[Peetwo]

Bollocks Broome R44 crash and ICAO SSP audit??

Still catching up on some Oz articles that featured the many aberrations of the Troy Thomas aviation activities and operations in the NW Kimberley.

Courtesy the Oz:

Complaint videos sent to CASA show pilot Troy Thomas illegally landing on Cockatoo Island



Videos of unsafe flying – sent to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority with written complaints about dangerous incidents in the Kimberley – show the helicopters involved were not only owned by West Australian tourism stalwart Troy Thomas, but on at least one occasion he was also the pilot.

The Australian revealed last month CASA had investigated and dismissed a spate of dangerous flying allegations involving helicopters owned by Thomas and his companies a year before the Broome crash that killed him and 12-year-old Amber Millar.

Documents obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws revealed CASA in 2018 received five written complaints, accompanied by photo and video evidence, of “unsafe behaviour” involving aircraft badged Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, which Thomas founded and owned at the time.

When The Australian last month revealed CASA dismissed the complaints in 2019, a year before his fatal crash, the regulator said it “refutes the allegations”.

“Each of the 2018 incidents was investigated and acted on by CASA and not one of them involved Mr Thomas,” a spokesperson said.

However, The Australian has now obtained video evidence – through a further Freedom of Information application – that appears to show Thomas as the pilot in at least one of the incidents.

The 2018 reports to CASA sparked a noncompliance investigation into Helibrook, the aviation business of Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright, because Thomas’s choppers were operating under his Air Operator’s Certificate.

Helibrook’s chief pilot from 2018, Fraser Kenworthy, yesterday told The Australian that he recalls the Cockatoo Island incident.

“I remember the day,” he said. “But you see the thing is, I was the chief pilot for the commercial operations but he (Thomas) wasn‘t a commercial pilot so he flew the same aircraft that we were using commercially but it had nothing to do with my operation.

“I never had to answer to anything that he was doing because his was a private operation … so ultimately it had nothing to do with me.”



Last month CASA denied any knowledge of Thomas’s involvement in the incidents.

“CASA does not normally investigate the owners of aircraft involved in accidents or incidents – as many are owned under complex financial and shareholding arrangements,” the regulator said in a lengthy statement published on its website.

“CASA was aware of only one previous incident that Mr Thomas was involved in prior to his fatal accident. That incident resulted in enforcement action being taken against Mr Thomas.”

In one of the videos – filmed on July 2, 2018 – a pilot who appears to be Thomas lands his Robinson R44 Clipper II, registered VH-ZGY, on Cockatoo Island in Western Australia. The chopper’s passenger doors open, someone approaches, something yellow is put on the back seat and the pilot flies off.

At the time, a Cockatoo Island resident complained to CASA that the chopper made “an unauthorised landing on our property” and that it had happened multiple times “by the same operator in the past few weeks”.



The other three videos supplied to CASA show helicopters badged Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures flying dangerously low and through narrow gorges at Horizontal Falls, about 270km northeast of Broome.

Footage filmed from another aircraft shows a helicopter – possibly VH-ZGY – flying dangerously low towards a 20m-wide gorge in the McLarty Range.

In an incident filmed from a boat at Talbot Bay, a helicopter flies back and forth through a narrow channel in the Horizontal Falls. “That’s close,” someone says as the chopper flies low through a narrow 10-metre wide cliff passage.

A person on board the boat below tells a companion to “film the chopper doing that stuff”.

“It’s really very illegal,” a man is heard saying. “It’s very, very illegal.”



A separate video, filmed from another boat, captures the blue-looking helicopter flying low into a narrow gorge.

“You’re kidding,” someone on the boat says. “Even I know you can’t do that.”

In 2019, Thomas crashed the chopper he had landed on Cockatoo Island – VH-ZGY – off the top of his vessel High Calibre at Raft Point, north of Broome.

The incident, in which passengers were seriously injured and the aircraft was lost, was not reported to authorities.

CASA investigated a separate 2017 incident in which one of Thomas’s helicopters, VH-SCM, crashed off the top of a boat and into the water at Talbot Bay but never inspected the destroyed helicopter.

The written-off choppers belonged to Thomas’s company, Avanova Pty Ltd.

He operated five helicopters for private, business and commercial purposes.



The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s final report into Thomas’s fatal Broome crash stated the 40-year-old had demonstrated “a high-risk appetite”, a history of noncompliance with aviation laws, was unlicensed to fly the destroyed Robinson R44 and knew there was a serious issue with it before taking off on that final fatal flight.

Last month, Amber’s parents, Fiona and Clint Benbow, said CASA had “blood on its hands” over their daughter’s death and called for an inquiry into the federal regulator over its perceived failure to act on complaints about Thomas.

They have also begged WA Coroner Ros Fogliani for a coronial inquest.

WA Premier Roger Cook recently said an inquest “looks like being the only vehicle that we can now rely upon to do that level of investigation”.

“There‘s an absolute dearth of people on the ground and commitment by CASA to investigate and follow up these things or to maintain a regulatory oversight of tourism and helicopter aviation generally,” he said.

And 2 weeks ago:

Injured chopper passenger Chelsea Cortese sues dead pilot Troy Thomas’ company Avanova



A Western Australian woman injured in a serious chopper crash with pilot Troy Thomas, less than a year before the fatal incident that killed him and a 12-year-old girl, is suing the late tourism stalwart’s aviation company.

Documents obtained from the Perth District Court reveal that passenger Chelsea Cortese is suing Thomas’s company Avanova Pty Ltd – which owned and operated his helicopter fleet – for damages over injuries she suffered in an unreported 2019 helicopter crash.

In July 2020, Thomas and Perth schoolgirl Amber Millar were killed when his Robinson R44 – registered VH-NBY – crashed immediately after takeoff from an industrial site in Broome.

But less than a year earlier, Thomas was the pilot in another serious helicopter crash in the Kimberley which injured everyone on board and destroyed the aircraft.

In July 2019, Thomas crashed his Robinson R44 – registered VH-ZGY – off the top of his catamaran, High Calibre, which was moored at Raft Point off the coast of Broome.



On the morning of July 12, Thomas, his operations manager Bryce McGlashan and Ms Cortese had boarded the helicopter to return to Thomas’s Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures pontoon.

Mr McGlashan, also a pilot, was sitting in the front passenger seat while Ms Cortese sat behind him.

The weather was fine and the water in the bay was calm but as soon as Thomas tried to takeoff, the helicopter yawed left, tipped forwards and rolled to the right.

The main rotor blades struck the starboard side of the vessel. The helicopter then hit the water and sank.

Mr McGlashan sustained serious physical injuries and Thomas, who was unlicensed at the time, suffered severe bruising and a sore neck.

Ms Cortese, who was aged 20 at the time, suffered severe injuries after almost drowning.

In its final report into the fatal Broome crash, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said no-one reported this incident involving VH-ZGY to authorities.

The ATSB only discovered the crash, which was by law “immediately reportable”, during its three-year investigation into the Broome fatalities.



Ms Cortese’s statement of claim states that VH-ZGY crashed because it was still tethered to High Calibre when Thomas tried to take off from the helipad.

“As the helicopter began to take off, there was a holding strap still attached on the underside of the helicopter towards the front, which was pulling the helicopter down, when Troy Thomas manoeuvred the controls of the helicopter to the right, which resulted in the helicopter tilting to the right, and slicing the right hand side of High Calibre, shattering the glass windows, before nose diving into the water,” it says.

“The defendant was negligent in attempting to take off and climb the helicopter while it was still strapped to High Calibre causing a loss of control and the defendant failed to perform adequate pre-flight checks to ensure that the helicopter was not strapped to High Calibre before taking off and failed to exercise sufficient care and skill in the operation of the helicopter to prevent the accident.”



The 24-year-old claims she has since suffered from – and required extensive medical treatment for – severe injuries as a result of the accident.

“As a result of the accident the Plaintiff has experienced pain and suffering and a loss of enjoyment of life,” her lawyer Maureen O’Connell wrote.

“The Plaintiff has been incapacitated and has required and will require in the future the provision of services.

“The Plaintiff has required time off from her employment as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident and has sustained past economic loss and a loss of superannuation and will do so in the future.”

Ms Cortese is suing Avanova for damages, interest and costs.

In court documents Ms O’Connell claims that Avanova owed Ms Cortese a duty of care “to ensure she did not sustain injuries while a passenger in aircraft operated by the company” and that it was vicariously liable for any breach by people employed by or working for it including Thomas.

The Australian’s application to the Perth District Court for a copy of the defence pleadings was refused.

Ms Cortese’s claim against Avanova is expected to proceed to trial early next year.

Sophie Thomas, who was appointed director of Avanova weeks after her husband’s death, declined to comment.

Refer page 48 of AO-2020-033 Final Report:

It was reported to the ATSB that 2 people required transfer to another helicopter (VH-NBY) located nearby on-shore, to return to Broome. A witness stated that VH-ZGY had been used twice already that day and had landed to load a third passenger without shutting down. Simultaneously, friends and family of the vessel’s owner were due to arrive at Raft Point via seaplane to holiday aboard High Calibre. It was reported that the transfer to VH-NBY in VH-ZGY needed to be completed in time for the owner to get back to High Calibre and meet their guests.

The owner of the helicopter was piloting the helicopter and sat front right. One passenger sat front left, and the second passenger sat rear right. It was reported that upon take off the helicopter yawed left and then tipped forwards and rolled to the right. The main rotor blades contacted the starboard side of the vessel (Figure 32). The helicopter then collided with water and sank...


Source: Western Australia Police Force annotated by ATSB

...The front left occupant had serious injury, the owner sat front right, had severe bruising, and the rear right passenger had minor injuries. The helicopter was destroyed. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed the loss of VH-ZGY with an insurance agent, and the helicopter was not recovered. High Calibre had significant damage and the hull was penetrated above the water line. High Calibre was repaired in a remote location 11 days later...

...Under section 18 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 a responsible person with knowledge of an immediately reportable matter must report it. The loss of VH-ZGY was not reported to the ATSB.

Hmm...I wonder when CASA 'confirmed the loss of VH-ZGY'...

Next and I believe directly related with all the aberrations of both the ATSB Croc-o-shite and Broome cover-up reports, I note the following throwaway paragraphs imbedded in the latest Su_Spence bollocks briefing:

Also this year, it was our turn to be inspected by the International Civil Aviation Organization as it assessed Australia’s state safety programs and conducted a focused audit.

It was a good reminder that audits, rather than something to be feared, provide useful insights into what we do well and where improvements need to be made.

 
ICAO audit...who knew? Digging around I did manage to find the following statement from the 'Civil Aviation Safety Authority Annual Report 2022-23':

Performance criteria: CASA maintains the Effective Implementation (El) score determined by ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP)

Target - Maintain or improve EI score

Status - ACHIEVED

Australia’s EI score was 94.89% (valid to 30 August 2023), which is unchanged from last year and reflects the outcome of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) validation mission undertaken in 2017. The EI score is a State score based on the performance of all 9 Australian State Safety Program agencies.

Australia is scheduled to undergo an ICAO State Safety Programme Implementation Assessment (SSPIA) and Focused Audit under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP), from 30 August to 19 September 2023.

BRB OBS: "..I reckon that reads like - ‘trying to turn a negative into a positive’. Being a potential international embarrassment for Australia, a SSP audit will always result in significant reaction to criticism. That may explain lots of oddities at present - interesting days. Popinjay’s lack of independence is still a major risk for the SSP..."

Very much a live 'major risk' I would say: Ref:  Popinjay leaks Skerrit Ghost review; & CASA author ATSB corporate plan?

1.3 Accident and incident investigation

The State has established an independent accident and incident investigation process, the sole objective of which is the prevention of accidents and incidents, and not the apportioning of blame or liability. Such investigations are in support of the management of safety in the State. In the operation of the SSP, the State maintains the independence of the accident and incident investigation organization from other State aviation organizations.

Reference ICAO Annex 19 ATTACHMENT A

Much..much MTF...P2