Following a career spanning over 20 years in aircraft maintenance and engineering in the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force, in 1993 Joe commenced working at the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI), the predecessor organisation to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). He was also qualified in civil aviation as a Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer.

As an aircraft accident investigator for over 24 years, Joe has been involved in a wide range of aircraft accident investigations throughout Australia, gaining experience in accident site management, reading accident site signatures, developing accident investigation reports and safety recommendations. He managed a range of sections and personnel at the ATSB and has experience presenting evidence at Coronial Inquests and in the training and development of investigators at the ATSB.

Joe has also been involved in international major accident investigations, including visiting the aircraft reconstruction of the TWA-800 B747 aircraft at Long Island, New York, and being assigned to the Indonesian Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC) for the investigation into the SilkAir B737 accident near Palembang, Sumatra, both in 1997.

More recently, Joe has been involved in the Australian Government’s Indonesian Transport Safety Assistance Package (ITSAP), providing assistance to the Indonesian National Transport Safety Commission (NTSC) with training and development of its investigators and assisting with the development of accident investigation reports. He has also been involved in training of investigators from a range of South-east Asian countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.

Joe held numerous managerial positions at the ATSB, including Manager Notifications and Confidential Reporting, Manager of Technical Analysis (covering material failure analysis and flight recorder readout and analysis), Team Manager of Aviation investigations and Assistant General Manager of Strategic Capability. In 2014, he was appointed as the Australian Accredited Representative to the Malaysian investigation into the loss of the B777 aircraft, operating as flight MH370. 

Joe retired from the ATSB in June 2017 and was appointed as Manager of Safeskies Australia, where he managed the successful 2017 and 2019 Safeskies Conferences in Canberra. Joe has also returned to ATSB as a contractor on specific assignments, including representing the ATSB in reviewing the Indonesian final report into the accident of the Lion Air B737 Max aircraft. He also lectured on the first joint ATSB / RMIT Graduate Certificate in Transport Safety Investigations held at RMIT in Melbourne.

In 2022, Joe was interviewed for the 3 part Vice TV documentary, “MH370: the lost flight” which is available for viewing in Australia on SBS On Demand.

Joe has been a Postgraduate Course Facilitator, specialising in Aviation Safety Investigation in the School of Aviation at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) since May 2021.