On 28 July 2026, we held the Part 135 Sector Safety Risk Profile (SSRP) workshop in Brisbane. It included representatives from:
- the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)
- the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)
- industry operators from across Australia.
Participants:
- reviewed current and emerging safety risks
- validated existing regulatory bowtie models
- found opportunities to improve safety.
Workshop discussions focused on:
- operational matters including aerodromes
- airspace and separation
- weather
- maintenance
- human performance and safety management.
The workshop forms part of CASA's ongoing Safety Management System (SMS) and safety intelligence activities. To find the hazards and threats most relevant to a sector, Sector Safety Risk Profiles combine:
- safety data
- industry experience
- specialist knowledge.
The information supports operators in:
- reviewing their own safety management processes
- finding hazards relevant to their operations
- implementing practical risk controls appropriate to their environment.
Participants reviewed aviation safety data for Australian Part 135 non-scheduled passenger operations to identify:
- current safety performance
- emerging risks
- operational trends.
We formed the basis of the analysis from:
- ATSB occurrence data
- CASA operator information
- BITRE aircraft activity statistics.
Together, these data sources provide the evidence for identifying the hazards and issues discussed during the Sector Safety Risk Profile (SSRP) workshop.
The analysis focuses on current Part 135 certificate holders conducting passenger transport charter operations. Occurrence data covers the period from 2015 to 2025, noting that some 2025 records remain preliminary. Flying activity data is available from 2014 to 2024. The occurrence rates presented as occurrences per 100,000 flying hours.
Higher-severity occurrences remain uncommon in the Part 135 sector:
- Fatal accidents occur infrequently, while non-fatal accidents have generally declined over the reporting period.
- Serious incidents have remained relatively consistent, demonstrating that risk continues to require active management despite improvements in accident rates.
- Incident reports continue to make up the largest proportion of reported occurrences across the sector.
Compared with flying activity, occurrence data shows that accident rates have generally reduced since 2016. However, serious incident rates have fluctuated without a clear long-term trend.
Incident rates have remained comparatively higher since 2020. Flying activity has increased, but higher-severity occurrence rates have remained relatively stable.
Recurring safety themes include:
- A significant portion of reported occurrences involve:
- technical defects
- precautionary returns
- aircraft separation events.
- Landing gear indication issues and diversions or returns are among the most frequently reported occurrence categories.
- Aircraft separation events have notable proportion assessed as high risk using the ATSB Event Risk Classification (ERC) methodology. These include communication-related occurrences.
Occurrence trends also vary by aircraft type and phase of flight. The Cessna 208 Caravan and Cessna 210 record the highest number of reported occurrences within the cohort. Across these aircraft, approach and landing are the phases of flight where occurrences are most reported.
Increasing occurrence numbers for some aircraft types may reflect growth in fleet size and activity. The data reinforces the importance of managing risks during the approach and landing phases.
Analysis of contributing safety factors supports these findings. Although only a proportion of reported occurrences list safety factors, they reveal the underlying conditions that influence safety and help find systemic risk.
The interactive safety dashboard below provides additional information on:
- operator demographics
- aircraft fleets
- occurrence trends
- flying activity
- occurrence rates
- event risk classifications
- safety factors
- other characteristics of the Part 135 sector.
We encourage you to explore the data alongside the findings of this report to better understand the hazards and safety issues affecting non-scheduled passenger operations.