I preface my comments by reiterating that I consider the regulator’s treatment of DJ, compared with the operator, to be a travesty.
If an aircraft accident occurs, anyone, including anyone in CASA, can ‘investigate’ what happened. However, unless a person has statutory powers of entry, seizure, questioning etc, it may be difficult for the person to obtain key pieces of evidence in a form admissible in a prosecution. But that’s only usually a problem if you want to prosecute someone.
When NGA ditched, the identities of the operator and crew members would have been easily found out by anybody, including anyone in CASA, within about what … a day? PPRuNe would be a good place to start the ‘investigation’…
The regulator would reasonably be concerned about the circumstances that resulted in the ditching, and whether shortcomings in the operator’s systems and procedures and the crew members’ competence contributed. When the regulator finds out that the ditching was an inevitable consequence of fuel exhaustion, the regulator’s gaze would reasonably shift to the crew. (The single biggest cause of commercial GA hull loss is fuel exhaustion, due to shortcomings in fuel planning and management by ….. ATPL holders.)
If the regulator considers a pilot does not reach the requisite standard for fuel planning and management, the regulator is justified in taking administrative action to ensure the pilot regains the requisite standard of competence. There is nothing contrary to or inconsistent with the concept of “Just Culture” in the regulator taking that action.
All of this can happen without CASA saying ‘boo’ to the ATSB, and vice versa, and all of this can happen without utilising a Part IIIA investigator.
We can all be of the opinion that:
- the eventual regulatory focus on NGA’s PIC’s shortcomings alone was a travesty, and
- the number and diameter of hoops that DJ had to jump through to get his licence back were extraordinary and unreasonable,
but no one should be labouring under the misconception that the regulator wasn’t allowed to investigate the accident in the way it did and wasn’t allowed to take any regulatory action against DJ.