The decline of aviation

[Check Pilot]

I have made some comments on this before but things are changing quickly now. NOTIP has struck TC big time. Aviation professionals are now being bossed by biscuit shooters and incompetent twits.

Wherever you are in aviation, watch out for uninformed managers and brand new POI's with no experience that have no concept of how to do a job of sanely applying commercial aviation operations and the appropriate aviation regulations. You'll get lots of really stupid actions and demands and remarks that have nothing to do with getting your passengers safely from A to B.

I retired from TC in July 2009 because I saw what was coming. I wanted no part of having my name attached to any of it. So have many of my colleagues and peers. TC is about to have a bunch of really honest good guys quit, retire or leave.

It remains now up to the “kid line” to take over and hopefully take over the new mysterious world of aviation “regulation”, whatever that turns out to be. It will be a tough time. There won’t be the usual time available for the “old” experienced guys to take the time to “cut off the horns” of the new guys to keep them from going out with guns blazing at anyone deemed “bad”.

However--- there won’t be many of them around anyways. Companies will be free to operate without any fear of monitoring anyways, so who cares --- .

SMS is absolutely not being implemented in a way that is going to increase the safety of aviation. It is going to make members of the public alone – themselves - responsible for their own safety when flying.

SMS as a concept, is a highly desirable way for any Company to operate. It makes their insurance rates go down, it keeps accidents from happening and generally makes the overall operations much more laid back and provides a good and positive ground for discussions for everyone involved to come out in the open without fear of recrimination.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for long, even with the best of Companies.

I saw the beginning of this stuff when TC parted ways with the audit program and the programmed and usual 3 year visits to Companies. The turfing of the FOIP spelled the end of my intention to stay with the “Company”. I did not want my name attached to anything related to the safety of the public on my watch any more. So I quit. I didn’t want to. But I had to. We were not even allowed to make any official comments about the changes. Our opinions were not allowed to be aired and any internal stuff that went on was suppressed to the outside world.

Shameful.--

The next inquiry (and there will be one sometime in the near future) into a fatal commercial crash, be it small or large will hopefully bring out the misguided path that went down the wrong fork in the road.

I'll continue to make sporadic comments as this goat dance proceeds.

[Invertago]

Thanks for the insight, hopefully the public will take notice.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

What a sad state aviation has come to in Canada when we have ex TC inspectors publicly coming froward to state they quit because the system is dysfunctional.

I hope I live long enough to appear at a real inquiry into why TCCA has turned into the most morally corrupt aviation regulator in the so called free world. I will ask for subpoenas of several TC employees to force them to testify under oath about their experiences working under the thug mentality of their senior management.

Specifically the top management in the Pacific Region.

The public will be horrified if the truth comes out in a open court free from the control of TCCA's top management.

[My-Shoes-Are-Covered]

I'm sorry to hear about your predicament Check Pilot. It's a pretty sad state of affairs when someone is forced to make such a huge decision based on moral and ethical issues, but for this I applaud you, and it's with great trepidation that I say, it's too bad that more TC employees are not in the same position as you.

Perhaps then, the general public would take notice as to the sorry state of this industry. Ultimately, it's the douchbag operators (you know who you are, and so do we pilots) that we must get rid of!

[slowstream]

Check Pilot,

Good for you, that you have taken a stand, and I applaud you even though I don't know you, I have been fortunate enough to have known some very good inspectors within the ranks of T.C. Sadly, I'm also a realist and I feel fairly strongly that you resignation will have no effect at all in changing a corrupt system.

Unfortunately as . has eluded to it will take a big accident to make the necessary changes, and then you will see an enquiry and maybe the management of T.C being dismissed and SMS being put were it needs to be placed........ in the trash! Let me point out though that these changes will come at a extremely high cost, the cost of lives, and families being torn apart; these are going to be the people who will pay the price. With any luck after the enquiry, there will be a brave enough lawyer/ federal prosecutor with integrity (sorry for the oxymoron) who will charge these T.C managers with charges ranging from Murder, manslaughter, corruption, gross negligence and lying to the Canadian people! Hopefully I will be around long enough to see this happen and charges also being brought on to the Minister himself. I assure all you that read this, that it is not over kill, I do not have a grudge against Transport, but I do have a huge problem with Transport Canada's Management!

I will say it again and again until everyone knows this, Transport will always be a problem, will always be useless and corrupt as long as their first mandate is to protect the Freaking Minister of Transport.

Lastly, what the hell is going on with all these gag orders lately, Transport, medical professionals in Alberta, etc, no one is allowed to express their observations, concerns or criticize these managers and government? Also what the hell is wrong with us as a society, by accepting this? What do these departments and managers have to hide that need gag orders on their staff? What a bunch of freaking cowards! I can't say anything because your going to come after me through the RCMP (your personal guard dogs), maybe revenue Canada or customs Canada or some other agency? What the hell is this, the police state of Nazi Germany?

[crazy_aviator]

When TC cant be trusted to enforce the regs, then it comes to the the pilots and the AMEs/ There are WAY too many pilots who act like prostitutes on yonge st. They are NOT helping us. There are also a few AME s who should NOT be ame s or will kiss ass to keep their job and cut corners or sign off aircraft illegally! You cant just blame 1 segment of the industry, we all have our part in messing it up !
Just recently, a local AMO i was contracting to, had a commercial C-180 come in for an annual, the last 2 inspections, the owner had managed to talk the DOM into deferring many snags ( airworthiness related) this time, he was back to his old tricks, even after he promised he would be into the shop after the last insp. to get the outstanding snags rectified and never did. Well, there ended up being an estimated 3 weeks work and about 10 major airworthiness related snags that needed to be done, the owner wanted them deferred, I told the DOM that we cant just keep doing this kind of thing and we talked about liability, safety, peoples lives etc, we agreed to inform the customer that ALL the safety snags had to be done , the owner said to put the plane back together and sign off the annual . we did, BUT we also , after the sign-off, entered all the safety snags ( 3/4 of a page) some in red lettering ( with copies)and made it clear that they were items constituting an unairworthy aircraft. ALSO, the DOM called TC and informed them of the situation ,,,the Owner picked up the plane and continued his flying , No one ever heard about TC checking into this situation , or an audit or request for logbooks etc !!! To sum it up , ANY employee pilot working for that company would not fly the plane if he/she adhered to the law , we, as ames did our job , TC didnt do their job !! IF everyone isnt working together , nothing is going to get changed !! The owners, ame s pilots and TC MUST all be on the same team, anyone who doesnt want to play. gets kicked out of the club !

[North Shore]

Sorry, two acronyms amongst the other letter salad floating around in my cranium: NOTIP and FOIP - what do they stand for, please?

[xsbank]

OK, now I don't get this bit, the part where you put the a/c back together, signed the annual, then used red ink to write in the snags? Is that what happened? Then you blew the whistle to TC who did nothing?

You actually signed out a POS?

I didn't think it worked that way, if there were outstanding snags that could not be deferred, the junk would be grounded? Isn't it supposed to be airworthy, or not? How can it be both?

[Widow]

NOTIP = National Organization Transition Implementation Project

FOIP = Frequency of Inspection Policy - cancelled.

[MUSKEG]

xsbank. The way I read that was that yes they signed out the annual, but then immediately snagged the aircraft which voids the sign out. They followed that with a call to TC, who dropped the ball. You cannot stop an owner from doing what he wants with his A/C legal or not. You just stand by and watch the carnage, knowing you did everything in your power to do things right.

[iflyforpie]

When an AME signs out an annual, he is only saying that an inspection has been performed. I quite often release aircraft with outstanding snags, but they are listed as outstanding in the release. It is up to the owner to ensure the aircraft is airworthy (even if the owner is negligent and isn't aware of the maintenance requirements--something I try to keep the owners up to speed about).

It is a further example of reducing liability for third parties and increasing the liability of the pilot. TC doesn't have a clue the state of the majority of the private fleet. If the public knew, they would probably demand an end to private GA.

[xsbank]

Thanks for the clarification.

[AME 283]

It would be to easy if the only issues were in the pacific region. Alas the magician (Merlin) in Ottawa retired before his legacy was completed. It is so bad in PNR that the previous leader is putting on a course on how to deal with TC. Per the TV program the other night, whistle blower protection does not exist. There are too many regional differences. I agree with the above comments, as long as there is a political agenda can TC really regulate. Does TC management have the will or the ability to regulate. Lately all TC seems to do is CYA We need change

Want to get really scared look at the advanced amateur industry

[AME 283]

Something else to look at is the Aviation Occupational and Health proposals for Gazette 1, another empire in the making

[Chuck Ellsworth]

It is so bad in PNR that the previous leader is putting on a course on how to deal with TC.

After having to deal with Preuss, Nowzek and a few other top management in TCCA I would rather deal with the Mafia than TCCA.

So my method is simple.

If I ever find myself being approached by any TCCA official I will consider myself to be in far more danger than if I were being approached by a common street criminal.

There really isn't much more to know about how to deal with them as far as I am concerned.

[2.5milefinal]

http://www.alpa.tv/DesktopModules/Ultra ... ortalId=14

[Chuck Ellsworth]

When he commented about Merlin and his having big shoes to fill as his replacement his biggest worry should be the smell, because it would gag a maggot.

I wonder where he got the statistic that since 2002 96 % of the Canadian public has confidence in TC's role in flight safety?

[Widow]

Poor Martin. Does he know they only asked the 96% of the population that don't know what an "air taxi" is? *sigh*

I love it. He even talks about fatigue - let the company manage the risks through SMS.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

widow, Martin is a politician and he was playing to the audience, ALPA.

A politician is a politician is a politician is a politician......

I was really disappointed he didn't mention any of the good work Merlin did.

[Widow]

It is up to the owner to ensure the aircraft is airworthy (even if the owner is negligent and isn't aware of the maintenance requirements--something I try to keep the owners up to speed about).

It is a further example of reducing liability for third parties and increasing the liability of the pilot.

I remember when I was young and innocent and thought that a "Certificate of Airworthiness" actually certified airworthiness.

[Check Pilot]

A bit of a personal note here. I met Mr. Eley a few times over the years and it seemed to me that he was always genuinely concerned for the aviation industry and the folks that both worked in the business and the public that TC is mandated as a first priory to protect.

As he said, he certainly does have big shoes to fill with the departure of Merlin Preuss. I always saw Mr. Eley as a far more humble individual that would have no problem speaking honestly with anyone. He seemed to be the kind of person that wouldn't normally worry about the size of the shoes to fill but be more concerned about how to shrink those shoes to fit himself.

I wish him the best of luck as TC goes down the road that is now cast in concrete.

[Big Pratt]

Wherever you are in aviation, watch out for uninformed managers and brand new POI's with no experience that have no concept of how to do a job of sanely applying commercial aviation operations and the appropriate aviation regulations. You'll get lots of really stupid actions and demands and remarks that have nothing to do with getting your passengers safely from A to B.

Amen


I got less than 2 years before I can retire from commercial aviation.
The sms is what pushed me over the edge.
It disgusts me when I observe what this industry is becoming.

BP

[crazy_aviator]

I remember when I was young and innocent and thought that a "Certificate of Airworthiness" actually certified airworthiness.

Yes, there was a time when a CCI, ( condition and conformity inspection ) which was filled out and signed on an annual, implied that the aircraft was completely airworthy . Nowadays, we sign off a "maintenance release" ( Private aircraft) attesting to the fact that only what the AME did was done in accordance with the applicable standards of airworthiness. What used to be clear, with higher accountability and exposure to liability is now , because of a perceived risk of litigation , made less clear and more people are accountable for 1 aircraft. the AME can do an annual, sign off ( maint release) the annual only , note the airworthiness related snags, ADs due and even missing technical docs ( like CofA ) etc, then give the plane and logbooks over to the owner/pilot and it is NOW their responsibility to determine airworthiness!!!
Isnt that a step in the right direction ?

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Isnt that a step in the right direction ?

Who dreams up these things?

[iflyforpie]

Another thing that is scary is the Owner Maintenance category. Scary because a lot of the people who decide to put their aircraft into this category are cheapo owners who don't want to pay for a regular annual anymore (or have been run out of every shop in a 300NM radius). This is in spite of the aircraft having all the same maintenance requirements (practically and legally) as the ones with intact data plates...

But at least the people of the USA don't ever have to worry about these 'rogue' owner maintained aircraft flying over their airspace.