What worries me far more than the ATSB spending so much time, effort and money on this investigation is this:
"In March 2013, [CASA] released new rules on fatigue management for flight crew. At the time of the occurrence, air operators that already held, or had applied for an air operator's certificate after April 2013, had until April 2016 to transition to the new fatigue management rules. Consistent with this timeline, Regional Express was planning for their transition to meet those requirements at the time of the occurrence. In November 2015 [11 months
after the occurrence], this deadline was extended by [CASA] to May 2017."
So here we have the regulator, presumably knowing that fatigue was reasonably believed to be a factor in this occurrence (which could have led to damage to the aircraft and possible injury to its occupants)
extending by 13 months the deadline for implementing new rules around fatigue management.
And, as Mick says, no recommendations whatsoever made by the ATSB as a result of their investigation. In fact, the text I've quoted above is taken from the ATSB's "what's been done as a result" section.
On a happier note, congratulations to Grahame for having your photo included on the cover!
