Dan Dair
Posted March 23, 2014 at 8:01 pm | Permalink
I know this is an issue very close to your heart, Ben.
So my question to you (& others) is:
Aside from covering-up for their own mistakes &/or institutional deficiencies,
What are the consequences for CASA & the ATSB (& maybe the government) if they come out & admit to all their failings on this issue.?
(aside from the likelihood that the two heads of departments would be asked to resign)
(I’m thinking about them hiding from law-suits, as much as anything.?)
Ben Sandilands
Posted March 23, 2014 at 8:31 pm | Permalink
The only approriate course of action is for the ATSB report to be withdrawn and re-done to the standards expected of a first world state in relation to air accident investigations.
The remedial process should involve the replacement of both bodies with well resourced, effectively run independent bodies like the FAA and NTSB, with appropriate powers of enforcement, and which conduct their affairs transparently and in public.
And Yes, I’m aware of criticisms of the FAA, and some major stuff ups such as its botched investigation of rudder hard overs in older model 737s and a cargo door fault in older 747s. But the structure, scaled to Australia’s needs, would make sense.
comet
Posted March 23, 2014 at 9:56 pm | Permalink
I hope the many new readers of Plane Talking absorb the gist of this:
Australian government authorities rig an air crash investigation.
Hopefully some FAA officials read this too. India got classified as having sub standard aviation regulation. But at least India is doing something about it and making improvements. Australia is not.
[email protected]
Posted March 23, 2014 at 11:11 pm | Permalink
Yes, it is so easy to criticise the way Malaysian politics works.
Yet here in supposedly non corrupt Australia, we have an airline that has an ex politician on the Board of Directors and two Government bodies charged with maintaining safety standards and inquiring in to incidents, both of whom seem to be unwilling to find against the airline with the ex politician, in a serious near fatal incident.
Not a good look, is it?
comet
Posted March 24, 2014 at 5:53 am | Permalink
It’s not a good look.
The problem is that the mainstream media are not looking. They’re not covering this story. Only Plane Talking is.
It’s strange they’re not interested in this story.
And so the mainstream political parties are not interested in doing anything about it. It’s a chicken vs egg situation, and proves the media follow the agenda of the political parties. It stinks, really.
And many people working in the government statuary authorities dealing with aviation safety hope to one day gain employment in the airlines they are investigating. So nobody wants to rock the boat.
So in the end, people who should be acting on behalf of the people end up acting in self interest on behalf of their own careers.
With lax aviation regulation it’s inevitable that mistakes of the past are repeated, costing lives.
It’s actually extraordinary that a report detailing the incompetence and operational failures of another government authority can be swept under the carpet like this.