CASA Media Release - Wednesday, 25 April 2001
CASA welcomes QF1 inquiry findings
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority welcomes the findings of the investigation into the Qantas runway overrun accident at Bangkok in September 1999.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's report strongly endorses CASA's new approach to the surveillance and auditing of airlines.
The report states that if CASA's new systems safety auditing approach had been in use in the years before the accident it is likely that many of the inadequate defences and organisational factors within Qantas that contributed to the accident would have been identified.
CASA has been progressively introducing systems based surveillance and auditing since November 1999. This approach, which is being introduced by other world-leading air safety regulators, looks at risk management and the systems used to deliver safety in airlines.
It replaces a product auditing approach which examined outcomes rather than safety processes and defences. The ATSB notes that CASA was deficient at meeting its surveillance targets but observes that, even if CASA had conducted more product based audits, it is unlikely they would have detected the problems identified in the report.
The ATSB report says CASA should consider expanding training for staff who carry out systems surveillance and audits. CASA accepts this recommendation and will be looking at further training options for staff on top of the existing comprehensive programs.
CASA's Director of Aviation Safety, Mick Toller, says the support for the new approach to maintaining safety in Australia's airlines is important.
"There has been debate over the merit of systems surveillance and auditing, with some people in aviation casting doubts on its performance," Mr Toller says.
"The report into the Bangkok accident clearly silences the critics by showing CASA's new approach is the right way to go.
"Here we have the official accident investigation saying CASA's systems approach may have identified and therefore averted some of the causes of the accident. I am confident that we are learning more than ever before about the performance of our airlines from the new systems approach and CASA's staff are significantly more effective in their work.
"We now have achievable surveillance and audit targets. We now also use a team work approach to audits, using staff with expertise in flying operations, engineering, cabin safety and human factors.
"CASA will be closely examining other recommendations in the ATSB report in relation to regulations covering operations on wet runways, emergency procedures and emergency training for aircraft crew. These are important issues which are already due to be addressed in the current overhaul of Australia's aviation regulations."
Media contact
Peter Gibson
ph 02 6217 1015
mobile 0419 296 446
Ref: MR0122