From a Ferryman post from the 'Wuss asleep at the wheel' thread...
The subjects may be found –
HERE - and –
HERE - . The thing that drew my attention and earned some admiration was the quality of work which the ATSB is capable of producing – when playing away from home. Some cynics would say – far away from malign influences; I reckon it's pure frustration from our well qualified, competent troops at the coal face. Released and given a chance to shine – they do. Bravo..
Some interesting and shameful parallels are highlighted in those two 'request assistance' investigations...
For the first point of interest (POI) refer to the interim report for AE-2013-223, see
here. Under
Abstract it says...
"...Later that day, search and rescue personnel located parts of aircraft wreckage floating on the ocean surface.
The New Zealand Navy located the main aircraft wreckage on the seabed at a depth of approximately 59 metres. On 6 April 2013, Navy divers located and retrieved the body of the passenger. The following day the aircraft wreckage and the pilot’s body were recovered by the Navy onto its specialist dive vessel, the HMNZS Manawanui..."
As a result of these
can do, prompt actions the CAA investigators were very quickly able to make a number of important observations:
...Once recovered, initial examination of the wreckage indicated that the aircraft had impacted the water with a slight nose down attitude its wings almost level and with a slight yawing movement.
Examination of the aircraft’s propellers indicated that the propellers were under little or no power at the time the aircraft impacted the water. The propeller angles were in a position usually associated with a cruise setting. Neither propeller was feathered.
Examination of the flight controls and control surfaces showed that the flap and gear selectors were in the fully retracted position. Aileron and rudder trim were in a near neutral position, however, the elevator trim was trimmed 21 units nose up.
Although only a short factual interim report the extremely divergent parallels to the PelAir & Hempel cover-up investigations are quite remarkable. And from the tail-end of the report:
The CAA safety investigation is being conducted in accordance with the New Zealand Civil Aviation Act. The objective of the safety investigation is the prevention of accidents by determining the contributing factors or causes and establishing what lessons can be taken for the improvement of the NZ aviation system.
The focus of the investigation is to establish the cause of the accident on the balance of probability. Safety investigations do not always identify one dominant or ‘proximate’ cause.
Often, an aviation accident is the last event in a chain of several events or factors, each of which may contribute to a greater or lesser degree, to the final outcome.
Unlike our current domestic ATSBeaker there is no doubting the intent, integrity & transparency of the above statement from the CAANZ...
You are automatically left with the impression that the Kiwis will leave no stone un-turned to get to the cause of this tragedy. This is further highlighted by the fact that the Kiwis realise they don't have the necessary resources to properly analyse the ATC recordings. They then have no compunctions or reservations in automatically referring to our bureau for assistance. After all, under ICAO Annex 13, that is the way the system is supposed to work...FFS!
PelAir & beyond (BASR).
"K" also makes the point that left un-embuggered by our BASR domestic situation (& the apparently uncontrollable CAsA behemoth) our bureau coalface boys'n'gals still do stirling work...
Just before the PelAir cover-up debacle the bureau put out a glossy paper titled -
PAST PRESENT FUTURE. Under the section - The International Dimension (page 65) - it highlights the many positive contributions internationally that the bureau has made, example:
On 31 January 2003, an Ilyushin 76TD aircraft impacted terrain during a landing approach to Baucau, Timor-Leste. The six aircraft occupants were fatally injured by the impact forces. At the request of the government of Timor-Leste, the ATSB conducted the investigation into the accident. The investigation report highlighted that deviations from recommended practice during the approach and landing phase of flight significantly increase the risk of a CFIT event.
The paper then goes on to praise the positive contributions of Alan Stray in overseeing the ATSB involvement in the
Indonesia
Transport Safety Assistance Package (ITSAP):
The ATSB appointed Alan Stray, PSM, Director International, to oversee and coordinate the ATSB’s involvement in this important regional transport safety initiative.
The main elements of the ATSB’s contribution to ITSAP are to deliver training and support for NTSC investigators. This includes the ATSB providing staff dedicated to various capacity building projects, funding ATSB training courses in Indonesia and Australia, and expand opportunities for aviation, marine, and rail investigators to work with ATSB counterparts for extended periods. Support is also being provided on individual transport safety investigations.
Alan's efforts led to him being awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) :
In January 2009, Alan Stray was awarded the Public Service Medal “For outstanding public service improving aviation safety in Australia and Indonesia”.
Upon reflection how he must now cringe when he reads these words from earlier in the bureau glossy...
"...As a founding member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Australia has played a prominent role in the Council and the Air Navigation Commission (ANC). Since 1974, Australia has consistently been
elected to the council as a Category One State of Chief Importance in Air Transport, and plays a major part in the activities of ICAO. Australia’s role has been underpinned by its perceived integrity and lack of bias, and excellent safety record..."
{Comment: Some of the weasel words in the Albo message & Beaker intro are also, upon reflection, positively vomitus..
}
Hmm...SOB..
..& BRING BACK ALAN!
MTF...
{NB - Part two on the positive NZed Aviation Safety system, where the NAA is uniquely also the AAI. Versus our BASR system with a seemingly uncontrollable big "R" NAA slowly but surely regulating the GA industry out of existence; while our bureau (domestically at least) is a mere hand muppet helping facilitate the CAsA agenda of GA annihilation }
PAST PRESENT FUTURE