To put together the public material:
ABC News 24 December, 2012 5:15PM AEST
CASA extends Barrier Aviation's suspension
By Sam Davis A Cairns based aircraft charter service says it expects considerable financial losses following the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's [CASA] decision to extend its suspension to February 15.
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The extension follows Sunday's statement from CASA announcing it would take Barrier Aviation [BA] out of the air because of 'a range of maintenance related deficiencies'.
The initial suspension meant BA would have been grounded for five working days but the company's 55 employees will now spend Christmas mulling more than two months out of action.
Following the first suspension BA said more than 750 people may not make it home for the holidays.
It is now unclear how many people will be inconvenienced.
BA runs around 30 flights a day out of Horn Island, Darwin, Gove and Cairns.
Manager David Kilin said the timing could not have been worse for the company.
"It's totally wrecked our Christmas," he said.
"It appears they've reacted to allegations made by a disgruntled former employee. The allegations put to us ... are mainly related to maintenance."
In a statement released Sunday CASA said it regrets any inconvenience to passengers but that safety of passengers was their main concern.
"CASA has evidence of Barrier Aviation directing pilots to fly with serious and known aircraft defects, as well as not recording those defects on aircraft maintenance documentation when the defects became known," the statement said.
But Mr Kilin said BA has a strong safety record and has never been taken out of the air since the company was founded 20 years ago.
"We're vigorously defending our position. With the holiday period it makes it awkward," he said. "It's just disappointing. The timing of this almost seems like it was premeditated."
"I think perhaps there are individuals in CASA who are responsible for orchestrating some of this."
CASA's Peter Gibson said further time was needed to investigate concerns about BA's maintenance of their fleet.
"These allegations are very serious," Mr Gibson said. "Obviously not maintaining an aircraft properly, fixing faults ... puts at risk the entire safety of an aircraft during its flight. We can't condone that in Australian aviation."
CASA would not comment on whether current or former employees had approached them with evidence of maintenance problems on any of BA's 34 planes.
© The Cairns Post
Barrier still in no-fly zone
Michael Serenc
Monday, January 7, 2013
© The Cairns Post
THE stand-off between Barrier Aviation and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has continued, with neither party taking any significant action since the airline was suspended from flying until February 15.
Principal lawyer representing Barrier Aviation, Derek Perkins, said Barrier was still awaiting the results of CASA's investigation.
"The cards are all in CASA's hands in terms of the court process and their ability to maintain an investigation whilst the airline is suspended," Mr Perkins said.
"CASA have been quiet and we've been quiet. Everyone's got their heads down."
In an open letter written to CASA on January 1, Mr Perkins estimated the airline was haemorrhaging $28,000 a day since being grounded and had suffered "severe reputational damage".
Barrier's sudden grounding, which was initiated by CASA on December 23, has affected the airline's entire fleet of 34 aircraft and 55 staff, spread across their bases in Cairns, Darwin, Gove and Horn Island.
The regulator claims it has evidence of Barrier "directing pilots to fly with serious and known aircraft defects, as well as not recording those defects on aircraft maintenance documentation when the defects became known".
The charter airline was initially handed a five-day suspension but that was extended by CASA after an application to the Federal Court.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said the regulator's investigation was still ongoing.
"We've got a lot of material to work through. We have got a dedicated team working on it," Mr Gibson said. "We'll complete that as quickly as we possibly can."
Mr Gibson said it was "too early to say" if CASA was on track to lift the suspension on the airline.
"Barrier have said to us that they were going to put a plan to us to address the issues that we've identified so far," he said.
"Now, we haven't seen that yet, but that may be of assistance."
The airline has had strong support from fellow local operator Hinterland Aviation.
ABC News Friday 15th February 2013
Court orders grounded airline to mediation
By Sharnie Kim
Updated Fri Feb 15, 2013 1:53pm AEDT
PHOTO: Barrier Aviation has since had to stand down all its staff and says it is at risk of financial collapse. (ABC TV News - file image)
RELATED STORY: Grounded far north Qld airline fears closure
MAP: Cairns 4870
The Federal Court has ordered the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and grounded far north Queensland-based airline Barrier Aviation to go to a mediator.
CASA suspended all of the airline's operations in December last year amid serious safety concerns.
Barrier Aviation has since had to stand down all its staff and says it is at risk of financial collapse.
A CASA spokesman says mediation talks are expected to be held ahead of another Federal Court directions hearing next Friday.