Just the facts Ma'am.
Among P7's motley crew of 'old mates' is a fellah who, at one time was an investigator of some weight and intelligence. He once told some of the myths and legends surrounding his trade; interesting to say the least. One of the tenets he explained took root and I have never found reason to doubt the logic. In short, he maintained that one must 'hear' a story at least five times; listen very carefully to that tale, take notes and examine, carefully and closely each element and tug each 'loose end' to make sure it is part of the whole. He reckoned that at or about the fifth iteration something like the real story began to take shape.
Bias and preconceived ideas must be set aside; particularly when there is a fairly substantial body of evidence which, though not directly connected to the inquiry can and does provide a prejudiced - even jaundiced view. So, an open mind and a clean slate for a new topic is required. So, with this in mind, I decided to open the can in which the 'CASA Corruption' web site resides. Tracked down the industry protagonist and made the call.
On first encounter, I have to say it's quite a story. A story many who have not hunted in the swamps of Sleepy Hollow would find hard to credit. For those who have, the parallels, similarities and characters involved would be familiar. Five pages of notes, each item checked and even with a hefty 70% discount against the purported 'facts' it is still quite a story; and a familiar one.
Much of this story is still with the courts and it is prudent to wait for those proceedings to be complete before taking a long hard look at the whole thing. However, I was intrigued by the image of the downed Huey (Chopper) and asked about that incident. The official 'report' - HERE - seems fairly straight forward; but, the 'pub' version tells a different tale. The closest I dare go to that tale is to suggest that perhaps CASA could get busy and take a long hard look-see at part numbers and the source of the parts associated with the failure. That would, at very least, rule out much of the rumour surrounding the incident. ATSB defined the primary cause, no problem, but were not required to do a forensic examination of the aircraft's serviceability or maintenance history. Not saying there was anything dodgy - not at all, but rumours like those floating about the place tend to become vexatious, exaggerated and counterproductive to the integrity of the industry.
Aye well; probably yet another storm in a tea cup, of rumour becoming legend; but as it stands the CASA reputation within industry is taking another whispered pasting. This is of neither intrinsic or practical value to the government, the industry or the CASA. That's it for now; I'll rack the shovel and await the transcript - then we may deal in facts.
Click - rumour mill - OFF - Checks complete.
Toot - toot.
Among P7's motley crew of 'old mates' is a fellah who, at one time was an investigator of some weight and intelligence. He once told some of the myths and legends surrounding his trade; interesting to say the least. One of the tenets he explained took root and I have never found reason to doubt the logic. In short, he maintained that one must 'hear' a story at least five times; listen very carefully to that tale, take notes and examine, carefully and closely each element and tug each 'loose end' to make sure it is part of the whole. He reckoned that at or about the fifth iteration something like the real story began to take shape.
Bias and preconceived ideas must be set aside; particularly when there is a fairly substantial body of evidence which, though not directly connected to the inquiry can and does provide a prejudiced - even jaundiced view. So, an open mind and a clean slate for a new topic is required. So, with this in mind, I decided to open the can in which the 'CASA Corruption' web site resides. Tracked down the industry protagonist and made the call.
On first encounter, I have to say it's quite a story. A story many who have not hunted in the swamps of Sleepy Hollow would find hard to credit. For those who have, the parallels, similarities and characters involved would be familiar. Five pages of notes, each item checked and even with a hefty 70% discount against the purported 'facts' it is still quite a story; and a familiar one.
Much of this story is still with the courts and it is prudent to wait for those proceedings to be complete before taking a long hard look at the whole thing. However, I was intrigued by the image of the downed Huey (Chopper) and asked about that incident. The official 'report' - HERE - seems fairly straight forward; but, the 'pub' version tells a different tale. The closest I dare go to that tale is to suggest that perhaps CASA could get busy and take a long hard look-see at part numbers and the source of the parts associated with the failure. That would, at very least, rule out much of the rumour surrounding the incident. ATSB defined the primary cause, no problem, but were not required to do a forensic examination of the aircraft's serviceability or maintenance history. Not saying there was anything dodgy - not at all, but rumours like those floating about the place tend to become vexatious, exaggerated and counterproductive to the integrity of the industry.
Aye well; probably yet another storm in a tea cup, of rumour becoming legend; but as it stands the CASA reputation within industry is taking another whispered pasting. This is of neither intrinsic or practical value to the government, the industry or the CASA. That's it for now; I'll rack the shovel and await the transcript - then we may deal in facts.
Click - rumour mill - OFF - Checks complete.
Toot - toot.