The following year, I was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Seattle. Oregon Aero liked my safety message and offered to fly me and my wife anywhere I was invited to give a safety talk or teach a CRM or AMRM class. I worked seven-day weeks giving classes and talks around the country in an effort to make people safe. I wrote two more books, Journey to the Golden Hour and The Reluctant Activist, to take the reader on my journey.
During my research, I was shocked to learn I was working against a stacked deck. I read an article in an aviation law publication entitled, “Ever Wonder Why the FAA Doesn’t Always Listen to the NTSB Recommendations?” I was surprised to learn the FAA isn’t mandated to follow NTSB suggestions, mainly because the FAA operates under a sometimes conflicted mandate of promoting air commerce while ensuring that any new safety regulations do not adversely affect an operator’s bottom line. Put another way, whenever a good idea comes along like mandating that all HAA aircraft have autopilots, the feds run the idea by the various operators and if the operators complain, the FAA doesn’t mandate it.
Here’s a good example: 2008 became the deadliest year on record for helicopter EMS when 28 people died in seven separate accidents. The loss of life finally caused an outcry that forced the NTSB in February 2009 to form a four-day task force bringing in over 40 experts to determine what could be done to prevent further accidents. Generating 1,000 pages of testimony, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman submitted a final report in September 2009 with recommendations to the FAA to prevent further loss of life. Babbitt wrote:
“In the absence of a second pilot, use of an autopilot might enhance a pilot’s ability to cope with high workload, such as in inadvertent flight into IMC (IIMC), something that occurs all too frequently in HEMS and is the leading cause of death.”
He strengthened his argument by citing statistics:
“A review of the NTSB Aviation Accident Database revealed that during the eight-year period from 2000 to 2008, 123 HEMS accidents occurred, killing 104 people and seriously injuring 42 more, saying pilot actions or omissions, in some capacity, were attributed as the probable cause in 60 of the 123 accidents, and that most of these 60 accidents might have been prevented had a second pilot and/or an autopilot been present.”
When I read Babbitt’s and Hersman’s summary, I thought surely the FAA would mandate autopilots in every HAA aircraft. I was wrong. When the FAA proposed it to the operators, many of the smaller companies complained it could put them out of business, so the proposal never made it into the 13 new rules the FAA presented on 22 March 2013. I saw it as a huge opportunity lost due to our faulty system.
In my personal quest to promote flight safety across the country, I found I was meeting myself coming and going to the airport while traveling on nearly 80 airliners each year, so I decided I needed to create a cadre of CRM instructors. I am an EASA- trained CRM instructor. In the U.K. and Europe, you must have
a certification to teach CRM, so I built a helicopter-specific 300- page, 14-module CRM Instructor’s course that includes a flash drive with all video clips, slides, and pictures.
So, how far have we come in reducing HAA accidents? I have been told that my personal efforts are actually making a difference but, of course, no bell rings when that happens so one has to rely on the data. I recently spoke with Dr. Ira Blumen, medical director at the University of Chicago, the recognized expert on HAA statistics. He sent me his latest chart detailing HAA accidents going back to 1972. Decide for yourself...
I am happy to report, many of the operators are installing autopilots and synthetic vision technology into their aircraft. They are invaluable aids to pilots’ situational awareness. Flight simulators and VR trainers are becoming more widely used as well, which is great to hear.
My decision to leave this magazine occurred because I feel I have said all I can say on the subject of flight safety. I feel like a parent whose kids are striking off on their own and my main job’s done. After writing nearly a third of a million words, I feel that if one of my “kids” has an accident or incident, it’s shame on them, not on me.
A good example of what I am talking about is the Kobe Bryant crash. I documented in my March/April 2020 column 17 articles I wrote prior to that crash. Had Bryant’s highly experienced pilot read and heeded their advice, he would have turned around and everyone flying with him would be alive today. I hope you have read and learned from my safety articles over the years. When a situation arises for you to make a decision, please remember my words and act on them to bring you and your passengers back home safely.
My new passion is to influence the upcoming generation (age 8 to 12) in a series of illustrated children’s books. I’ve signed a book contract for my first story where I’ve created an unlikely hero: a young beagle helicopter pilot named Barnaby who demonstrates admirable traits of loyalty, honesty, truthfulness, hard work, integrity, persistence, and empathy.
Wish me luck on my new endeavor as I wish you every success in yours.
rotorpro.com 57
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83
