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The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is being urged to relax maintenance requirements for aircraft involved in medical charity flights, after a Senate inquiry found maintenance concerns were not a factor in two fatal Angel Flight crashes.
Key points:
- The inquiry was launched to review the findings of an earlier report by the ATSB
- The ATSB report was critical of charity Angel Flight over its fatal crash record
- The Senate inquiry found there was "no direct evidence" Angel Flight pilots were under extra pressure
The inquiry was launched two months ago in response to a damning report into the charity flight provider conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).
The ATSB report, released in August, was prompted by the deaths of Emily and Tracy Redding, aged 16 and 43, who were killed along with 78-year-old pilot Grant Gilbert at Mount Gambier in South Australia's south-east.
Mr Gilbert had volunteered his aircraft for Angel Flight, a charity that coordinates non-emergency flights by recreational pilots to help people in regional areas reach medical appointments.
He crashed in heavy fog shortly after take-off in June 2017, almost six years after three people — including a mother and her teenage daughter — were killed near Horsham.
In August, the ATSB publicly released its two-year investigation into the charity flight provider, finding the likelihood of a fatal crash was "was more than seven times higher than other private flights" and that Angel Flight passengers were exposed to "much higher levels of risk".
Angel Flight later slammed the ATSB investigation, describing it as "demonstrably wrong" and urging a review by a Senate committee, which has now expressed "concerns" about findings in the ATSB report.
"The committee was disturbed to learn that the ATSB had not consulted with any Angel Flight pilots in reaching its conclusions about the pressure [on pilots] — perceived or otherwise," it found.
"The ATSB has … provided no direct evidence to support its views that Angel Flight pilots are under more pressure to complete a flight than private pilots.
"The committee is concerned by the certitude of some of the conclusions drawn by the ATSB, from a dataset involving two incidents separated by six years, and over a 10-year period."
The inquiry concluded with recommendations, including that CASA remove additional maintenance requirements for community service flights from a regulatory document referred to as a "community service flight (CSF) instrument".
It said such a recommendation was justified because "maintenance concerns played no role in the 2011 and 2017 Angel Flight accidents".
"In both instances, the ATSB concluded that there was no indication of unserviceable equipment or defects at the time of the accidents," it found.
"The committee is of the view that the existing aircraft maintenance regime is adequate to ensure the safety of passengers and Angel Flight operators.
"The committee considers that the CSF instrument should be amended to remove those aeroplane maintenance requirements … which exceed the existing maintenance requirements for airworthiness in the general aviation sector."
Senator says CASA has 'over-regulation issue'
In a statement, CASA said it had received the Senate review on Friday and would respond in detail at a later date.
"We are, however, somewhat perplexed that a Senate inquiry into the performance of the ATSB somehow results in two recommendations for a completely separate organisation, CASA," a spokeswoman said.
The ATSB also said it would review the findings more closely, noting the Senate review did "not make any recommendations for the bureau".
The ATSB also insisted on the "integrity" of its two-year investigation.
"It is essential that the controls for risk are strengthened to prevent further accidents and further loss of life," the ATSB said.
However, Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick — who was part of the inquiry — said the ATSB's report was "a case of lies, damned lies and statistics".
He said it strengthened the case for a Senate motion to relax maintenance requirements.
"Angel Flight provides an invaluable service to regional communities who have families that require non-urgent, but critical medical services or families who need [disability] assistance for their loved ones," he said.
"CASA has an over-regulation issue, so much so that the Government is progressing a bill through the Parliament that legally requires CASA to treat safety as primary, but to be mindful of the need to maintain a healthy industry."
Angel Flight Australia CEO Marjorie Pagani welcomed the findings of the Senate review — but also suggested they could have gone further.
"We look forward to prompt implementation of the recommendations," she said.
"At the same time, it is disappointing that there [was] no mention of ATSB's failure to investigate the circumstances leading up to the accident prior to the arrival at Mount Gambier, and no specific recommendations requiring ATSB to take any action on the serious criticisms of its investigations."
Topics: government-and-politics, air-and-space, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, federal-parliament, parliament, australia, adelaide-5000, horsham-3400, mount-gambier-5290, sa, melbourne-3000, vic