Six Boeing 767 heavy aircraft were grounded just before Christmas Eve by Ansett Australia, for overdue maintenance which should have been carried out up to 18 months ago

A local news report ¹ stated:- "There appeared to be no system at Ansett or Boeing to guarantee the requirement"

Boeing - the aircraft manufacturer - has been incorrectly mentioned in the local OZ media as having a part in the performing of maintenance

Civil Aviation Regulations state that the registered operator must carry out maintenance as required (by the aircraft manufacturer)

Responsibility for any aircraft maintenance lies directly with the operator - in this case Ansett

CASA's job, as the governing air safety body in OZ, is to ensure that a system is in place so that all maintenance to be performed is at, or within the specified time

Light aircraft owners are well aware of this requirement (it costs $$$'s) and cannot understand how such a situation has developed with Ansett, unless of course CASA are not up to the job of carrying out the necessary surveillance

It may well be that CASA have concentrated their (meagre?) resources towards the smaller organizations like the private as in non-fare paying passenger light aircraft industry and the associated maintenance workshops

These 'family based' CASA approved workshops undergo a very rigorous surveillance check on a very regular basis that is very costly for the organization in both time and personnel

The Main Terminal AF ground floor area - once the domain of CASA - has now been leased to an 'aircraft simulator' operator and expected to commence business shortly

Latest news reports have CASA in the firing line again over lack of action, this time involving the importation of MiG aircraft in 1989

"It has now been established by the Federal Police that the certificates supplied to the purchasers of the first five MiG-15 aircraft imported are forgeries"  and "Civil Aviation Safety Authority has been aware of the deception for nearly seven years". ¹