A Rule That Could Have Saved Eight Lives

The partners of two men killed in the Whyalla plane crash are horrified they may have died senselessly because the national aircraft safety body failed to act for 14 months on a crucial recommendation to put life jackets on small aircraft. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has launched an internal investigation into why progress on the life jacket rule - for aircraft with fewer than nine passengers - stalled in a bureaucratic maze until last Friday, when a discussion paper was released.

100 Planes Linked To Lean Fuel Danger

More than 100 Piper Chieftain aircraft still flying in Australia could experience the same malfunction which led to the Whyalla Airlines crash that killed eight people, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed yesterday.