Senate Inquiry, Hearing Program 4th Nov 2011

[Sarcs]

DCT given the reporting date is the 27th Feb I don’t believe there will be anymore public hearings, unless of course the committee seeks a further extension.

That said it is possible that the committee can request further witnesses to give evidence in a private (in camera) meeting, something that we won’t know about till after the event or when the Senate sits from the 5th Feb then any private meeting requests will be captured in the Senate Hansard.

Kharon good catch on the NTSB investigator’s manual, although very dry reading it is worth the time to read and there are some extremely relevant sections when comparing to the ATSB investigation process.

Trying to find the ATSB equivalent is a totally different matter, although it is listed here: Operational information
But it appears to be spread across multiple volumes and you also have to pay for the privilege to access, still the FF equivalent referred to several times in their Enforcement Manual as the ‘Investigators Manual’ is either a work of fiction or buried somewhere in Flying Fiend’s basement??

Anyway back to NTSB CVR/FDR and wreckage recovery priorities reference (‘Wreckage Recovery’ pg 57 and CVR/FDR pg 79, pg 155 onwards)….

As the NTSB investigator’s manual displays the retrieval, protection and analysis of the CVR/FDR is given maximum priority in the conduct of their investigation. I have no doubt the NTSB would have moved heaven and earth to retrieve the blackbox from VH-NGA and probably any other parts of the aircraft that they thought would be relevant to their investigation i.e. ‘no stone unturned’.

This extract from the NTSB manual is also of particular interest in regards to information that the FAA (not including the ATC section) are required to provide to the NTSB:

Federal Aviation Administration Information
(1) "Blue Ribbon" medical and pilot certificate records.
(2) Violation and other certificate actions on flightcrew and airline. Obtain certified
copies.
(3) Inspections performed on the airline during the previous 12 month period including base, ramp, en route, ground and flight training program, crew member; dispatcher records (including flight and rest), trip records, dispatch center/flight
following/flight/locating facility. Obtain certified copies.
(4) Latest regional inspection performed. Obtain a certified copy.
(5) Latest national inspection performed. Obtain a certified copy.
(6) Frequency of surveillance. Compare the number and types of inspections performed with regional and national inspections guidelines.
(7) Workload of POI.
(8) Background and qualifications of POI.
(9) Authorized and current staffing level of district office.
(10) Most recent pre-accident/incident flight inspection and post flight inspection results of pertinent en route and approach facilities/aids. Obtain certified copies.
(11) Most recent pre-accident/incident airways facility inspection and post inspection or pertinent en route and approach facilities/aids. Obtain certified copies

Talk about transparency and independent authority…begs the questions;

Q1/ If Fort Fumble were required to provide all of the above would we even be having this enquiry??
Q2/ If the ATSB had the same head of power as the NTSB and were operating to a similar investigator’s manual would the ATSB have produced such a flawed, defective ‘Final Report’ in the first place??

Certainly food for thought!