Regional Airlines Lower Bar for Pilots

athomeinthesky said:
"The HealthGrades study shows that the IOM report may have underestimated the number of deaths due to medical errors, and, moreover, that there is little evidence that patient safety has improved in the last five years," said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades' vice president of medical affairs. "The equivalent of 390 jumbo jets full of people are dying each year due to likely preventable, in-hospital medical errors, making this one of the leading killers in the U.S."


USA airline deaths 2006 - 49 people
USA airline deaths 2007 - 0
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good post!

so we had no fatal accidents this year in airline industry? thats pretty respectable.

I guess these 'low time fresh pilots that don't know jack about anything about flying and are too young' aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are.
 
taseal said:
good post!



I guess these 'low time fresh pilots that don't know jack about anything about flying and are too young' aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are.
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Ask a captain who has to fly with these low timers before you say that.
 
taseal said:
good post!

so we had no fatal accidents this year in airline industry? thats pretty respectable.

I guess these 'low time fresh pilots that don't know jack about anything about flying and are too young' aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are.
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Some of us would rather address the problems before they result in a bunch of dead people.
 
Hello,
The airline industry is relying more on just pure, dumb luck than mature leadership, high-standards and professionalism. Sure, you will hear all the above mentioned in hiring seminars, career fairs, college campuses and new-hire managment "dog and pony" speeches. It's all a friggin illusion! The quality of the new-hire applicant with low-time is a crap-shoot. The majority are talented, educated, mature and motivated. However, they lack the basic experience that will make them an asset in the cockpit out of I.O.E. It's not their fault, these folks don't even have a cluse what they don't know!
In the meantime, I find myself praying that we don't have anyone make a grevious error directly related to the crew composition and experience level. So, flying in today's world requires an increased vigilance from all of us. Management is focused on the "numbers" and delivering safety through brut force vs. real leadership. I find this sorely lacking, and if you have an abnormal, emergency or irregularity the reponse is not what I would expect. It's of a kind that will allow the company to pin 100% of the blame on the PIC/crew and deflect it away from their precious "sitting-on-their-ass pontificating" supervisory error. Believe me, supervisory error is at the root cause of MOST airline accidents! The data reflects it. But, when you are safe at a deck, not alot the FAA can or will do...Pretty damned jacked up if you ask me.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead
 
taseal said:
good post!

so we had no fatal accidents this year in airline industry? thats pretty respectable.

I guess these 'low time fresh pilots that don't know jack about anything about flying and are too young' aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are.
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Trust me. Some are just one reduced rest overnight and a distracted CA away from a smoking hole. Honestly, I'd say the number of ASAP reports would be a better indicator. Those are the reports CAs have to file when the FO does something that triggers the "Uh, where are you going?" from either the CA or (worse) ATC. I saw a figure floating around that the number of those reports have increased dramatically over the past year....
 
What B19Pilot said....right on.

As far as Tasel, when you read his stuff, you have to remember he's asking questions about Teardrop holds, Jepp charts, and how to calculate VDP. Understanding his experience level helps to put his views into perspective.
 
BE19Pilot said:
In the meantime, I find myself praying that we don't have anyone make a grevious error directly related to the crew composition and experience level. So, flying in today's world requires an increased vigilance from all of us. Management is focused on the "numbers" and delivering safety through brut force vs. real leadership. I find this sorely lacking, and if you have an abnormal, emergency or irregularity the reponse is not what I would expect. It's of a kind that will allow the company to pin 100% of the blame on the PIC/crew and deflect it away from their precious "sitting-on-their-ass pontificating" supervisory error. Believe me, supervisory error is at the root cause of MOST airline accidents! The data reflects it. But, when you are safe at a deck, not alot the FAA can or will do...Pretty damned jacked up if you ask me.
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I've seen this first hand at our airline in the past year. We had a plane go off the end of the runway in TVC in a borderline blizzard. The CA flying was doing OE and it was past midnight by the time they got to TVC thanks to a bunch of delays. TECHNICALLY, he should have probably called in fatigued, and I'm afraid that might come back to bite him. But what would have happened if he HAD called in fatigues? Probably a fact finding meeting with the base manager. So, if you do the right and safe thing, you're looking at potential disciplinary action. That's not how it should be. You shouldn't have to think "Well, I'm exhausted, but if I don't fly, they could put a letter in my file or some other disciplinary action."

So, the result was an aircraft that departed the runway. No one was hurt, and the damage to the plane was minor compared to what it could have been. If the NTSB doesn't still have it, it COULD be flying again already.

Management could have stood behind him and said "We'll back our pilot and wait for the NTSB to give its report." Nope. As soon as the docket went public, he was called in and fired. The same friggin day. Basically, it was so the media couldn't say they weren't doing anything. If that had been a company like XJT, I have a feeling things would have been handled differently. The NTSB has yet to even give an causes, and the company's already jumping to "pilot error" and firing the guy. The FO is still flying the line, but I have a feeling that if he'd been qualified and not on OE he might be gone as well.

Pilot pushing is a real and serious issue right now, and it NEEDS to be addressed. It's something ALPA is already bringing to the attention of the boys and girls on Capitol Hill. Speaking of ALPA, they were right there with the CA when he got his walking papers. They already had the grievance paperwork filled out and ready to go since they were pretty sure of what the company was planning on doing.
 
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