Susan (00:00):
… lawyer with a special interest in aviation, and he’s also a pilot. He’s with me now. Good morning.

Peter Carter (00:06):
Good morning, Susan.

Susan (00:07):
Thank you very much for your time this morning. What were your first thoughts when you heard about this crash?

Peter Carter (00:13):
Well, firstly, we’re all grateful that it wasn’t a far greater calamity, so I think we’re all surprised that in such an event, there’s only minor injuries.

Susan (00:24):
Yeah, it’s shocking that, and as you say, very positive that not more people were injured or worse. What is the chatter within the aviation community following this incident?

Peter Carter (00:38):
Well, the first reaction was, well, it was most likely an unauthorized flight and that it was probably someone on a frolic of their own for some reason. That is yet to be claimed. It’s also speculated that it must’ve been someone with company knowledge, perhaps a former employee who knew how to gain access to the helicopter. But still, the motivation remains a mystery. I don’t think anyone’s really put a finger on what that will prove to be.

Susan (01:13):
Yes. Still very early days in the investigation. A lot to happen and a lot to unfold. What will that process of investigation look like? You’ve been involved on the sideline in your role as a lawyer, had a lot to do with aircraft crashes. Tell us what this process of investigation will look like.

Peter Carter (01:36):
Well, first of all, they want to identify who the pilot was and put together a sequence of events, what the pilot was doing from earlier in the day, and that’s usually the best way to determine motivation. They’ll trace his movements and trace his conversations with other people in order to determine why he decided to do it and that will also have some bearing on the purpose of the flight in terms of its outcome. Was it a deliberate crash into the building or was it caused by an accident?

Susan (02:18):
How long do these investigations typically take, Peter?

Peter Carter (02:22):
Well, we’ll see an interim report in a couple of weeks, but I think there’ll be more disclosed to the media even before that. This is something that’s evolving quickly. We’ll know more today, we’ll know more tomorrow, but the ATSB will issue an interim report in two weeks.

Susan (02:39):
You’re hearing from Peter Carter, one of the directors of Carter Capner Law. Investigators were quick to point out that they don’t believe they’re to be further threatened, that it’s kind of like a stand-alone incident. What do you make of those comments?

Peter Carter (02:52):
Well, that’s in line with the idea that it’s a misadventure by someone, a poor decision by someone to go into an aircraft at 2:00 a.m. and buzz in CBD. From that description, it’s unlikely that there will be any other similar events occurring.

Susan (03:14):
There has been a lot of discussion about security since this incident. Does there need to be greater security at our airports, including those general aviation areas?

Peter Carter (03:26):
That’s probably going to be one of the main issues that will come out of any recommendations from this report, whether there needs to be any greater security. I suspect that there may well be a suggestion that security be upgraded. At the moment, most general aviation airports operated on the basis of a combination lock at gates, and people with clearance are notified from time to time when that combination is changed. So there might be a higher level of gate security at general aviation airports throughout the country.

Susan (04:05):
Typically on an authorized flight, there would be a flight plan and things like that. Do we think that the tower that they would normally check in with before taking off, would that have been manned at that time, do you think?

Peter Carter (04:19):
Look, I’m not familiar enough with Cairns Airport to answer that, but it is a controlled airport, but it’s possible that at that hour that it was operating as a CTAF. In other words, an broadcast-only airport.

Susan (04:37):
Anything else that we need to be thinking about as a community as this investigation unfolds?

Peter Carter (04:45):
Well, I think we should all consider this something that is very unusual and we’re all grateful that it wasn’t a greater calamity.

Susan (04:57):
We do definitely appreciate that fact. Peter Carter, director of Carter Capner Law. Thank you very much for your time today.

Peter Carter (05:04):
Thanks, Susan.

Susan (05:05):
Thank you. And police-