Past Programs
Air Transport - 2008
Kyeema air disaster
23/10/2008
Seventy years ago this weekend, a DC 2 crashed into Victoria's Dandenongs. All 18 on board died instantly, and the fatal crash became known as the Kyeema disaster.
In 1938 airline travel was only just gaining public acceptance and this accident was Australia's worst air disaster at the time, and one of the worst in the world.
Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean?
02/10/2008
Just over a year ago, Radio National Breakfast spoke to film-maker Scott Millwood. A former lawyer, Millwood had embarked on a very personal journey to expose what he saw as secrets, lies and betrayals haunting the soul of contemporary Tasmania.
Using his own money, Millwood put a $100,000 reward on the table for information that would help resolve one of Australian aviation's greatest riddles: how did Brenda Hean and Max Price die?
The story is told in his new film and book, Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean?
Transport roundtable on carbon scheme
28/08/2008
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese meets with key stakeholders from the transport industry in Canberra today. Representatives from the maritime, rail, road and aviation sectors are the first cab off the rank in a series of roundtable discussions that will help shape the implementation of the government's proposed carbon emissions trading scheme.
Qantas scare
28/07/2008
Qantas has been ordered to inspect every oxygen bottle aboard its 747 fleet, after a mid-air explosion on a Hong Kong to Melbourne flight forced an emergency landing in Manila. It's the stuff of every airline traveller's nightmares. But the pilots who fly the big jets say they are well prepared for such emergencies.
Qantas dispute
25/06/2008
The nation's airports should be back to normal today with the standoff between Qantas and its striking engineers taking a breather. Last week the engineers' union lost a challenge in the Industrial Relations Commission to continue their strike for the next two days. But that doesn't mean the pay dispute is over, in fact it's likely to escalate. Passengers are staring down the barrel of more flight delays and disruptions on Friday and possibly next week, with the union vowing to pick up where it left off. That threat has fallen on deaf ears, with Qantas refusing to rule out bringing in foreign labour or sending more work offshore to keep the airline flying.
Federal and Queensland rescue packages for international tourism
11/06/2008
With the record world price of oil creating knock-on effects through virtually every sector of the Australian economy, later today the Federal and Queensland governments will unveil further assistance for the hard-hit tourism industry. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh will outline a package of programs in addition to the $4 million of State money announced late last week. And Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson will announce a Federal package after talks with his Queensland counterpart, Desley Boyle. Desley is the Queensland Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry, and the Labor member for the State seat of Cairns, which has been particularly hard hit by Qantas and Jetstar abandoning international flights from Japan.
World Environment Day: kick the carbon habit
05/06/2008
Today is United Nations World Environment Day and the theme for this year is 'Kick the Carbon Habit: Towards a Low Emission Economy'. So to show how significant carbon savings can be made in simple ways, later today Peter Garrett, minister for the environment, heritage and the arts, will be spruiking government budget measures including some new initiatives on household energy efficiencies. On the other side of politics, shadow environment spokesman Greg Hunt will also have a practical focus, planning a day of action on solar panels.
Laser attacks
31/03/2008
It's been described as one of the newest and most serious threats to aircraft safety. It's not terrorism nor hijacking but coordinated laser attacks on aircraft, the use of blinding green lights, concentrated on the cockpits of planes. Last Friday night, six Qantas, Qantaslink and Eastern Australian Airlines planes were targeted by up to four laser beams as they came in to land at Sydney Airport. There are now calls for harsher penalties and a ban on the importation of these powerful lasers.
