[Peetwo]

Beaker clearing the decks for Hoody??

AO-2013-100 - Landing below minima due to fog involving Boeing 737s, VH-YIR and VH-VYK Mildura Airport, Victoria on 18 June 2013.


ATSB Safety Issue No: AO-2013-100-SI-01
 
ATSB Safety Issue No: AO-2013-100-SI-02

ATSB Recommendation No: AO-2013-100-SR-057 

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Nothing to see here.

Quote: This occurrence has highlighted the effect of various factors coming together to create and influence a rare event.

The VA 737 landed with less than 15 mins of fuel and essentially no one stuffed up (not BOM, not ATC, not Crew, not Ops Control/Dispatch). - and if it wasn't for the QF skipper taking extra fuel they would have been in the same boat...

What is wrong with the ATSB?!!

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ozbiggles - 3 years to tell us what the aircraft did, nothing new from the interim report.

This was an opportunity for a top down dissection of how business Is done in this country. Two aircraft from different companies ended up on a country airstrip conducting emergency landings and the conclusion is they should have been getting more regular updates on inaccurate forecasts?

What about the infrastructure? All modern jet aircraft can auto land, in fact the report mentions when emergency autolands have saved us in the past. No recommendation to mandate it at capital airports at least? The bean counters will tell you it's not statiscally significant to warrant the expense but how many times has it saved the day already?

The NOC, National Operations Centre. What the hell does it do, it seems to have got involved right about the time both aircraft were in the circuit area at Mildura. Shouldn't the NOC be the centre of knowledge and information for these types of unfolding events or is it just somewhere in Canberra to sit and drink coffee? Surely we should have a central point for ASA,BOM, major airlines to co-ordinate unfolding scenarios so all the missed opportunities that occured here don't happen?if not why not?

ASA who the hell decided that not passing on SPECIs wasn't going to cause any real problems? That if they can only get that information within visual range it wouldn't be an issue. What the hell is going on there with risk mangement and what other chocolate eggs are hidden?

How did it happen the AIP didn't reflect the intent of the change at ASA? Where else is this a problem. How come the majority of the pilot group didn't know this was the intent?

This just on the first read, I'm sure there is more

How did it happen they had to ask CASA for an interpretation of inflight fuel requirements? Haven't we sorted that out in 100 years of flying.

Nothing on if current fuel policy is appropriate or what other countries might use.

We did cover the big issue that the air ambulance pilot didn't start his radio call with Airep, glad that made it in.

Yesterday (see above) the ATSB finally released their long awaited & much anticipated Mildura Fog duck-up Final Report...

 "K" in an abbreviated post perfectly sums up the value of such a report:

The winner is:-

P-362436 won the prized Tim Tam; closest to a word perfect repeat of the ATSB report in a close run competition.  The following was almost letter perfect in no less than 30 out of 40 entries. Although the semi illiterate drafting and grammatical faux-pas were difficult to replicate, many managed it. Bravo - CF all around.

The safety issue identified during this investigation is listed in the Findings and Safety issues and actions sections of this report. The ATSB expects that all safety issues identified by the investigation should be addressed by the relevant organisation(s). In addressing those issues, the ATSB prefers to encourage relevant organisation(s) to proactively initiate safety action, rather than to issue formal safety recommendations or safety advisory notices.

Now read that again - as an exercise in English and logic.  Then weep.
   
It is unanimous that the above paragraph could have been generated in three minutes which would have saved three years of resources being allocated.  

There you go Greg, 3.4 days off a week, 0.6 day for coffee and chats; 0.5 to sign off on the boiler-plate paragraphs provided, then the weekend is your own, to do with as pleases you best.  Great new job mate; enjoy.

JFHCOAC.

Simply put it is an absolute shocker -   And IMO perfectly personifies the retrograde progress that has been made ever since the Senate Pel-Air cover-up inquiry findings & recommendations were handed down, a little over 3 years ago...  

The release of this report also got me thinking? Is this the first in a line of O&O'd investigation reports to be cynically released by Beaker under the cover of the election and prior to his final departure from the now much maligned ATSB. In other words is he just swabbing the decks with strong disinfectant so that Hoody does not get a sniff of the corruption that lies beneath?

Moving on but still on the soon to be departing SMH Beaker? Some poor bastard is trying to make some sense of the Albo/McComic/Beaker years and asked if I could run a bio search on Beaker.

Still going with this project but some of the goss I have discovered on Beaker so far is simply staggering and begs more questions than answers...

Examples - Did you know that Beaker..

..at one stage was on the CASA Audit & Risk committee?

Here is part of his bio from the CASA 2004-2005 Annual Report:

Martin Dolan Member, Audit and Risk Committee – April 2004 to present

Martin Dolan is the interim Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Energy
Markets Commission and was previously the Executive Director, Aviation and
Airports, Department of Transport and Regional Services...

...In 2001, Mr Dolan transferred to the Department of Transport and Regional
Services. After completing a review of the department’s road programs, he took
over management of the Airports Division. He was then responsible for the
Department’s role in selling Sydney Airport, the enhancement of aviation security,
post-Ansett aviation policy and aviation safety reform. 

Did you know that Beaker..

..was also on the Airservices Australia Directors Board: 

http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/wp-c...4-2005.pdf

During the year, Chief Executive Officer Bernie Smith retired after four years in the position, and Board members Ronald Entsch and Kevin Gale completed their terms. Belinda Gibson and Martin Dolan resigned mid year.

Not sure how long he was on the CASA committee or ASA Board but apparently he suddenly and unexpectedly resigned from both positions around about the same time??

Before those positions Dolan of course was a First Assistant Secretary of DOTARS (see page 14 https://infrastructure.gov.au/department...part_2.pdf ) in the Aviation & Airports Policy/Regulation division and was apparently the primary tweaker of the Airports Act & attributed for drawing up and sealing the deal on the Sydney Airport sale.

While at DOTARS Beaker also had a brief stint as Deputy dog to the then Secretary Ken Mathews (see page 16 above link).

However with Beaker what really piqued my interest was his involvement with the implementation of the NAS (2B), remembering that he was the muppet that commissioned Jeff Griffith to review the possible ramifications of modifying (to Australian unique conditions) Class E over D in the NAS(2B) program:  https://infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/p...report.pdf

The following is a link to Hansard from 26 May 2004 Senate Estimates: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/sear...632%2F0002

Mr Dolan —I think I would be the person with principal responsibility in the department for these issues. I have certainly, like Mr Matthews, been aware of developments and been kept informed but have not been involved in any consultations. We have taken the view consistently ever since issues arose in terms of process in relation to 2b that the decisions were to be made by Airservices...

...Mr Dolan —Yes, I have spoken to several Qantas employees at various times about a range of issues to do with air space, including reservations they had about elements of the NAS.

..Senator O'BRIEN —In February, Mr Matthews, you mentioned that Mr Mike Smith had been heavily involved in consultation with industry representatives about NAS stage 2b. Will Mr Smith be involved in consultation in relation to the possible changes proposed by Airservices Australia last Friday?

Mr Matthews —I will ask Mr Dolan to answer that. I am conscious that we have Mr Smith at the table as well.

Senator O'BRIEN —I am sure he will do what he is asked to do, so I was asking you, but if you want Mr Smith to answer I am happy for him to do that.

Mr Matthews —I will refer it, in the first instance, to Mr Dolan. My reason for doing that is that Mr Dolan chairs an interagency group, which is a steering group under NASPAG, which brings together all the agencies that have some functional responsibility or interest in this.

Mr Dolan —The role of the interagency group is to ensure that the various contributions to the overall NAS project from different agencies and the NAS implementation group are aligned and that they take account of each other, so that an exchange of views and consultation happens in that group across the agencies. That is at least one forum where Mr Smith would be consulted on the progress. The point, I think, that we should come back to is that he would be among a range of people who would be consulted by Airservices in making the decision that is theirs under the regulations.

Senator O'BRIEN —He would be a participant rather than an initiator of consultation, if I understand you correctly?

Mr Dolan —That is correct.

Senator O'BRIEN —I want to ask a few questions that relate to a minute from the department to the minister on 23 June 2003, numbered p2003-372. Can you confirm that the NAS implemented in Australia is different to the US national airspace system?

Mr Dolan —I can confirm that the NAS, as currently implemented in Australia, is different from the US system, because implementation of the overall system has been progressive. It has been staged. We are in a transitional stage, so we do not have the US system...

...Mr Dolan —I would potentially have to correct some detail on notice, but the issues, as I recall them, that were being discussed among agencies, and on which it is entirely possible the minister was briefed in the middle of last year, were to do with the processes relating to those elements of NAS 2b that were not demonstrably precisely the same as the US system. I am aware of debate, but not a decision that would have led to the view that there should be a design safety case for the full NAS.

Senator O'BRIEN —A debate?

Mr Dolan —Among agencies.

Senator O'BRIEN —What was the debated view of Airservices at that time?

Mr Dolan —I find it dangerous to rely on memory on this and, as I say, I do not have the benefit of having the documentation in front of me.

Mr Matthews —The broad debate was that Australia was seeking to adopt a system as similar as possible to the US system. The accepted international practice is that a proven and accepted system such as the US system does not need to go through a design safety case. To the extent that there were necessarily some variations to the US system to adapt it to Australia's unique circumstances, an absolutely identical system could not be adopted in Australia—just because of certain differences between the US and Australia. The question that agencies would have been discussing at that time was whether that small number of departures from the pure US system necessitated a full design safety case.

P2 intrigue?? - The outstanding questions that remain are; is there any truth to the rumour that Beaker disgraced himself in 2004-5 to the point of being as closely sacked as a senior public servant can get and if so; how was it possible for Beaker to worm his way back into the aviation safety bureaucracy in the plum job as the first Chief Commissioner of the ATSB only 3 short years later??

I guess what all the scuttlebutt highlights (so far) to me, is if there was one person ideally suited to the role of providing top cover (PelAir, MH370 & Airservices Australia) for any of the aviation safety agencies, or the department, that position would be perfectly suited to that man (muppet) Beaker...    


MTF...P2