Safety probe permanently grounds Barrier Aviation

Far north Queensland charter airline Barrier Aviation has been permanently grounded after an investigation into safety issues.

The Cairns-based airline has not been flying since Christmas, when the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) suspended its operations because of what was described as a "serious and imminent risk to air safety".

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson says a subsequent investigation uncovered serious safety breaches.

He says the CASA investigation found the airline had been operating aircraft with serious and known defects.

"Not maintaining aircraft properly, flying aircraft with defects, directing pilots to fly the aircraft with defects," he said.

He says CASA has cancelled the airline's air operator's certificate.

"The matters are so serious, Barrier hasn't put forward a successful plan to address the issues, so that's why they're permanently grounded," he said.

"Late yesterday, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority served a notice on Barrier which now effectively permanently grounds the airline.

"This is a result of our thorough investigation into all the safety issues at Barrier.

"We're not satisfied they can successfully address those issues, so they're now permanently grounded."

Barrier has 28 days to appeal.