It's well known in the aviation community (and don't ask me for references because you're not getting them
) that calling CASA about breaches is a WOFTAE. Transair has already been mentioned.
... and the
Seaview Air Disaster
What is now clear is that the accident was entirely avoidable - that it should not have happened, that those nine lives were lost needlessly.
Yesterday in Federal Parliament, Aviation Minister John Sharp tabled the Commission of Inquiry report into relations between Seaview Air and the former Civil Aviation Authority, and more comprehensive denunciation of safety standards it is difficult to imagine.
The Commission of Inquiry pulled no punches. Seaview Air was "a slipshod, often wilfully non-compliant organisation in which breaches of regulations and unacceptable practices were ... commonplace", the report found.
Winery tragedy: Has Drayton's curse struck again | thetelegraph.com.au
... and the
South Pacific Seaplanes Disaster ...
18 From its inception, and even prior to the grant of its first Air Operators Certificate (" AOC"), SPS presented CASA with difficult regulatory problems. These involved frequent and repeated breaches of various regulatory requirements and a failure to honour the numerous undertakings it gave to remedy perceived inadequacies in its methods of operations.
19 It had a significant turnover in Chief Pilots, a number of whom made serious allegations against SPS management and its attitude to aviation safety. Over the period covered by this inquiry, CASA received at least 21 separate complaints against SPS operations and it issued 13 Non-compliance Notices and nine Aircraft Survey Reports in respect of matters of varying significance, some of which were serious enough to ground SPS aircraft. Its aircraft were involved in a number of accidents or allegedly near accidents, two of which involved aircraft being submerged with a threat to the pilot's life.
20 On 6 April 1997 the then Regional Manager South East Region (" RM SER") issued a notice to SPS requiring it to show cause why its AOC should not be cancelled or suspended. I regard the issue of that notice as fully justified.
21 On 12 May 1997, however, the then RM SER decided to take no further action after an informal conference with SPS management...
Pages 1--223 from Skehill report