CASA boss McCormick to stand down at the end of the month THE outgoing head of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has argued he is leaving the organisation a more effective regulator as he ends a controversial tenure at the end of the month.
In his last message to the aviation community, CASA boss John McCormick said his more than five years at the helm of the of the regulator was “challenging, satisfying and at times difficult”.
“I firmly believe that as I leave CASA it is a better and more effective air safety regulator and I know it is respected by leading regulators around the world,’’ he said in an online briefing released today. “Like any good organisation CASA is a team of people with a mix of skills, knowledge and experience that when constructively managed deliver excellent outcomes.
“In 2014, I look at CASA and see a clearer focus on priorities, documented processes and procedures that are followed as required, better training and support for staff and an understanding that decision making must be transparent and fair.’’
Mr McCormick’s comments come as CASA has come under increased fire from some sections of the industry in recent months for its handling of regulatory change.
The Australian Aviation Associations Forum, representing eight industry associations, last week called on Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss to move to reset the industry’s relationship with CASA “following the damage of the last five years’’.
Mr Truss has promised to react by year’s end to a report by industry veteran David Forsyth that called for sweeping reforms at the regulator and found that its ‘hard-line approach” to enforcement was inappropriate and had led to a lack of trust between it and operators.
CASA also attracted flak from a Senate committee for its handling of the 2009 ocean ditching of a Pel Air crash.
The committee found regulatory procedures at the time of the crash were deficient and wrote to the Australian Federal Police to ensure “any appropriate action is taken’’ over a failure by CASA to provide documents to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
CASA stood by its handling of the controversial issue, despite an ABC Four Corners investigation that revealed a special audit after the crash, and not mentioned in the ATSB report, uncovered 57 breaches and `serious deficiencies’’ at Pel-Air.
Mr McCormick acknowledged that he and CASA had its critics and said constructive criticism had been welcomed and valued.
He said he had never pretended CASA had all the answers to every aviation safety issue and he had encouraged and facilitated consultation, information sharing and debate’’.
“However, I firmly believe that as a regulator CASA also has a responsibility to make judgments, take decisions and to act in the interests of protecting and improving aviation safety,’’ he said. “Naturally these actions must be based on evidence and solid data and be taken following sound processes and procedures that ensure fairness and transparency.
“It follows, of course, that when a regulator takes actions not everyone is happy. “Again, I have had no problem with people putting their point of view and arguing their case as that is their right if they disagree with CASA. But just because some people may disagree it does not mean CASA is necessarily wrong or should step away from its position.’’
Mr McCormick also hit out at the way the debate about the regulator had degenerated and become personal. He said this was not constructive and did nothing for aviation safety.
“It is a fact of human nature that some people will personally attack others as a way of diverting too close an examination of themselves,’’ he said.
An international search has been underway for a replacement for Mr McCormick but Mr Truss has yet to make an announcement.