[Peetwo]

Ben Sandilands getting up a head of steam -

Following on closely from the PT Cobham BAE-146 blog piece & the 50 odd comments that followed, Ben Sandilands has yet another 'serious' Jetstar incident to sink his teeth into to again highlight the appalling duplicity & selective bias by the inept, seemingly captured big "R" regulator CASA.

This ATSB investigation will also be interesting in that it could be regarded as the first real test for the soon to be Chief Commissioner Hoody to insure a totally non-PC'd final report is produced, warts & all.       

For background here is a rehash of the 'other' Jetstar incidents that were also covered by AP & PT...  

AAI in a parallel universe - Will Aviation Safety again be the victim of Bureaucratic obfuscation & Political expediency..

Two serious Jetstar incidents under ATSB investigation

From the 'Closing the safety loop' thread & yesterday's ABC radio 'World Today' program:

WILL OCKENDEN: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) isn't the only one looking into this matter.

The aviation regulator, that's the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, or CASA has taken the unusual step of running its own investigation in parallel to the ATSB.

Peter Gibson is from CASA.

PETER GIBSON: We, of course, as the regulator, as the safety regulator need to look at immediate safety issues, be satisfied that they've been dealt with, that the causal factors have been understood by the airline and that the airline has taken the appropriate actions.

So that's why you've got two parallel investigations.

WILL OCKENDEN: What could be the outcome of a CASA investigation?

PETER GIBSON: Well, we're making sure most importantly that Jetstar is putting in place changes that will ensure these sorts of mistakes aren't made again.

Vivid memories of the last high profile 'parallel' investigation and we all know how that turned out -

Wonder if the operator will voluntarily ground all A320 operations until all the safety issues are effectively risk mitigated to the satisfaction of the regulator? - Yeah right & Elephants can fly  (see pic above)

[/url]  
Continued from ABC World Today program:

BEN SANDILANDS: These are really serious investigations.

WILL OCKENDEN: That's Ben Sandilands, an aviation writer and commentator for the crikey.com.au blog, Plane Talking.

He says the other incident, 10 days later on the 29th October, was far more serious.

BEN SANDILANDS: A Jetstar flight to Perth actually really struggled to take off from Melbourne airport at all. It was very nose heavy, clearly had gone too far down the runway to stop and that could have been a very serious incident.

WILL OCKENDEN: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it's investigating both incidents to find out how the so-called "aircraft loading event" occurred.

It's classified the incidents as "serious".

Ben Sandilands agrees.

BEN SANDILANDS: They moved people around on the flight so that they could land in the proper configuration in Perth. On the other incident, which was a Brisbane to Melbourne flight, they were out by more than, well, almost two tonnes in the weights and balances on the aircraft and so they had to adjust their landing calculations for Melbourne.

WILL OCKENDEN: They're supposed to do this before they take off. Is there any indication why those checks weren't done?

BEN SANDILANDS: None whatsoever. What is extraordinary and I've been talking to a number of pilots this morning who just cannot believe that something that is fundamental to a small tier country airline service could be messed up so badly by a scheduled airline.

It is beyond belief that an airline in Australia would push back and begin a flight without actually knowing how many people were really on board and indeed the other elements of the calculations as to where they were seated.

That's fundamental. That is the sort of stuff that airlines stopped making a mess of back in the 1950s and 1940s.

Ben Sandilands again with a follow up article:

[url=http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2015/12/04/comment-why-action-should-be-taken-against-jetstar/]Comment: Why action should be taken against Jetstar

Ben Sandilands | Dec 04, 2015 5:48PM |

 
P2 comment: The mention of Nick Xenophon is extremely relevant because at a pivotal point in the Pilot training Senate Inquiry, when NX was zoning in on the dodgy safety culture of Jetstar (*1) - somewhat conveniently?? - CASA with very little warning took the bold step of grounding Tiger -

(*1 - Remember "Toughen up Princesses" & Ben Cook Darwin base Fatigue Special Audit report?)  

OK...so one more time round the Mulberry bush..  

&... TICK TOCK goes the Miniscule clock??

Ben S courtesy of Planetalking today:

Why Jetstar's latest incident should alarm flyers
The ATSB says a 'serious incident' is one that could end in a crash, and Jetstar has just had another one

Ben Sandilands
Jetstar’s tail strike incident at Melbourne Airport this week puts another red flag over the Qantas subsidiary’s operations and the unwillingness to date of the supposed safety regulator CASA to ground or restrict its flights.

However the ATSB appears to have fast tracked its inquiry into an incident that imperiled the lives of those on the 180 seat passenger jet bound for Hobart, indicating a final report will be provided by this November...

Update on ATSB Jetstar loading incidents investigation.

From the ATSB today:

Updated: 23 August 2016


Completion of the draft investigation report has been delayed due to competing team member priorities and workload, and to allow additional investigative work to be finalised.

This additional work includes:

• obtaining and consolidating additional evidence
  
• analysis of evidence held and the development and test of investigation findings.
  

When complete, the draft report will be released to directly involved parties (DIP) for comment and on the factual accuracy of the draft report. Feedback from those parties over the 28-day DIP period will be considered for inclusion in the final investigation report...

Yeah I know.."patience grasshopper"...but Hoody mate?? this one has a real smell about it -    


MTF...P2