When I first started this thread after I heard the news like all of us we hoped for the best. I didnt relieze it then but I knew the pilot since we were young and my sympathy goes out to his family. Great guy and great pilot, amazing how small the aviation comunity is and especially in our hometown. After seeing his parents on TV last night I know that some good will come out of all this and commend his family for speaking out so soon after this tragety.
When I found out from the news that he was demoted to the weekend flights because he snagged the plane too much this really angered me. The CP/Managment must be a real scumbags to try and make an example out of someones safety concerns. I hope non of them work in this industry again and get what they deserve. I hope transport finally wakes up and takes these guys down hard and makes an example out of them, just like they did to him. And to not even call the parents.
Flying Nutcracker wrote:It sounds like Huggett was on the verge of doing what everyone should be doing but afraid to... leave the company. Not only that... by the sounds of it his flying was cut in half and only to weekends because he wanted to address issues to TC ( according to Global TV). The management obviously didn't like this. But he did it anyways.
In many ways he has set a presedence to all of us out there to stand our ground and start doing what we all have to do when things are not up to safety standards... refuse to compromise safety!
There sure is a lot of scrutiny going on now, and I am glad! I think there will be someone in for a hurting really bad! And it should not be the pilots!
I am just saddened and sickened by the fact that it took yet another fatal accident to get the ball rolling!
ATTITUDE has a lot more to say than some laim claims of safety issues, I didn't hear he was suicidal, if he was he would not have flown the "UNSAFE PLANES".
FN
For the guy who was my inspiration. For the guy who put a smile on my face and made me chuckle. For the guy who was a true professional, sometimes against the odds, but until the very end. For the guy who loved life and who was loved by all around him.
We will always love ya bud, and you will be forever in our memories.
Ok... Angel.... please don't edit my posts because it confuses me a lot!
Attitude is key in aviation! I do agree. But where the pressure of keeping a job to move up in the world is compromising the ability to say no to your boss when asked the impossible...and when saying no just means that the boss will ask someone else who will do it... the attitude leans more towards doing something because everybody else seems to be doing it, rather than sticking up for your safety issues. Ed on the other hand, seemed to be willing to take a stand and actually do something about it!
It's a wide spread attitude to keep climbing that greasy pole, instead of maybe setting a solid presedence of a sound airworthy attitude that creates a solid integrity amongst the pilots.
Again, I think Huggett senior is about to let it be known to the public what is going on in this world of small operators. And I hope that it will help all young pilots in the future, knowing that you can say no and not be afraid of being a thorn in the side of the company!
I think things will start to change. We cann't keep going on like this and the families are expressing concern of these companies operating unsafe. I hope everyone (pilots, ame's, management, owners) will look at themselves and their companies and start making safer decisions.
Unfortunately most here do not understand the big picture, what to you is a true tragedy is just another accident soon to be forgotten and the industry will just keep on doing things the same as before.
Think of a small lake with glassy water, to those who regulate the industry and the operators who cut corners an accident like this is no more than ripples on the surface much like throwing a stone in the water, the ripples are very visible at first but soon disappear.
Cat
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
Ed was a great guy who didnt deserve this.He will be sadly missed at the avitat and in CYAZ. He touched peoples lives in both CYVR and CYAZ. Had him on MSN and he always had something funny too say...he will be truly missed by everyone..
Good on Mr.Huggett for sticking up for his son, very courageous, like father like son it seems...If it werent for Ed, I would have lost more than the two friends I did...good job ED..
But I too am afraid that this will fade away into the deep void... Let's just hope that the community will reflect on the accidents that we have had way too many of the last few months... and maybe try to influence the big picture enough to make it look at least a little better than it does today!
However having been in this business for over fifty years and watching things get worse not better I am afraid we will not see much change.
To get a change in the culture of aviation you must first address the lack of leadership at the top in the regulator, without a change in Ottawa the same senario will be played out again and again.
I wonder who will be the new Minister of Transport, I am going to try once again to get some changes through my M.P.
Maybe someone such Mr Huggett would like some support, if so I would be more than willing to work with him for change.
Im easy to find.
. .
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
Unfortunately most here do not understand the big picture, what to you is a true tragedy is just another accident soon to be forgotten and the industry will just keep on doing things the same as before
Cat...while I understand you are trying to make a point, please try to choose your words a bit more carefully. There are some of us here that are grieving to the extreme. I really have no desire to read stuff like the above right now. I won't forget.
This post has gone way of course here. The investigation has just started and everyone is going on as if this accident was caused by the operator and how TC is not doing there job. Maybe it was but maybe it was not. Come on already lets wait for some facts to come out first. I did see on 1 site were this aircraft has had a engine that was just out of overhaul. Maybe something came appart inside. That would have zero to do with Sonics Maintenance. Maybe this guy didnt drain the tanks and got a big gulp of water its been raining on the coast for days.
How many of us have been ramped by TC and were happy to see them. Or questioned by enforcement and were not evasive. I bet none. I know any time they have ramped me I certainly do not give them a hand shake and tell them how I appreciate them doing there job and making sure my boss isnt making me overload or fudge the records. Infact in most cases when these guys come around to do audits or ramp us there is little to no respect for what they are trying to do. The same people here that blame them for not doing there jobs criticize them for by claiming how corrupt they are. These people are in a no win situation it appears.
Please do not get me wrong here I am not defending Sonic. If they are forcing pilots into bad situations and putting there employees at risk they should be dealt with. But even more so innocent passengers at risk that beleive they are being protected there is no punishment that is enough.
CID although I do agree we all have the right and duty to refuse what we deem unsafe. I think your timming is a little of here.
Please everyone lets stop the bickering and speculation until that facts come out.
Ed rest in peace you did all you could I am sure to try and save all. However you did save the lives of 5 passengers and for that I thankyou.
During a ride yesterday, I told a DFTE(old military pilot) of an operator I used to work for. I mentioned to him that I quit for safety concerns but didn't call TC for fear of being 'Blackballed' in aviation. He told me that I should have called TC because they would have showed up unannounced without mentioning my call. I never thought of that.
Maybe in the Human factors seminar that everybody has to take they should address these types of situations more in depth.
For me it came down to what was more important.
Flying when it might endanger my or someone else's life
or
wait for my next step in avaition(the golden 500multi-PIC).
I chose the latter, and am still waiting. But at least me and my potential passengers are still alive.
Hopefully some good can come out of this very tragic situation.
Take care
K
I agree with you about TC. I am getting a base inspection in a few days. I do not believe that there is any thing wrong that my company is doing but it is hard to want them to come. I am sure that they will have a few findings that I will fix. If I am willing to work with them I am sure that it will help me to run a better operation.
What I find frustrating is there lack of power. There is an unlicensed operator near me that TC is aware of, he even advertises and the appear to do nothing about him.
I also agree with Cat that this accident will not change anything. Look at the effect that the Beaver that crashed off Campbell River last year. Nothing has changed
I was once told TC needed a pilot to go "on record" for enforcement to come in unannounced. The operator I was inquiring about is well known to TC but they were frustrated by people not willing to come forward. Funny thing is I know people who later did come forward only to have nothing come out of it. This guy is still flying.
teacher wrote:I was once told TC needed a pilot to go "on record" for enforcement to come in unannounced. The operator I was inquiring about is well known to TC but they were frustrated by people not willing to come forward. Funny thing is I know people who later did come forward only to have nothing come out of it. This guy is still flying.
Don't know if they need it or not however when a pilot was fired from my company for performing an aerobatic manuver in a navajo he went to transport and made up alot of false accusations about us. His name was attached to the paper work that was provided to us. TC showed up with a police escort of 3 squad cars complete with lights and sirens and 2 search warrents. This happened before my time but I do have the paperwork to prove it.
The call sign was C-GRXZ and the maintenance problems with that aircraft go back a long time.The pilots have a responsibility to speak up before someone gets hurt and so do the AME.Sadly no-one spoke up and now they are all out of a job.And i would be reluctant to hire someone without a backbone.
no no no no no, Ed did speak up and for it he was put to a very limited flight schedule by the operator, I'm very sure there is enough evidence to support this claim....
From SB's attitude he also concluded that it was definately time to move on, first hand knowledge on that one. He is not here to explain weither he was leaving with intend to expose anything or not, so I can not speculate on this I feel.
Obviously this company was very good at skirting just inside the lines of the rules, that is ON PAPER, they were around for quite a while as their record shows "just skirting" are the right words.
question for CID:
I get very upset at the idea that they've had a lot of time after the crash and before the time that an audit started (I believe that's what is happening). Even the news cameras showed a frantic team working on the Ho's. Purely speculation of course but wouln't it be a great time to fix all obvious problems.... no expense too much finally....
Wouldn't it be logical to "RAMP" the fleet after an incident, an operator with nothing to hide would be proud to show the quality of maintenance of the rest of the fleet.
Sorry I really try not guess too much and really really try to be objective but I had to fight the thought of "Well he should have done something before it was too late" ED DID.
The call sign was C-GRXZ and the maintenance problems with that aircraft go back a long time.The pilots have a responsibility to speak up before someone gets hurt and so do the AME.Sadly no-one spoke up and now they are all out of a job.And i would be reluctant to hire someone without a backbone
Once again, unless you know something everybody else does not, the above is total unmitigated crap. 2R, unless you were a mechanic at SB how could you make this statement? This makes me so mad!!!! I knew Ed very well, and I knew this a/c. I wouldn't dream of defending this operator's maintenance history but this a/c was in good shape and I know that through a first hand source.
Don't stir the pot unless you know that what you are saying is true. If you honestly have firm evidence on the above, then PM me and I will unreservedly apologise and withdraw my comments. If you do not, then shut the hell up.
