Fourth study of mortality and cancer incidence in aircraft maintenance personnel

The report of the Fourth study of mortality and cancer incidence in aircraft maintenance personnel:

A continuing study of F-111 Deseal/Reseal personnel, was released on 17 October 2016 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The broad purpose of this follow up MCIS study was to see if there was a higher rate of cancer or mortality among Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and civilian aircraft maintenance personnel involved with F-111 Deseal/Reseal (DSRS) between 1974 and 2000 compared to other RAAF personnel who were not involved.  

The key findings are broadly consistent with the previous studies taking into consideration the additional years of follow-up and differences in the datasets. The latest study added information from ‘Tier classifications’ to identify more personnel in the study group. 

Higher cancer incidence and lower mortality incidence among the F-111 DSRS group was found to be statistically significant due to the greater number of cases that have occurred over time.