Australia’s aviation regulator suspends Aero Tropics over safety concerns

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), the airline regulator of Australia, has suspended operation of the small airline Aero Tropics Air Services because of safety concerns.

Aero Tropics, operated by Lip Air Pty Ltd, and based in the city of Cairns in the far-north Queensland state, Australia, operates a fleet of 18 light aircraft offering services to Cape York and the Torres Strait islands.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said in a statement: “Aero Tropics Air Services was suspended because there were serious and imminent risks to the safety of passengers travelling on the airline. CASA has safety concerns about the airline regarding the systems relating to training, checking, and supervision of the company’s pilots. In recent days, CASA has discovered further evidence that safety standards within the airline have deteriorated, posing an unacceptable risk to aviation safety.”

The suspension of Aero Tropics follows two pilot-related incidents – which have been described as serious ones – on one flight a week ago. The incidents occurred on the same 9-passenger plane, with the first of them taking place during takeoff and the second in mid-flight. However, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has not divulged further details of the two incidents.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has been monitoring Aero Tropics since September 2007.

This is the airline’s second suspension in 2008: In June 27, 2008, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority had suspended the operator’s certificate because of “serious concerns about the capacity and commitment of the management to manage its safety obligations.”

The Federal Court later lifted the suspension but imposed conditions on the airline’s operations.

CASA has said it would apply to the court to keep the suspension order against Aero Tropics up to a maximum of 40 days in order to allow the aviation regulator to complete its investigations.

Ric Lippmann, chief executive of Aero Tropics Air Services, said in a press release: “The airline’s 18 planes have been grounded and its 60 employees face an uncertain future as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority will now ask for the airline to be suspended for 40 days so it can complete a full investigation. CASA obviously has to convince the Federal Court that the suspension should continue. We will present our case at that hearing. We will put our case forward that we believed we dealt with the incident and it was a one-off incident which was unfortunate but when humans are involved, human error can occur.”

“Aero Tropics,” Lippmann added, “could now be closed down permanently. The directors and the stakeholders in the company will decide whether we wish to continue to be invested in, given the environment, the regulatory environment that is very close to being untenable.”