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Air safety investigations in the Victoria/Tasmania region are to be handled by Canberra-based staff from 4 August 1999, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) announced today.
This coincides with the retirement of two of the Bureau's long standing and very experienced Melbourne-based investigators.
Their departure will result in a considerable loss of expertise to the Bureau. However, it is hoped that suitable arrangements can made for their skills and knowledge to be made available to BASI as and when a need arises, and according to their individual circumstances at the time.
The loss of these officers leaves no full-time investigators in Melbourne.
Bureau management has therefore re-examined the need for investigators to be permanently located in Melbourne, and has concluded that the existing office should be closed.
The Melbourne Field Office has made a significant contribution to the operations of the Bureau over nearly 30 years, and the decision to close it was not an easy one.
The timing of this decision recognises the current circumstances and is made in the light of issues canvassed in an organisational review of the Bureau completed earlier this year. The decision also accords with the recommendations of that review, including:
- Shifting the primary focus of the Bureau's operations from occurrence investigation to safety analysis
- Streamlining business and work practices, and
- Adopting a new functional structure which (in part) increases the Bureau's capacity to operate more strategically.
The closure of the Melbourne Field Office is not expected to have any significant impact on the level and quality of the Bureau's activities within the region.
With regard to other regional offices, there is no intention to reduce the Bureau's present capacity in Brisbane, Sydney or Perth.
Contact details for the Victoria /Tasmania region are:
All Notifications: 1800 011 034
CAIR Reports: 1800 020 505
Information: 1800 020 616
Contact Officer:
Barry Sargeant (Deputy Director)
Bureau of Air Safety Investigation
Telephone: (02) 6274 6416
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