ATSB do not do anything in depth (pardon the pun) anymore with respect to GA. Their QF32 type reports seem to be well documented, and perhaps they are, I am not qualified to comment, but they appear to be thorough. Perhaps the additional resources of high quality material from Qantas and others with nothing to hide helps achieve this.
Bring an investigation to a piston GA accident.....and there appears to be a huge gap. Some would argue that the RPT segment is where the resources need to go, well if so, stop doing anything GA, because nothing (no report) is better than sloppy, incorrect or completely cocked up (perhaps even corrupted) reports being published that the industry and public swallow as being truthful and accurate.
As for the regulator, we have pilots, LAME's and others being bullied, crucified or whatever else for flying when they were not, using battery chargers without a label, oil storage without a sign saying "oil store"....you name the absurdities, yet this case where a high profile person who had been banned from doing a significant amount of what he used to do, was able to still do it without any clue at all in the CASA!
It is akin to David Attenborough studying some small lizard while an elephant crushes the film crews camera bag....and he does not notice despite film crew and bag right in front of him behind the camera man!
It just don't make sense!
Maybe the crash was all Ian Lovell's fault, and it could well have been, very plausible, but with ATSB failure and CASA failure, what on earth's chance have we got of ever getting the truth. I am afraid to say this but to be honest, we are wasting more time and money to gain nothing. And putting the family of Samantha and Ian through hell and back.
I admire their strength and tenacity, Shane's also, but I fear it is all in vain.
