iscover
An appropriately registered MU-2!A number of unexplained accidents with this small high performance turboprop led BAS/ to expend a Jot of manhours in establishing just why the type was so accident prone for no apparent reason. Years of investigation finally paid off with the result that strict pilot training procedures were implemented along with operational constraints which have now served to eliminate the cause of the accidents in the first place.
BASI Reshapes For The ‘90s
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New Look Basi Reshapes for the Nineties
For decades, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) long had the image of an ogre-like, bureaucratic monster lurking in the wings just waiting to make life difficult for any erring pilot. But this has changed considerably in recent times with BASI, now working hard to gain industry’s trust with the goal of improving aviation safety.
Under what can be termed the old regime, BASI was perceived as an all too powerful bureaucracy which aimed only to apportion blame for accidents and incidents. Quite literally often perceived as using terror tactics in the eyes of those under investigation, Departmental officers including BASI investigators examined relatively minor incidents and liberally made use of their power to have licences suspended at a moment’s notice for indefinite periods, often at the mere suggestion that a pilot was at fault. The Bureau, in conjunction with the then Dept of Aviation and its many-named predecessors was apparently so engrossed with finding people to blame, that minor accidents or incidents were often not reported by pilots or operators simply because it was not worth the resulting hassle.
But this situation is fast changing. BASI, in line with the massive overhauling of Australia’s aviation bureaucracy, has moved away from apportioning blame to instead better concentrating its resources on investigating accidents which will add to knowledge and enhance aviation safety worldwide. As Dr Robert Lee, Director of BASI notes, investigating all accidents does not add substantially to knowledge, it just confirms what type of accidents are occurring. By concentrating on accidents considered to produce the best safety benefit (all fatal accidents are still examined) and specific problem areas, BASI can attain results which will ultimately make flying safer. With resources now moved away from investigating accidents of limited safety benefit, BASI expects to investigate just 50 accidents this year, as against 80 last year.
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