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someone question your ability and deci- not save every life, nor fly every tourist performed to the highest level of safety,
sion to not fly. Yes, even to the point of or personal use flight, put out every fire, and to bring everyone home, every time.
yelling at you while threatening your job cover every news story, or perform the That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
or organization. I also know it is difficult hundreds of missions we mostly excel at. What are your thoughts ˜ I sincerely want
to hold firm on your decisions when other Collectively, we must acknowledge that to know? Whether you agree or disagree,
pilots or operators will take the flight. No, Cannot, and Will not, are acceptable email me at TAILROTOR@AOL.COM,
No, I am not naïve to the real world responses to certain flight requests. and let me know what is going on in your
considerations that are present. Yes, you However, for those flights we do ac- world. As always have a Safe Flight and
could be exposed to criticism, or negative cept, we must strive to ensure they are all Fly Neighborly.
❚
effects on your job or company etc. How-
ever, in my mind the actual reality check
is this; if you succumb to this line of
thinking and pressure, your actions could
result in the injury or death of others and
yourself. Personally, I would rather be un-
employed, yet alive and having dinner
with my family. Nor would I like to ex-
plain to the family of another why their
loved one would not be coming home due
to my actions.
To the helicopter owner/opera-
tors I respectfully request the
following; ensure that you
provide a supportive and just
safety culture for your pilots to
operate within. Provide them
with the necessary training,
equipment, and guidance to
safely carry out their duties
and responsibilities.
To the helicopter owner/operators I re-
spectfully request the following; ensure
that you provide a supportive and just
safety culture for your pilots to operate
within. Provide them with the necessary
training, equipment, and guidance to
safely carry out their duties and responsi-
bilities. Provide the pilots with a non-
punitive safety input system to
management. After all, who knows the
flight operation problems better than the
pilots, they experience them daily.
Understand the fact that respective of
all the safety initiatives you put in place,
every flight you conduct must always pass
through the final safety gate, your pilots.
So goes the final outcome of the flight. As
an industry we have saved hundreds of
thousands of lives, relieved suffering, and
enhanced society for the greater good. But
we must come to the realization that we
cannot fulfill every flight request. We will
HELI-EXPO BOOTH #601
www.ROTORCRAFTPRO.com • January 2010 29
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