Letter to Ombudsman 09/04/23
For the attention of Catherine, Senior Complaints Officer. Ref 2019-713834
Good morning, for clarity I am the father of Glen Buckley from APTA, you will be aware that Glen has asked the Ombudsman to look into the actions of CASA which caused the closure of his flying School, APTA. Unfortunately, currently Glen is in hospital having had a breakdown due to the stress brought about by this situation and I am trying to clarify for myself a couple items which he has mentioned.
I realise that you have done a detailed investigation and do not wish to take up too much more of your time but hope you can clarify my questions below.
Glen recently advised me that in the course of the Ombudsman’s investigation you may only speak to and gather information from one nominated person from within CASA, can you please confirm that this statement is correct?
If you did speak to other personal within CASA I would assume that you spoke to the CMT 2 team who aided Glen and his team in the development of the “APTA” concept some year or two prior to October 2018. Can you please confirm if you spoke to the Team Leader of CMT2. I am personally aware that the development of the APTA concept was under discussion with CMT 2 a year or two before October 2018.
If you were limited to speaking to only one spokesperson, I fail to understand how the Ombudsman could make a fair and just investigation. It would be tantamount to two vehicles have a collision in front of a number of eye witnesses but the police can only take evidence from the drivers of the two vehicles involved, in this scenario there is an obvious likelihood of bias or incorrect information. I am sure you will agree that in this scenario for an even and fair investigation the police need to interview all the witnesses. Hence my the reason for questions above.
Appreciate your early response.
Kind Regards
Derek Buckley