Backlog for aviation investigators
ROBYN IRONSIDE
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau completed only 9 per cent of its major aviation investi*gations within 12 months last year, despite employing 17 more investigators.
The ATSB’s annual report showed 23 “complex” aviation investigations were finalised in 2017-18, down from 27 the previous year and 32 in 2015-16.
Of those completed, just two met the 12-month deadline, well short of the 90 per cent target adopted by the ATSB.
Another 17 rail and marine investigations were completed, with only 25 per cent of the rail investigations meeting the 12-month deadline, and 8 per cent of marine investigations.
Chief commissioner Greg Hood said a concerted effort was being made to clear a backlog of older investigations that would lead to more timely investigations in the future. “The backlog was due to resourcing issues experienced by the ATSB prior to my commencement as chief commissioner,” Mr Hood said. “The government provided additional funding in last year’s budget which has enabled us to recruit 17 new investigators, (most) of whom started in February.’’
He said the completion of the ATSB’s involvement in the MH370 search and several other high-profile investigations had also helped boost the number of investigators. “While I accept full accountability for the performance of the ATSB, delays to investigations can sometimes also be attributed to influences outside our control,” Mr Hood said.
“It is also very important to note that the quality of an investigation, and its final report, remains of critical importance to me and the ATSB. In my two years as chief commissioner, I have received little negative feedback in relation to the quality of our serious incident and accident investigation reports.”
One area in which the ATSB did exceed its performance target was a 26 per cent increase in social media followers, well above the 10 per cent it had targeted.
As of June 30, there were 81 ongoing complex aviation investigations and 34 ongoing short investigations. These included more than a dozen investigations dating back more than a year, including the probe into three deaths in a Ross Air Cessna Conquest 2 crash at Renmark in South Australia, and an Angel Flight crash at Mount Gambier last June, which took three lives.
The ATSB is yet to deliver its final report on the Perth Skyshow crash that killed a pilot and his passenger on Australia Day 2017, or the in-flight engine failure on an AirAsia X A330 in June 2017.