A quote lifted from the Bombardier Safety StanddownTremors of unprofessionalism are being felt across the aviation industry. The 8.0 earthquake of a mass casualty aviation mishap caused by a lack of professionalism has yet to strike, but those of us who keep our ears to the ground understand that something extremely serious is going on beneath the surface in aviation. No one seems to be immune. From the flight decks of our major airlines, to regional carriers, to the rotary winged worlds of emergency services, firefighting, and military operations, failures of judgment and willful noncompliance continue to surface at an alarming rate. Most recently, we feel the tremors of unprofessional conduct coming from the Air Traffic Control world.
Over the past five years we have witnessed a steady erosion of public and political trust in our industry. Much of it is earned, and some may be simply greater media attention on a problem that has existed for decades. In either case, there is little doubt that if the challenge is not addressed, it is a matter of time before the “big one” hits. When it does, it will severely impact the entire industry, something we simply cannot afford as we struggle to regain the lost ground from the recent economic recession we have all bravely faced.
Let’s look at the short list of seismic tremors over the past few years. It began with Comair Flight 191, who mistakenly attempted to take off on the wrong runway in Lexington, Kentucky following multiple violations of the sterile cockpit rule. A series of fixed wing and rotary wing mishaps in the EMS industry followed, accompanied by highly publicized studies and additional events such as pilots with an airplane full of international passengers unintentionally landing on a taxiway, and airline Captain’s pulled drunk from their cockpits before takeoff. And then of course, there was Colgan Flight 3407, the biggest tremor to date, with its multiple failures of professionalism and 49 fatalities.
The military was not immune, two Navy helicopter aircrews dipping into Lake Tahoe for their Facebook page photos, and Air Force instructor pilots overflying a football stadium at less than 100 feet. U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz echoed his concern following an embarrassing string of incidents in his organization related to nuclear weapons handling. In a speech in October 2008, General Schwartz, said “We collectively need to back a little bit toward something called compliance. We must, do the right thing and do the right thing right. That’s as simple as it gets.”
In November 2009, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt joined the drumbeat for renewed professionalism; “There is an extreme need to refocus on professionalism,” citing the “sad example” of the crew who “lost total situational awareness” and overflew their intended destination with an airliner full of passengers. “I can’t regulate professionalism,” he lamented. In May, 2010, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman took the unprecedented step of holding a National Forum on Professionalism in Aviation and Air Traffic Control Operations, an event I was honored to keynote. Administrator Babbitt, Chairman Hersman and General Schwartz all point to the key aspect of this challenge and any potential solution – it revolves around personal integrity, accepting responsibility for our actions, and a willingness to hold ourselves and our peers to professional standards. But these are not simple fixes because words like integrity, responsibility and standards are no longer standard issue in modern society.
One thing is certain. If we as aviators, maintainers, dispatchers and air traffic controllers, do not address this challenge from within, we can expect new restrictions and regulations to flow into the vacuum created by our inability to do so. British author G.K. Chesterton perhaps said it best. “When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.” As our industry climbs back from the recent recession, we cannot afford a self-induced avalanche of “small laws” brought on by our own acts. We need only look as far as the details in HR 5900, signed into law last year, to see the future if we choose not to act. ~
Tony Kern
Fly Safe All........especially at this time of year when our heads may be wishing we were home with families and loved ones.
Happy Holiday Season
Dan
