If CASA want to get serious they should ban IFR piston engine charter.The only reason that these aircraft keep flying is because companies are allowed to fly them by the government. It is ultimately about money. Piston twins are the cheapest form of transport available. If they were no longer available, people would be forced into a Kingair, which is safer.
I remember coming home fuming one day after flying a bunch of mining folk around in a good condition but 30 year old piston twin. These guys had just come back from a trip to China. Curious about the GA scene over there I ask them what aircraft they chartered in China. 'Oh we usually get a Learjet' was the reply. This is coming from a company who haggles about price regularly I ask why then when in Australia do these same people fly around in piston twins. 'Oh because in China that's all that's available.'
Yet here we were in Australia, working in a multi multi billion dollar industry, spinning the roulette wheel when these guys could easily afford a kingair, and only flew in a piston twin because it was cheap and were allowed to fly.
How many more charter piston twins do we need to crash in this country before we start looking at moving the GA industry into the 21st century?