A lifejacket won’t save your life if you are not wearing it, says NSW Martime. But any accident investigation needs to ask more than just why a lifejacket was not being worn.
Flickr/NSW Maritime
The Formula 1 season begins in Melbourne this week and a number of changes have been made following the tragic accident last year which has left one driver still in a coma.
French police question suspected jihadist
Christian Hartmann/Reuters
The recent events in Paris have once again cast doubts on the ability of French intelligence to provide national security. Following the attacks, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls did not hesitate to…
Coalmining poses risks that can’t be managed away.
AAP Image/Incident Control Centre Hazelwood
Fittingly for a report on a huge fire, the findings of the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry act as a smokescreen for the bigger issues behind the disaster. Partly because of its narrow terms of reference, the…
A hoax bomb threat aboard Qatar Airways flight QR23 saw an RAF jet called into action to escort the plane to Manchester Airport. This is not a cause for concern. You can be assured that the cabin crew…
Potentially catastrophic situation: the Hazelwood coal fire.
AAP
The fire that burned for more than 40 days at the Hazelwood coal mine in the Latrobe Valley earlier this year is the latest in a spate of mining failures over the past few years. It might seem like plain…
The Black Box flight data recorders from the 2005 fatal aircraft accident near Lockhart River, Qld, arrive at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Canberra.
AAP/News Ltd/Ray Strange
As the search continues for wreckage from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane it’s probable that answers surrounding the mystery of flight MH370 will not be available until the recorders are recovered…
Plenty of questions on what happened to flight MH370 but patience needed in any investigation.
AAP Image/Getty Images Pool, Paul Kane
Air crash investigators on flight MH370 will need to counter the public demand for a quick answer as they begin the long-term safety analysis. What happened to the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 will likely…
Nanosafety research ensures everyday use of nanoparticles – such as sunscreen – stays safe.
Flickr/Eliya
Nanoparticles — or nanomaterials, as they are often called — are chemical objects with dimensions in the range of 1-100 nanometres (nm). Particles this tiny are hard to imagine, but it may help to think…
It’s easy to see how ‘wexting’ accidents can happen.
Flickr/Jonathan Adami
For most of us, walking in a straight line at reasonable speed is a simple task. But watch someone texting or reading on their mobile phone and you’d be forgiven for thinking that walking is not as easy…
Brisbane cyclists have to keep their helmets on after all, including on bike paths.
AAP/Dan Peled
For a few hours, late last week, it looked like Queensland could become the first Australian state to start relaxing its strict bicycle helmet laws. After months of careful review of the evidence, a state…
“Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. I doubt any of you noticed, but when we departed a few moments ago, we actually started the take off from the wrong point on the runway. It was a twitchy…
You’ll still have to put your tray table up, though.
simone.brunozzi
Earlier this year, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) put together a panel of aviation experts to look at whether personal electronic devices (PEDs) could be used on planes without compromising safety…
It’s a fact of life for anyone boarding a plane: all electronic devices need to be turned off during take-off and landing. Most airlines have had this rule in place for more than a decade now, even though…
Three-quarters of Indians say cricket helps the relationship between India and Australia, a new survey has found.
Flickr/Foxypar4
Liz Minchin, The Conversation and Nancy Youssef, The Conversation
Australia should work harder on its official and unofficial diplomacy to strengthen its ties to India, after a new survey revealed Indians had a mixed perception of the two countries’ relationship. The…
The tragic quad-biking death of an 11-year-old boy from northwest Victoria on Monday takes the 2011 death toll from all terrain vehicle (ATV) accidents to 17. The boy reportedly died after his ATV overturned…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne