Sorry Buzzie couldn't resist!
I think we agree on more than we disagree probably but to say this report was a disappointment to me would be an understatement. This country was forced to land 2 RPT jets unplanned below landing minima at a regional airport. How did it get to this? We got a report that covers less than the interim report did 3 years later that adds nothing to the conversation this country needs to step up from its current state.
Fuel Ploicy
The CASA requirement when those aircraft dispatched was to have their fixed fuel remaining at touchdown, for those who don't know that's 30 minutes of fuel. Even the airlines think that is ridiculous and would of planned to have their aircraft there with 60 minutes. Then the pilots add on their discretionary ( the word that cannot be spoken). Surely the ATSB report could have as a safety recommendation suggested the CASA policy at the least needs reviewing? It is under Part 121 I believe but surely this report could have been used to reinforce that. Imagine if the aircraft had rocked up to ADL with CASAs fuel requirements. Most countries now I believe have recognised a 2nd option should always be available to RPT aircraft.
Infrastructure
Most if not all RPT aircraft can autoland, some for a long time. Every 5 years we have an RPT aircraft having a run in with unforecast fog. The airports won't pay for it because they will tell you the statistics don't make it worth the money they have to spend. Surely the ATSB report as a safety issue could have suggested the case for infrastructure needs to be made and funded. Maybe a small ticket safety surcharge on all airline tickets to pay for this. But again another dancing elephant
Bom
We all know forecasting is a dark art. But what happened on this day? Was it training, was it manpower, was it a mistake, was it cost cutting. I believe but may be wrong that Met guys now get 2 weeks training in AV Met and are expected to be a jack of all trades. Anyone here believe that met forecasting has improved in the last 10 years? We wouldn't know the first thing about it from this report.TTF vs TAF is a whole new subject.
Air Services
Where do you start? Who knew that air traffickers were marked down in their checks if they over serviced aircraft, ie giving them MET info that was available on the Internet or AWIS that don't work or if they do only if you are line of sight? WTF. Who and why were decisions made to cut this level of service to aircraft, why did the pilot world mostly not realise this had occured? Who made the safety case for this and why was it so inaccurate? The National Operational Centre, what role are they meant to play in this? They were not even aware it seems until both aircraft were almost on the ground.
Airlines
What level of training is required for their ops control centres, do they have the facilities and man power required?
Others will have many more points I'm sure.
It's not the ATSBs job to fix these things. It is their job to start the ball rolling and uncover things that need fixing before the next major incident. The What we knew very shortly after this incident. The how and why 3 years later we still don't know.