Accident rate still exceeded that of regular public transport, but the trend is encouraging.
By Rick Darby
Australia’s celebrated aviation safety record took a “headline hit” in 2010 when an Airbus A380 en route from Singapore to Sydney suffered an uncontained engine failure on Nov. 4, with a fractured turbine disk causing structural and systems damage. While the investigation continues, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB’s) latest analysis indicates no overall adverse trend and an improvement in the charter operations accident rate in the most recent year for which it could be calculated.1
In Australian air transport during 2010, accidents and serious incidents involved loss of aircraft separation, loss of control in flight, powerplant and propulsion, terrain collisions, and runway and ground operations. Among incidents in general, the most …
