In my opinion, the CASA culture is easily explained by a very well studied phenomenon: Noble cause corruption".
From Wiki: " Noble cause corruption is corruption caused by the adherence to a teleological ethical system, suggesting that people will use unethical or illegal means to attain desirable goals,[1] a result which appears to benefit the greater good. Where traditional corruption is defined by personal gain,[2] noble cause corruption forms when someone is convinced of their righteousness, and will do anything within their powers to achieve the desired result. An example of noble cause corruption is police misconduct "committed in the name of good ends"[3] or neglect of due process through "a moral commitment to make the world a safer place to live."[4]
Conditions for such corruption usually occur where individuals feel no administrative accountability, lack morale and leadership, and lose faith in the criminal justice system.[5] These conditions can be compounded by arrogance and weak supervision.[6] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_cause_corruption
It is not too much to postulate that CASA sees itself as being the high priest of a religion of safety, the keeper of sacred knowledge that no one else has and that the pursuit of safety nirvana requires the absolute obedience of every participant to the minutest detail of CASA's pronouncements. Not only that, but the participants must never go against Gods word by querying the actions or intent of the CASA safety Church because that act - questioning CASA, is heresy and as we have seen time and again, heresy is always punished.
It is important to stress that this is the unspoken culture model. CASA appears on the surface to be a model regulator, it talks the modern talk and espouses the latest values, slogans and buzz words but when the chips are down it reverts to type.
We get occasional glimpses of CASA culture and values = what comes through very strongly is the religious nature of the culture:
- The most telling = the absolute belief in Original Sin - "all pilots are uncaught criminals" - they really believe that. That is why the regulations are embedded in the criminal code not administrative law. They really believe it. In their model without the constant supervision of CASA with whip and cattle prod, pilots will immediately revert to criminal behavior and destroy safety. CASA sees itself as standing between civilisation and anarchy.
- The sin of Heresy. What is Glen Buckleys crime except the sin of heresy? He challenged CASA by building a training and safety model far superior to the teachings of CASA. CASA set out to destroy him and may yet succeed.
- Belief they hold secret knowledge kept from the rest of us;
1) The absolute, bare faced, suppression of Angel Flight community service flights without one single shred of valid statistical evidence to support their case. There is a comment somewhere on the web that CASA said in response to a lack of evidence: "We don't need to wait for evidence before acting otherwise someone else will be killed".
2) The re emergence of color vision discrimination despite the verifiable fact that CASAs mumbo jumbo was decisively destroyed by the courts, yet two years later, without a skerrick of evidence they wheel it out AGAIN.
3) The absolute refusal of CASA to adopt ICAO mandated statistical risk management principles in evaluating the need for and content of regulations - religion trumps science.
And finally, the continued use of dirty, underhand, despicable and dishonest methods of enforcement every day. They justify this because it is in the service of the greater good. The Spanish inquisition used the same justification.
Folks, add your own examples if you like.
CASA culture cannot be changed. You are dealing with a religion. Legislators need to understand this before acting.
From Wiki: " Noble cause corruption is corruption caused by the adherence to a teleological ethical system, suggesting that people will use unethical or illegal means to attain desirable goals,[1] a result which appears to benefit the greater good. Where traditional corruption is defined by personal gain,[2] noble cause corruption forms when someone is convinced of their righteousness, and will do anything within their powers to achieve the desired result. An example of noble cause corruption is police misconduct "committed in the name of good ends"[3] or neglect of due process through "a moral commitment to make the world a safer place to live."[4]
Conditions for such corruption usually occur where individuals feel no administrative accountability, lack morale and leadership, and lose faith in the criminal justice system.[5] These conditions can be compounded by arrogance and weak supervision.[6] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_cause_corruption
It is not too much to postulate that CASA sees itself as being the high priest of a religion of safety, the keeper of sacred knowledge that no one else has and that the pursuit of safety nirvana requires the absolute obedience of every participant to the minutest detail of CASA's pronouncements. Not only that, but the participants must never go against Gods word by querying the actions or intent of the CASA safety Church because that act - questioning CASA, is heresy and as we have seen time and again, heresy is always punished.
It is important to stress that this is the unspoken culture model. CASA appears on the surface to be a model regulator, it talks the modern talk and espouses the latest values, slogans and buzz words but when the chips are down it reverts to type.
We get occasional glimpses of CASA culture and values = what comes through very strongly is the religious nature of the culture:
- The most telling = the absolute belief in Original Sin - "all pilots are uncaught criminals" - they really believe that. That is why the regulations are embedded in the criminal code not administrative law. They really believe it. In their model without the constant supervision of CASA with whip and cattle prod, pilots will immediately revert to criminal behavior and destroy safety. CASA sees itself as standing between civilisation and anarchy.
- The sin of Heresy. What is Glen Buckleys crime except the sin of heresy? He challenged CASA by building a training and safety model far superior to the teachings of CASA. CASA set out to destroy him and may yet succeed.
- Belief they hold secret knowledge kept from the rest of us;
1) The absolute, bare faced, suppression of Angel Flight community service flights without one single shred of valid statistical evidence to support their case. There is a comment somewhere on the web that CASA said in response to a lack of evidence: "We don't need to wait for evidence before acting otherwise someone else will be killed".
2) The re emergence of color vision discrimination despite the verifiable fact that CASAs mumbo jumbo was decisively destroyed by the courts, yet two years later, without a skerrick of evidence they wheel it out AGAIN.
3) The absolute refusal of CASA to adopt ICAO mandated statistical risk management principles in evaluating the need for and content of regulations - religion trumps science.
And finally, the continued use of dirty, underhand, despicable and dishonest methods of enforcement every day. They justify this because it is in the service of the greater good. The Spanish inquisition used the same justification.
Folks, add your own examples if you like.
CASA culture cannot be changed. You are dealing with a religion. Legislators need to understand this before acting.