Strengthening ties and sharing knowledge

THE Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it has strengthened its co-operative arrangement with the Department of Defence, after the completion of a secondment of a Defence Flight Safety Bureau aviation accident investigator to the Bureau. Squadron Leader Clare Fry, the second Defence aviation accident investigator to be seconded to the ATSB, recently completed a five-month secondment. Squadron Leader Fry deployed to two accident sites involving general aviation aircraft and was involved in two investigations focusing on high-capacity passenger aircraft. Squadron Leader Fry said her time with the ATSB had been an excellent opportunity. “The ATSB are responsible for a much larger and broader demographic than DFSB, and therefore are exposed to a lot more,” Squadron Leader Fry said. “This has been a good opportunity for me to get some wider experience, and I’ll be taking that experience back to DFSB to strengthen our team.” ATSB Chief Commissioner Greg Hood said Squadron Leader Fry had been a valuable addition to the Bureau. “We are grateful to have had her as part of our organisation, and I’m glad that we continue to maintain and strengthen our already-strong relationship with our Defence counterparts at the DFSB,” Mr Hood said. There is said to be a close relationship between the two organisations, with a Memorandum of Understanding providing a framework for the ATSB and Defence to cooperate in the investigation of transport safety matters.