The integrity of a CASA audit is directly related to the competence, professionalism and integrity of the CASA auditor(s). In many, possibly most cases, the conclusions and outcomes are influenced not by compliance with the Act and Regulations, but reflect a biased personal opinion of the auditor(s).
Consider the following extract from an
Australian Flying magazine article, in relation to a FNQ operator:
4-6 November 1997:
A periodic inspection is conducted by an FOI from Cairns District. The officer's report, subsequently obtained only at the direction of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, says: "20 NCNs in total!" (exclamation mark as in the report.) The report added that: "This is no longer a compliant operator."
17-20 November 1997:
(Operator) is visited by an unannounced team headed by the Manager, Safety Audits, Southeast Region.
The four-man team conduct a four-day audit over 52 man-hours, which results in the issue of four NCNs. Three of these detailed minor errors in maintenance documentation, and one questioned dangerous goods acceptance procedures. The report concluded: "(Operator is) considered not to be an unsafe operator."
1-4 December 1997:
At the direction of CASA's Canberra office, two investigators and one Cairns FOI conduct an investigation with the following terms of reference: "Determine the extent of operations in the Torres Strait region which are being conducted for fare paying passengers that fall into the definition of RPT and which are currently being conducted as charter." The TOR directed that: "The differentiation between RPT and charter that is to be used for this investigation shall be drawn from the "draft" paper prepared by (a CASA lawyer) as attached."
The draft opinion, later obtained by (the Operator), attempted to define the five elements which must exist to constitute RPT. However it provided no definitions of two of the critical elements: "Specific route" and "fixed terminal".
The investigators had thus been instructed to investigate whether operators were in breach not of a regulation or rule, but of a draft opinion, which failed to provide critical definitions.
Three audits over one month:
The first audit concludes:
"This is no longer a compliant operator."
The second audit, two weeks later, concludes:
"(Operator is) considered not to be an unsafe operator."
The third audit is based not on the Act or Regulations, but a
"draft" paper prepared by (a CASA lawyer).
There are professional men of integrity employed by CASA. I fear it is an ever diminishing minority.