The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released an update last week on a newly reopened investigation into the November 2009 crash of an aeromedical Westwind II24A during an instrument approach to Norfolk Island following a flight from Samoa.
In the original accident report, the ATSB cited pilot error as the most likely cause because the crew was unable to see the runway during the approach. The flight crew protested the finding because the pilot-in-command chose to ditch the aircraft while it was still operating normally, rather than risk a dual flameout later in IMC.
In an unusual move, the ATSB agreed to reopen the case following an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) into the methodologies used by their Australian counterparts in determining this probable cause. The ATSB said last week that in the course of the re-examination it expects to glean additional evidence from the TSB report, as well as from the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Safety Regulation Review and a number of new interviews yet to be conducted.
The original final report into the 2009 accident has been removed from the ATSB’s website, pending release of a new one expected in eight to 12 months. All four people aboard the aircraft were rescued after it broke in two before sinking.