Thanks for sharing that, Frank! I watched the entire presentation, and as Company Safety Chair for the EMS Program in my state was appalled that so many things were allowed to go wrong in the Regional Industry here in the USA. And the spokesman for the Regional Airline Industry was flat out lying every time he opened his mouth, as evidenced by his body language and misstatement of facts. Obviously he is well paid to sell the Regional Concept. I found most of his statements insulting at best.
As stated by spokesman for Flight Safety, as long as there are humans involved in the industry, little mistakes occur. But without
proper oversight, reporting, and
correction of safety issues these will "snowball" into a major problem involving injury or death. Most people recognize problems immediately and do the right thing...report the problem or refuse to do anything illegal or unsafe. More often than not that person is chastised and/or labeled a "troublemaker" by the very people who should be properly addressing the problem.
Since I work in the helicopter industry I can't directly affect any goings on in the Regional Airlines, but as a company safety guy I have and continue to address any actual or anticipated problems as far as my capacity allows.
The company I work for instituted a Safety Management System (SMS) shortly before the FAA began seriously placing emphasis on safety industry-wide. Along with mandatory and enforced adherence to FAA regulations the company has higher minimum requirements for mechanics, pilots, and medical personnel than similar companies.
Additionally, we have a "Golden Rule" that allows any one person (mechanic, pilot, or medical) to say "NO", if for any reason they feel a flight may be unsafe either for the crew or passenger. This is known as "Stop Work Authority" and I've pissed a few upper management off by emphasising this in my presentations. Too bad. Just doing my job, folks.
It is also part of my job to educated all personnel (including each of our Base Reps) on proper implementation of the company SMS, as we consider all accidents preventable, yet we also understand that as long as humans are involved accidents
will happen. It is our job to do the utmost to
prevent them by being proactive, rather than reactive.
Now the FAA is mandating that all companies have an SMS, and many in my part of the industry are not only following siut, but coming to my company for advice. This is a good thing.
All to often the parties who could really make a difference decide more laws are the solution, rather than more effective enforcement and stronger punishment for the offenders. This is one of the major downfalls of the system. Most large corporations consider the small fines incurred just part of doing business, factor it into their projected overhead, and in fact consider this good business.
Shame on them!
Too bad it takes something catastrophic, like a the deaths of many, to drill the point home. Too bad the responsible parties just don't get the point!
It is at the very least a shame that in any industry the bottom line is sometimes allowed to take precedence over safety, just because someone's bonus may suffer.
It is criminal at it's worst,and a lead pill is in order.
