• Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss, addresses parliament yesterday.
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss, addresses parliament yesterday.
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Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss has asked the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) to re-open the Norfolk Island ditching investigation.

Truss made the request public yesterday in an address to Federal Parliament, only one day after the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) published their review of the ATSB.

"They found in the case of the Pel-Air investigation there were errors made," said Truss, referring to the TSB report.

"I'm concerned that the TSB report raises some concerns about the application of TSB methodologies into the investigation into the ditching of the Pel-Air aircraft off Norfolk Island in 2009.

"As a consequence, I have asked the ATSB commission to give serious consideration to re-opening the investigation."

Truss then immediately announced the appointment of an additional ATSB commissioner with specific aviation experience.

Pilot Dominic James was forced to ditch his aeromedical IAI Westwind off Norfolk Island in 2009, when he was unable to land due to poor visibility and had insufficient fuel to divert to another airport. All six on board survived the ditching.

The ATSB report found poor planning by James was a contributing factor and paid only cursory attention to other issues that contributed to the ditching. Since then, James has been pushing for the report to be withdrawn, through a Four Corners report and a subsequent senate investigation that discovered several anomalies in the ATSB's final report.

However, the ATSB has declined to re-open the investigation in the past, stating it believed there was no new information to be uncovered that would change their conclusions.

It is likely this extra pressure from the minister will force a change of heart at the ATSB.

 

 

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