The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has dispatched a team of four investigators and support staff to determine the circumstances surrounding the tragic accident near Benalla, Victoria, on 28 July 2004. The factual circumstances to hand are that at about 11 am on the 28th of July, a Piper Cheyenne, VH-TNP, en-route Bankstown (NSW) to Benalla (Victoria) with six people on board disappeared from radar about 33km south-east of Wangaratta, where weather conditions were low cloud and rain. Airservices Australia will be providing these radar and air traffic control tapes to the Bureau to aid in…

A media briefing to discuss the circumstances of the 28 July 2004 Piper Cheyenne, VH-TNP accident near Benalla, Victoria will be held at Myrrhee Hall off Boggy Creek Road at 4.00pm today, 29 July 2004. The Investigator in Change, Alex Hood, will discuss factual events as are known to the investigation team at this point in time. With the exception of this media conference all media contact will continue to be addressed by the Bureau's central office, details below.

The ATSB has found that the Hamilton Island accident in which six people died was the result of a low altitude stall. The tragedy provides an important opportunity to highlight some dangers to flight safety including post-alcohol impairment, cannabis, and fatigue. At about 5pm on 26 September 2002, Piper Cherokee Six registration VH-MAR crashed shortly after take-off from runway 14 at Hamilton Island heading for the neighbouring Lindeman Island. The pilot and five passengers were fatally injured, and the aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the post-impact fire. The final ATSB…

The ATSB has found that the Moorabbin fatal accident was mainly the result of a lack of pilot situational awareness related to different aircraft night training circuit sizes. At about 6.40pm on 29 July 2002, two Cessna 172R aircraft collided while on approach to runway 17 left at Moorabbin airport. The two aircraft became entangled, with aircraft VH-CNW on top of VH-EUH and impacted the runway and came to rest after sliding a short distance along the runway surface. The pilot of VH-CNW was fatally injured. The Moorabbin Air Traffic Control Tower was not in operation at the time of the…

The ATSB has found that the Bankstown midair collision accident was the result of a Piper Warrior passing through the extended centreline of runway 29 centre, to which the pilot had been cleared, and continuing on to the extended centreline of runway 29 left. The Piper collided with a Socata Taralga, which had been cleared for its final approach to the left runway. The Piper became uncontrollable and crashed in an industrial area to the south-east of the airport. All four occupants were fatally injured. The Socata landed at Bankstown and its occupants were uninjured. General Aviation Airport…

An ATSB interim factual investigation report has found that the airspace incident near Brisbane on 7 April involving a B737 and a Lancair aircraft was not an 'airprox' event. In this incident, the two aircraft passed with 600 feet vertical and 0.4NM (about 1 km) lateral separation in new Class E airspace, but were not in danger of collision. Unlike the Launceston airprox last Christmas Eve, in this incident the smaller Lancair aircraft was on air traffic control radar and in communication with controllers and the B737 aircraft had initiated a change of flightpath before receiving two TCAS…

ATSB analysis indicates no adverse safety trend since NAS stage 2b was introduced on 27 November 2003 based on the ATSB's preliminary review of its aviation safety occurrence database, including an examination of TCAS resolution advisory alerts. Because of the significance of NAS airspace changes and public debate over the safety of their implementation, the ATSB has reviewed and categorised NAS-related occurrences and undertaken a comparative analysis of TCAS resolution advisory (RA) alerts in the 140 days from 27 November 2003 with 140 days a year earlier. There were 37 RAs after NAS 2b was…

A new ATSB research investigation report analyses the 37 midair collisions in Australia from 1961 to 2003. None involved scheduled passenger (RPT) aircraft and over three quarters involved general aviation aircraft that collided in good weather in or near the circuit area of an airport. Of the 78% of midair collisions in circuit areas, nearly half occurred on the final leg of the circuit or on the base-to-final turn. Most midair collisions occurred between aircraft converging on similar courses, or flying in the same direction. A range of contributing factors were evident, but there were no…

Today the ATSB is issuing a preliminary report of the investigation into the accident involving an Aero Commander 500-S, registered VH-LST. The accident occurred on 19 February 2004, at about 1700 Eastern Summer Time (ESuT), approximately 58km NNW of Hobart Aerodrome. The report provides factual information as at 29 March 2004. The aircraft departed Hobart Airport for Devonport, Tasmania at about 1643 ESuT. The pilot made several radio transmissions, the last indicating that the aircraft had left 4,500 ft on climb to a cruising altitude of 8,500 ft. The wreckage pattern indicates that the…

As of 20 May 2004, seafarers will be able to make their safety concerns known under a new AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT safety initiative. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is introducing a Confidential Marine Reporting Scheme (CMRS) to improve safety in Australian waters by preventing or reducing the risks of marine accidents. The marine industry, which was widely consulted on the scheme, has welcomed its introduction. Seafarers and others connected with the marine industry will now be able to report, confidentially, any unsafe conditions, practices or procedures on ships.…