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Picture | Sea King Helicopter | Australian military responds to reports on Sea King safety - type remains grounded Commander of the Australian Naval Aviation Group, Commodore Tim
Barrett, said "Sea King helicopter crew are confident in the safety of the
aircraft and are preparing to resume flying operations as soon as possible. |
We
reject reporting in the Bulletin magazine today that aircrew at HMAS Albatross
fear for their safety when flying the Sea King.
Any safety or maintenance-related concerns expressed by our
people are treated seriously. All credible claims will be investigated and
should be reported to commanding officers or supervisors," he said.
Defence has been completely open about Sea King safety and
maintenance matters, from the exhaustive Board of Inquiry (BOI) into the Nias
crash, to more recent public announcements on 28 September and 3 October on the
reasons for the current suspension of flying operations.
Navy and Defence don't underestimate the considerable
challenges that remain to address the issues that were raised in the BOI.
Acting Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Russ Crane said "we are determined to do
everything necessary to bring Sea King systems and processes to the necessary
standard. Substantial progress has been made since the Sea King BOI, but it is
true that we still have some way to go. The Chief of the
Defence Force and
the Chief of Navy are fully engaged on this task and are determined to bring
about the necessary changes," he said.
The current suspension of Sea King flying operations results
from a fault in the tail rotor control assembly of a single aircraft shortly
after take off at HMAS Albatross on 27 September 2007. The aircraft conducted a
controlled landing as soon as the crew became aware of the fault and they landed
the aircraft without further incident.
As Defence announced on 28 September, the aircraft was
undertaking a routine maintenance test flight as part of a scheduled testing
program. Importantly, the fault was identified during testing after maintenance
and before the aircraft had been cleared for training or operational use.
As with all incidents of this nature, technical and safety
investigations were implemented immediately. Process improvements were
identified, have been fully accepted, and will be implemented.
The precautionary suspension of flying underscores Navy‘s
ongoing commitment to the safety of our people. The suspension will be lifted
only when it is appropriate for flying to resume.
Source | www.shepard.co.uk http://www.shephard.co.uk/Rotorhub/IndustryNews.aspx?Action=745115149&ID= ef31a470-324d-43ae-b914-adbd5bbaa408
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