Skydiving School and Director fined $250,000 for fatal accident
In the recent matter of SafeWork NSW v Goulburn Flight Training Centre Pty Ltd; SafeWork NSW v Ferrara [2026] NSWDC 99, the NSW District Court issued fines to the operator of a skydiving school and its director of $100,000 and $150,000 respectively for breaching their duty of care under sections 19 and 27 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 after they had each been found guilty of two offences under s32 of the Act of failing to comply with a health and safety duty which exposed individuals to the risk of death or injury. The case highlights the effect of High Court’s decision in Work Health Authority v Outback Ballooning Pty Ltd [2019] HCA 2, which is that aviation operators are subject to prosecution under Work Health and Safety legislation for failures that fall squarely under the Civil Aviation Regime.
Goulburn Flight Training Centre operated a skydiving school which offered instructor training and tandem skydives. Mr Ferrara was a director of the company and held a pilot licence but was not a qualified skydiving instructor.
The Chief Instructor of the skydiving school recommended that the step on the school’s Cessna 182 be modified to make it more suitable for training students. To modify the aircraft, an engineering order had to be obtained from an accredited aircraft design engineer, although no such order was ever obtained. The modified step had a gap between the bracket fixing it to the aircraft and the end of the step.
In June 2021, the school’s Tandem Master incorrectly fitted the harness to a student, leaving the Y strap at the back of the harness hanging down. The strap was not buddy checked as required by the updated operational regulations of the Australian Parachute Federation. The school had failed to inform the skydiving instructors of changes to the regulations.
As the Tandem Master and student jumped out of the aircraft, the Y-strap became caught in the gap on the step which caused the skydivers to hang underneath the aircraft. After several attempts to release them, the skydivers fell and suffered fatal injuries.
The Court found that the risk of this occurrence could have been eliminated by obtaining an engineering order for the step and the school breached its obligations under the Act in failing to do so. Further, if a buddy check had occurred the risk of a hang-up (or snagging) could have been mitigated and the school breached its obligations under the Act in failing to have a system in place to inform instructors of the change in regulations.
The Court imposed the following fines:
on the school: a fine of $400,000 for each offence, reduced to $50,000 per offence taking into account the school’s limited capacity to pay the fine; and
on Mr Ferrara, a fine of $100,000 for each offence, reduced to $75,000 per offence taking into account the principle of totality.
This case highlights again that WHS regulators have been able to successfully assert jurisdiction over aviation operations, notwithstanding the role of CASA, the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations and the safety controls and framework under that regime. Aviation operators (and their officers) need to ensure compliance with both civil aviation laws and the general WHS regimes applicable in all jurisdictions in which they operate.
Contacts
Gerry Tzortzatos
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Adam Martin Angela Lane
+61 3 9119 2585 +61 2 9230 9400