CASA Media Release - Friday, 4 June 2004
Airlines subject to new safety checks
Australia’s major airlines will be subject to special new safety checks by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
The safety checks will focus in-depth on a key area of airline operations that has been identified as a potential risk.
This will be an area of operations that is common to all airlines and that plays a critical role in maintaining and improving safety. The results will effectively give CASA an overall ‘health-check’ on the airline industry.
The new checks will be in addition to CASA’s normal program of scheduled airline audits and spot checks on operations.
Up to 40 large and medium sized airlines across the nation will be subject to the new checks, which includes the major carriers and most regional operations.
CASA’s chief executive officer, Bruce Byron, says the new checks are an important safety initiative.
“CASA already has a very effective surveillance and audit program for all airlines, large and small,” Mr Byron says.
“But I believe now is the time to do even more, to dig even deeper to make sure safety remains at the highest possible levels.
“The new audits will include an inspection of a specific area of operations that is common to all airlines, one that is essential for safety.
“CASA’s inspectors will then focus on examining how each airline is performing in this area to make sure they are all delivering the optimum safety outcomes. This will give CASA both a strong understanding of the performance of each airline, as well as an overall ‘health-check’ on this important sector in the aviation industry.
“This initiative shows we are striving to improve the quality of our work by refining an already successful auditing system.”
The first area to be subject to the new safety checks will be maintenance control systems within airlines. Maintenance control systems manage the inspections, repairs and overhauls that are required for every aircraft in service with airlines, as well as tracking spare parts and documentation.
A number of Australian airlines have experienced problems with their maintenance control systems in recent years.
CASA is making sure the new audits are conducted consistently by integrating special teams of safety inspectors to carry out the work.
Media contact
Peter Gibson
mobile 0419 296 446
Ref: MR0417