Safety is OUR Responsibility

[duCapo]

It is true, history will repeat itself, especially if we do not learn the lessons of the past.
I can only speak for 703/704 type operations. I am not involved directly with any the other types. I get flamed for this tough shit. And the statute of limitations is run out on the rest:-)
Reading on this forum, and in the paper about Justice Moshansky and his commission, brings me back to 1979 and the Dubin commission of inquiry into Aviation Safety. This was brought about by a rash of accidents, incidents, and just generally shity operators in Canada. It seemed to be mostly focused on Northern Ontario, (where there were more operators) but extended right across Canada. I was subpoenaed and testified in Vancouver.
I had been flying on the coast for 2 years at that time for what was generally perceived as a good operator and a good employer. We were union, and at that time I was shop steward. My previous employer up north (which I had spent 4 years with) was typical of the operators up there at the time. We worked long hours, for crappy pay, in aircraft which were not maintained properly. Most of us were fat and happy, because we didn’t know any better.
I remember once bringing in the B18 for a 50 after being away from base for a couple of weeks. There were numerous snags. I hadn’t finished one beer and a piece of KFC, before the phone rang telling me my plane was ready, and to get back to work.
Otters and Beavers were logged at 160 mph in the log book. I had 5 engine failures in the Otter due to poor maintenance and abuse. Passengers were regularly flown sitting on duffel bags with no seat belt. It was the way things were done there, and if we refused we were fired. There was always someone else ready to do what you didn’t want to do. And at that time there not lots of other flying jobs. The owner fully expected, and built into his costs at least one accident per season. He usually gave out 4 float endorsements in the spring and turned them (the kids)loose in 185’s
It was the culture of “If you are not bending airplanes, you are not pushing hard enough” It harsh, it was hard, it was bullshit.
The aviation industry, and an unknowing and trusting public, accepted casualty figures which would be unacceptable in a military campaign.
Sure it is safer to fly today. But only just. We have been slowly lapsing back into an apathetic attitude. TC wants no accountability. They want to drop SMS on the unknowing public, step back and say “see we have done something” Bullshit! SMS, from what I see, is only as good as the operator. With good, conscientious operators, SMS works. With the gypos, it is an open license to kill. As I read it, TC will not get involved until there are serious problems.
We have SMS approved and implemented in our Ops Manual. It is 10 pages long. We worked with TC for 1 ½ years to implement an SMS which would work for our company. As we have been in business for 26 years, I believe it will work for us as intended.
I have watched passengers blindly get into an aircraft where the weather is so bad, you couldn’t see ¼ mile. They trust that the guy driving is making a proper and informed decision which will, in the end bring them safely to their destinations. Do they (the passengers) not have some responsibility or the common sense to know when or when not to get into an aircraft? I don’t believe they do. It is not their job to know what is safe to fly in. That is the pilot, and the operator’s responsibility.
It is not TC’s responsibility to “make us” fly safer. It is our responsibility, our moral obligation to the public. We need to have in this country a climate where a pilot should not fear for his job or his reputation for promoting safety, or flying safely.
An operator should be able to charge enough to make costs. I hate to even say it but the government needs to regulate and monitor our rate structure more closely in order weed out the gypos.
We need a level playing field. Operators who cut rates are operators who in the end cut maintenance, overload aircraft, and underpay their employees, etc .These operators are the ones who kill people. They need to be put out of business.
I love to fly, and I love my chosen career. I do not want to see it stained any more or any worse than it already is perceived to be. I sincerely hope that I leave the industry in better shape, and safer than when I began.
We are not perfect. No one is. But we are trying as hard as is humanly possible to do the best and safest job we possibly can.
As the accountable executive of my company, I am responsible. I do not take that lightly.

[twotter]

Very well said duCapo..

[duCapo]

I needed a rant today and Avcanada is agreat place to do it. We pilots are such primodonnas. My kind of folks:-)

[Concestor 0]

Flying an aircraft happens to be of of those activities where critical decisions are often made independently and quickly. Economics are always pressuring use to make the least expensive choice. Throw in personal pride, peer pressure, inexperience etc... and the wrong decision often seems like the right decision.

I am amazed (and sometimes impressed) by how tolerant people are to adversity. Dangerous, brutal environments easily become the norm. In aviation unsafe and harsh work environments are eventually accepted by the new generation then passed on again.

As people devoted to aviation and as professionals we owe it to our passengers and future pilots to maintain a decent standard.