The ATSB has revealed that Tiger Airways Australia failed to report an aileron oscillation incident in 2008 which came to light while it investigated a similar incident on the same aircraft eight months later.
The incident under investigation occurred on May 18 2009 and involved Tiger A320 VH-VNC. The aircraft was being operated on a flight between Mackay and Melbourne when light shaking was experienced in the aircraft’s cabin, which was caused by oscillations in one of the aircraft’s ailerons. The crew elected to divert to the Gold Coast where the aileron was inspected by a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer and then dispatched to Melbourne. The ATSB subsequently found that the oscillation was a consequence of two faults within the aileron control system.
In its report the ATSB also noted that a similar oscillation on the same aircraft had occurred eight months’ prior, which saw the crew elect to return to the point of origin, however that incident was not reported to the ATSB. As such, it noted in its findings that the operator had not complied with the reporting requirements of the Transport Safety Investigation Act, although it noted that Tiger has now revised its incident reporting procedures.
Tiger defended its action, saying in a statement, “Based on the information on hand at the time of the first event which occurred in 2008, it was not considered appropriate to report the event. At no time was safety compromised or was safety a risk.”
