Pel-Air exposé on ABC 4 Corners tonight is a must view
The ABC TV show 4 Corner’s exposé on the
Pel-Air ditching near Norfolk Island that airs tonight goes directly to the honesty and candor with which aviation safety regulation is pursued and discussed in Australia. It is a must see program.
The issues of transparent and fearless public administration of air safety regulation and investigation have been central to
Plane Talking for five years but their pursuit by a well resourced national television program is an important breakthrough.
Tonight’s program is more evidence that the flawed regulatory performance of CASA, the air safety regulator, and the supposedly independent safety investigator the ATSB, include a systemic failure to fully and unambiguously keep the public informed about substandard operations.
4 Corners will disclose matters arising from a CASA audit of Pel-Air, conducted immediately after the Norfolk Island incident, that ought to have been included in the ATSB final report into the crash.
The non disclosure of such matters raises the question as to whether CASA, the ATSB and by association, the responsible minister, are deliberately acting to protect the airlines or aviation services providers and their regulator from better informed scrutiny of their respective capacities to follow or draft effective safety regulations.