The ATSB accident report on the Whyalla loss of the Chieftain was one of ATSB's less credible efforts.
That’s putting it rather mildly, Leaddie! Mr Deakin’s article, still available on the web, was a little more blunt.
Some of my favourite bits:
In December, 2001, the ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau, similar to the U.S.'s NTSB) published one of the worst accident reports I can remember reading.
In my opinion, the ATSB has taken junk science, pure speculation and profound ignorance to levels seldom before seen.
…
The ATSB used a picture from John Schwaner's "Sacramento Sky Ranch" website, and made it one of the central issues of the whole report! The picture can be found at (Link). In the report, the ATSB claims that the swirl pattern on the piston in the picture is a swirl pattern that is characteristic of detonation. This statement by the ATSB is one of those monumental blunders in report writing. It is the kind of blunder one makes when trying desperately to find evidence to support an erroneous pre-conceived notion of how some series of events took place.
The author of the ATSB report seems to have failed entirely to read what John Schwaner (correctly) said in the caption right under the picture! Here it is:
“Swirl markings on top of piston are normal combustion pattern markings. They show how the hemispherical (dome shaped) cylinder head and the induction system swirls the mixture for better mixing and burning. [Emphasis by Deakin.]”