nobody was assigned to guide the leading end of a shunting movement of a Pacific National freight train which collided with the side of the Sydney to Melbourne XPT on the evening of 19 January 2005 at South Dynon. The ATSB investigation found that factors including the lack of procedures, poor communications, erroneous assumptions and a depleted team of terminal operators all contributed to the collision. The investigation also found that the catchpoints were ineffective in deflecting the wagons away from the main line. The final investigation report by…

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report, released today, has found that work procedures in the Regency Park rail yard allowed a shunter to ride on the end-steps of a wagon while being shunted and did not require that the driver confirm that the shunter was safe and/or in a safe position before starting a shunt movement. The dangers involved in railway shunting accidents were tragically illustrated when a railway employee was severely injured and disabled after a string of wagons ran over him. The ATSB report of the accident on 2 February 2005, cites poor work…

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau study covering 16 years, from 1990 to 2005, has shown a fall in the number of fatal commercial aviation accidents in Australia. The ATSB report Analysis of Fatality Trends involving Civil Aviation Aircraft in Australian Airspace between 1990 and 2005 was released today. Using the broadest definition of commercial aviation to include both regular public transport (RPT) and general aviation except for business/private and sport aviation, the report shows a significant decrease in the number of fatal accidents between 1990 and 2005. There was an increase in…

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report released today recommends that ship owners, operators and masters with totally enclosed lifeboats on their ships should consider fitting lifting rings with 'hand holds' attached to them, and the provision of foul weather recovery strops. The ATSB report into the accident on board the French Antarctic support vessel L'Astrolabe states that, at about 0355 (local time) on 27 January 2005 a crew member on board the ship either jumped or fell from the ship into the Southern Ocean. In the days before the crew member had been…

An Airbus A340 lost directional control while landing on runway 16 Right at Sydney Airport on 1 November 2000 at 1150 hours ESuT. The aircraft slewed right and came to rest with the nose landing gear resting in soft ground off the runway. The crew had reported problems with the hydraulic system prior to landing. There were no injuries, and an emergency evacuation was not required. A Sydney-based investigator from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau made an initial assessment of the occurrence. He will be joined by other specialist investigators to assist in determining the factors…

The ATSB Interim Factual Investigation Report into the Metroliner fatal aircraft accident on 7 May 2005 near Lockhart River has found that if the ground proximity warning system functioned as designed, the crew should have received a number of warnings from the system as the aircraft descended below the minimum obstacle clearance altitude of 2,060 ft. However, because no data on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was useable, the functionality of the warnings could not be confirmed. Flight data recorder information from the accident aircraft continues to assist with the ATSB investigation.…

Anchoring too close to each other and without due regard to the changeable weather conditions in the anchorage off Newcastle were the major causes of the collision between two bulk carriers, according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation report released today. The ATSB report into the incident states that at 0939 on 24 June 2005, the bulk carrier Pilsum collided with another bulk carrier, China Steel Growth, while dragging its anchor. The two ships were anchored off the New South Wales port of Newcastle. On the morning of 24 June, a southerly weather front came…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the Piper Navajo Chieftain four-fatality accident near Condobolin on 2 December 2005. Four ATSB investigators have been on site near Condobolin since Saturday morning. The Piper Navajo Chieftain was reportedly being flown by a commercial pilot and was en route from Archerfield to Swan Hill via Griffith. Weather in the Condobolin area was severe with extremely strong wind and thunderstorms across the aircraft's track. The pilot reported diverting around weather and shortly after this communication was…