[Peetwo]

Su_Spence's conflicted 'stating the bollocks' on Top-End Madness?? - 

The dots-n-dashes trail so far: 

Of Senators and garden paths.

This is to be quite a complicated piece if knitting, a tricky pattern; I shall probably make a fearful hash of it, but IMO it is worth the effort. So, with your indulgence I'll crack on.

From the reading material – HERE – buried within the story we find the following :-

“The CASA documents detail that the helicopters involved in these events were part of a “small satellite operation” – operating under several Air Operator’s Certificates – which took tourists on joy flights in connection with a fixed-wing operation at Horizontal Falls, about 270 km northeast of Broome.”

“The complaints sparked a noncompliance investigation into Helibrook, the aviation business of Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright, because Mr Thomas’s choppers were operating under his air operator’s certificate.”

“Aircraft registration records show that helicopters involved belonged to Thomas’s company Avanova, which operated five helicopters for private, business and commercial purposes for his tourism ventures.”

Now, before we get too sidetracked by the performers centre stage; take quick look at the Glen Buckley character patiently waiting stage left; then read through the paragraphs above again and see if you can define the diverging lines of argument; strict compliance application;and, the remarkable 'double standards' – those almost, but not quite visible, hovering in the wings. They are there, just neatly tucked behind a thin curtain; waiting their moment, centre stage. 

Aye, Senators bamboozled (again) by the 'human interest' and the misleading sleight of the Spence hand (legerdemain and opportunity). - Journalists too, all,  it seems, have missed this very important element....Lost in the maze, hampered by smoke and blinded by the mirrors. Then, we must add in a small dollop of 'ministerial defence' – once Smith tried to get to the business end of his 'inquiry'.

Sterle -”I am keen if you want to keep going, although it has nothing to do with the budget. I know how flexible we have been in this committee. “

Which is a bit rich coming from Sterle who seems to have obligingly rolled over in favour of 'the party' ignoring the fact that this is a WA matter - and his previous fierce, time consuming forays against the entire aviation management conglomerate when in opposition. But I digress. “To the point fool” howls the mob. Well M'lud, in short, I would be questioning the great variance clearly apparent in the way CASA sanction some operations and others are crucified; the 'legality' of the operation which claimed a young life and the history of how that operation came into being, and how, given the track record, it was allowed to continue. Buckley driven into the dirt like a tent peg – this operation allowed to progress to a fatality? Sen. Smith could do with some real ammunition for his next encounter. Properly briefed, he could have shot the boots off the ever elusive, evasive, untouchable CASA monolith. Why take a pocket knife to a gunfight? End of ramble...

“The archer is the true weapon; the bow is just a long piece of wood.

Plus from the bottom of.. Pup_Spence dodges a legal hand grenade with Firefighter widow court case??

Also: Pup_Spence and the CASA Board signal duplicity and favoritism is alive and well inside the halls of Fort Fumble in the case of the Croc Wrangler...

CASA gave Matt Wright exemption before Chris Wilson’s fatal chopper crash



The Civil Aviation Safety Authority granted Netflix star Matt Wright and two of his mates ­exemptions that allowed them to collect crocodile eggs with someone hanging from their helicopters – after its chief executive and board members received a private demonstration – just months before the fatal chopper crash that killed Chris Wilson.

New flight operations rules, ­effective from December 2021, stipulated that only turbine-­engine-powered helicopters were permitted to carry a person externally for sling operations.

Despite this, in September 2021, CASA granted Wright and pilot Michael Burbidge an exemption allowing them to continue carrying crocodile-egg collectors beneath their piston-engine-powered Robinson R44 aircraft for ­another three years.

In February last year Wilson – who starred on Outback Wrangler and Wild Croc Territory – was killed when the Robinson R44 Raven II he was slung beneath crashed in a remote part of West Arnhem Land during an egg-collecting mission. Pilot Sebastian Robinson was critically injured.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s preliminary ­report revealed the chopper’s ­engine had stopped before the helicopter hit the ground.

The destroyed chopper was owned and operated by Wright’s company Helibrook and contracted to Mick Burns’ company Wildlife Harvesting NT.

Shortly before the exemptions were granted, Mr Burns and Wright met CASA chief executive Pip Spence and board members Tony Matthews, Michael Bridge and Elizabeth Hallett in Darwin.

The CASA executives had travelled to the Territory in June 2021 for a safety forum, regular board meeting and industry ­engagement events. CASA said it fully-funded its employees’ travel.

While in Darwin, Ms Spence, also director of aviation safety, and her three board members visited Mr Burns’ business Crocodile Farms NT where they were briefed on its operations and how the looming new flight rules would affect its ability to collect crocodile eggs.



Celebrity croc-wrangler Wright then took the CASA CEO and Board members for a flight on one of his Bell choppers to see the scale of the company’s operations and the remote environment in which egg collection is undertaken.

The following month, CASA granted another of Burns’ companies, Porosus, a Supplemental Type Certificate allowing it to use dual cargo hooks for human external cargo operations on Robinson R44 and R44 Raven II helicopters for the purpose of crocodile-egg collecting.

A couple of months after that, CASA granted Helibrook and Mr Burbidge’s company, Northshore Holdings NT, an exemption ­allowing them to collect crocodile eggs via a sling person.

The authorisation was subject to many conditions, which included fitment of dual external cargo hooks under the certificate issued to Burns.

Among its 33 conditions, the sling person must carry a “readily ­accessible harness knife capable of cutting the lifting strop or harness in an emergency”. Also that the sling person “must be made aware, in writing, that the hook system is not certified for human use”.

CASA this week confirmed that Robinson R44 aircraft “can no longer be used for this kind of operation” under Civil Aviation Safety Regulations.

“Transitional arrangements vary between operators based on when an approval was granted but the longest an approval could be used is up to two years after it was made,” a spokesperson said.

While the exemptions granted to Wright and Burbidge in September 2021 state they will not be ­repealed until September 2024, CASA told The Australian their exemptions will cease after two years.

Since Wilson’s death, NT WorkSafe has prohibted the practice of collecting crocodile eggs from the wild by transporting workers suspended from a helicopter via a sling.

CASA board member Mr Bridge also sits on the Northern Territory Tourism board of commissioners alongside Mr Burns.

Tourism NT said it had no knowledge of, or involvement in, CASA’s visit. Wright declined to comment and Mr Burns, who is a­ ­director of Crocosaurus Cove and owns the Darwin Crocodile Farm that houses about 70,000 salt­water crocodiles, did not respond to requests for comment.

And from the CASA FOI disclosure log: 

23 May 2023 - All documents and correspondence related to the 23 June 2021 Crocodile Farms NT gift of a briefing and helicopter flight.

• Freedom of Information (FOI) - 23 June 2021 Helicopter Flight
  

Shades of the Hooded Canary here but it would seem that Pup_Spence has got her knickers in a knot with both the Croc Wrangler and Broome R44 fatal, with multiple entries to her introduced stating/correcting the bollocks pages...    

Read here:

Our response to media claims

• Allegations published by The Australian which suggest CASA does not take action against instances of unsafe flying are completely false.
  
• CASA has zero tolerance for serious, wilful or repeated disregard of the aviation rules and takes all reports of illegal aviation behaviour seriously.
  
• CASA does not normally investigate the owners of aircraft involved in incidents – many are owned under complex financial and shareholding arrangements.
  

Troy Robert Thomas was a private pilot that had business interests in some aviation tourism companies. He had ownership interest in companies that owned aircraft that were being operated under another Air Operators’ Certificate.

Mr Thomas has never held any regulatory approvals other than a private pilot licence and was never authorised to make any safety decisions or fly on behalf of Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures or any other company.

CASA refutes the allegations published today in The Australian. Each of the 2018 incidents was investigated and acted on by CASA, and not one of them involved Mr Thomas.

CASA does not normally investigate the owners of aircraft involved in accidents or incidents – as many are owned under complex financial and shareholding arrangements.

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 the 2022-23 financial year, CASA cancelled 6 civil aviation authorisations and suspended 4, and issued 106 infringement notices and 68 other notices. Many more incidents were also investigated under our coordinated enforcement process. We include these figures in our annual reports each year.

Response to The Australian enquiry – Darwin industry engagement

The following statement was provided to The Australian newspaper on 30 May 2023 in relation to questions about our Board’s engagement with industry in Darwin in 2021.

CASA has robust conflict of interest processes in place for staff and Board members which ensure that any perceived or actual conflict is appropriately managed.

The applications allowing collection of crocodile eggs were not exemptions but renewals of long-standing approvals held by a number of operators. They were handled as a routine matter by a CASA staff member.

CASA issues more than 200 approvals and authorisations each year to operators. We also issue around 100 exemptions to operators.

CASA’s Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy applies to all Board members and our staff. It outlines what is required to ensure actual or perceived conflict of interest are managed appropriately. The policy is published on our website.

Conflicts of interest by staff are regularly reviewed and where something is declared, this is reviewed by the manager as well as CASA’s legal team to see whether the conflict can be appropriately managed. This includes requirements for staff to declare COIs at the time of employment as well as other key touchpoints.

Board members are required to declare specific conflicts of interest at each Board meeting with respect to any matters that the Board will consider or make decisions on.

Board members have no role in CASA’s decision-making processes relating to applications or approvals.

The gifts and benefits register which CASA publishes includes detail about gifts or benefits received where the estimated value is greater than $100.

The CASA CEO and Board member who flew to Bathurst Island on a scheduled airline service on 21 June 2021 to better understand the types of aircraft used for remote air services did not leave the airport before they flew back to Darwin. These flights were paid for by CASA.

Correcting the record

The article in The Australian newspaper (CASA gave Matt Wright exemption before Chris Wilson’s fatal chopper crash, 6 May 2023) makes several statements that are incorrect and potentially misleading.

CASA routinely assesses applications for activities which are unusual or not specifically addressed in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations. Collecting crocodile eggs in remote areas is a good example and this type of activity has been approved, with safety conditions, for more than 10 years.

CASA’s Board regularly meets in different locations around Australia as part of an ongoing program to engage with communities, local operators and CASA staff. Visiting aviation businesses to gain a deeper understanding of aviation operations is often arranged around Board meetings.

The CASA CEO and Board were not flown to the Tiwi Islands on a helicopter. As part of a familiarisation of remote air services, two members flew to Bathurst Island and return on the same afternoon on scheduled airline flights from Darwin. The tickets were purchased by CASA.

Oversight of tourism operators and private flights

Aviation tourism flights can only be offered by a commercial pilot flying under an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) from CASA.



Commercial aviation operations are strictly monitored by CASA including through ongoing oversight, surveillance and audits.

This week the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its final investigation report on a Broome R44 helicopter accident that occurred in 2020.

The accident flight was not a commercial tourist operation, but a private flight organised for family and friends.

The pilot never held a commercial pilot licence and had never been licensed to fly passengers as part of a tourist operation.

Private pilots, such as the pilot involved in this tragedy, are not authorised to provide aviation tourism experiences.

Private pilots conducting private operations for family or friends must still follow the aviation safety rules, including the requirement to hold a valid and current licence.

We extend our condolences to the families and friends of those involved.

 
Hmm...anyone else thinking that Pup_Spence is getting a tad bit defensive on 'conflict of interest' matters North of the Can'tberra bubble?? - 

MTF...P2