In the decade to June 30, 121 people died in Queensland compared with 90 in NSW, 50 in Victoria and 42 in Western Australia, taking the national total to 357.

By comparison, so far this year 214 people have died on Queensland roads.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said that during the decade there had been 452 accidents involving commercial, charter and private aircraft across the state.

Again Queensland topped the list compiled by the ATSB as part of an exercise to "enhance safety", especially on commercial planes.

The report, however, did not interpret the bureau's own results.

The Queensland fatality figure was inflated by the deaths of 15 people in 2005 when a commercial airliner crashed at Lockhart River on Cape York.

That was Australia's worst civil aviation disaster since the 1960s when 24 people died near Winton and 25 perished when a plane crashed into Mackay harbour.

Some general aviation experts claim that Queensland skies are the nation's most dangerous even though horizons are usually clear and the terrain in many places is flat.

But the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said yesterday that unique factors contributed to the accident rate.

"You have more aviation activities than anywhere else," a spokesman said.

"You have a big state, big distances and lots of population centres.

"Western Australia has big distances too but not as many centres, so there are not as many take-off and landings - the times when accidents tend to occur.

"You have more operations in Queensland, so on raw figures you will have more accidents. Queensland is not any less safe than other states. But there is always room for improvement when it comes to safety."

The ATSB also records weekly "occurrences" that commercial and private operators encounter.

In the week to September 12, there were nearly 200 - most of them to do with bird strikes.

But in Brisbane, fuel was seen leaking from a Boeing 737 engine; at Maroochydore, container cargo locks on an Airbus A320 were not secured before take-off; an A320 on final approach to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays had to go around due to a yacht moving through the runway approach; and at Rockhampton a landing Boeing 737 hit a rabbit.

by Peter Morely

SOURCE | Courier Mail