Passing strange - Part I
As the former Chief Commissioner of the ATSB enjoys his retirement, he must have smiled with pride, when he read the latest "non report" https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...-2013-100/ on the near disasterous "Landing below minima due to fog involving Boeing 737s, VH-YIR and VH-VYK Mildura Airport, Victoria on 18 June 2013" issued by his former underlings.
They have indeed, mastered the art, of the "ducking the issue" he mused, as he sipped his coffee, with satisfaction.
The two receomendations are a joke, pure mastery of the fine art of the bloody cop-out, of the first order.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...100/si-01/ and
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...100/si-02/
The real issue for "AIr Safety Investigations" is to identify and fix problems that caused accidents, or near accidents, for, hopefully, THE PREVENTION OF (PROBABLE) FUTURE ACCIDENTS.
The ATSB has spectacularly FAILED to achieve that here. It fails to acknowledge the real seriousness, and significance, of the factors at all levels in the modern "Airline System" that created the preconditions that led to the Mildura Incident.
Besides "ducking" those issues, it deliberately fials to consider the potential aftermath of those failures. What all of us worry about, is "What If" the first B-737 to land had have had a problem, an incident, a hard landing, blown a tire or two, left debris on the the runway, or worse, a runway excursion, or an over-run, or even worse, with passengers then spilling out down the slides and scattering all over the airfield, (in the fog) then with local ground staff responding alll over the place ? That would have "fouled" not only the runway, but the entire airfield.
You would have had "mayhem on the airfield", just like when the B-777 crashed in San Francisco, but this time, "in the fog".
How could the second B-737 have got down safely then ?
Answer, it could not have.
If it had attempted to, there would have been a real crash then, a monumental disaster all around.
Would that second B-737 crew have attempted it ? I pray not. As professionals I am confident that they would not have.
They would have swallowed "the deep shit pill", and gone off to an area "in the clear". Hopefully, at least one of the two up front may have been a glider pilot in his younger days. Then the ATSB could write a sanitised report that dismisses the significance of their emegency with:- "the incident crew executed "a routine outlanding" - nothing to worry about M'lud." (with emphasis on the "routine").
The James Nixon post on Crikey says it all. https://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking...ment-83493
It is reprinted below for all to see.
It will eventually be "Exhibit A", in the now inevitable, but yet to be scheduled, Royal Commision, when we do have a real smoking hole (the heat from which, will at least, clear the fog for the TV-news helicopters).
ENOUGH. I call James Nixon to the stand M'lud.
James Nixon
July 11, 2017 at 3:23 pm
I call it “the cleanest third world country in the world”.
After 31 years in the industry I am still amazed that an Australian A380 can fly from Dubai to Sydney and not have to carry an Alternate because of a CASA “Grandfather Clause”.
This saves them carrying 20 tonnes of fuel every day compared to international airlines, and has resulted at least one declaration of emergency so they could land below minima. That flight didn’t even have enough fuel to divert to Canberra.
Twice inbound Australian international flights have had to declare emergencies when arriving at Perth after unforecast weather materialised. One flight, from Singapore, Pilots even discussed ditching until a paxing Captain convinced them otherwise.
Despite being called (behind their backs) “AUSTR-ONAUTS” for their pedantic ways, Australian pilots routinely set off to destinations in Australia without carrying enough fuel to reach an alternate airport, carrying only enough to cover and INTER or TEMPO for bad weather.
But they don’t get it. It’s not only weather that can cause troubles. The better the weather, the more light planes out and about.
One day, before flying from Alice Springs to Darwin, a Flight Engineer and I had to work really hard to convince a new Captain to carry enough fuel to get to Katherine if anything went wrong. He was terrified he would “be called in the office” for carrying extra fuel.
We arrived in Darwin, on short final for 11, to see a Cessna 210 brake off a wheel and spin on the runway in front of us. Going around from fifty feet, we had only seven minutes of fuel before we were committed to fly to Katherine.
Thankfully, the Cessna pilot dragged his wreck off onto the cross runway, the men in the little yellow car removed the wheel; and our passengers reached their destination.
Had my Captain taken his planned fuel, and had the Cessna suffered a more debilitating arrival; we would have had to land over the wreckage on whatever runway remained.
Fog is the enemy in Australia, a country that talks big about air safety, but only has two Cat 3B runways. When you fly into third world countries that have better facilities you wonder: “So does that make my country, Australia, the 4th, or 5th, world?”
Pilots: if they don’t give you a Lo Vis licence and Cat 3B runways, cover your backside with fuel to go somewhere else. Not 200 kgs on every flight “for Mum” (200 kgs gets you no-where and is not going to help your Mum); but enough for a realistic alternate.
And if they want to call you in the office for it, great. Get them to put it in writing. Take pics of every document, then contact Ben Sandilands or me.
We’ll make you famous for sticking-up for your passengers.
As Don Kendell once told me: “I haven’t spent 20 years building my company so you can turn a Metro into a rotary hoe, 20 miles west of Hamilton. Take The Fuel”.
He was a very wise man.
James Nixon
As the former Chief Commissioner of the ATSB enjoys his retirement, he must have smiled with pride, when he read the latest "non report" https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...-2013-100/ on the near disasterous "Landing below minima due to fog involving Boeing 737s, VH-YIR and VH-VYK Mildura Airport, Victoria on 18 June 2013" issued by his former underlings.
They have indeed, mastered the art, of the "ducking the issue" he mused, as he sipped his coffee, with satisfaction.
The two receomendations are a joke, pure mastery of the fine art of the bloody cop-out, of the first order.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...100/si-01/ and
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/inv...100/si-02/
The real issue for "AIr Safety Investigations" is to identify and fix problems that caused accidents, or near accidents, for, hopefully, THE PREVENTION OF (PROBABLE) FUTURE ACCIDENTS.
The ATSB has spectacularly FAILED to achieve that here. It fails to acknowledge the real seriousness, and significance, of the factors at all levels in the modern "Airline System" that created the preconditions that led to the Mildura Incident.
Besides "ducking" those issues, it deliberately fials to consider the potential aftermath of those failures. What all of us worry about, is "What If" the first B-737 to land had have had a problem, an incident, a hard landing, blown a tire or two, left debris on the the runway, or worse, a runway excursion, or an over-run, or even worse, with passengers then spilling out down the slides and scattering all over the airfield, (in the fog) then with local ground staff responding alll over the place ? That would have "fouled" not only the runway, but the entire airfield.
You would have had "mayhem on the airfield", just like when the B-777 crashed in San Francisco, but this time, "in the fog".
How could the second B-737 have got down safely then ?
Answer, it could not have.
If it had attempted to, there would have been a real crash then, a monumental disaster all around.
Would that second B-737 crew have attempted it ? I pray not. As professionals I am confident that they would not have.
They would have swallowed "the deep shit pill", and gone off to an area "in the clear". Hopefully, at least one of the two up front may have been a glider pilot in his younger days. Then the ATSB could write a sanitised report that dismisses the significance of their emegency with:- "the incident crew executed "a routine outlanding" - nothing to worry about M'lud." (with emphasis on the "routine").
The James Nixon post on Crikey says it all. https://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking...ment-83493
It is reprinted below for all to see.
It will eventually be "Exhibit A", in the now inevitable, but yet to be scheduled, Royal Commision, when we do have a real smoking hole (the heat from which, will at least, clear the fog for the TV-news helicopters).
ENOUGH. I call James Nixon to the stand M'lud.
James Nixon
July 11, 2017 at 3:23 pm
I call it “the cleanest third world country in the world”.
After 31 years in the industry I am still amazed that an Australian A380 can fly from Dubai to Sydney and not have to carry an Alternate because of a CASA “Grandfather Clause”.
This saves them carrying 20 tonnes of fuel every day compared to international airlines, and has resulted at least one declaration of emergency so they could land below minima. That flight didn’t even have enough fuel to divert to Canberra.
Twice inbound Australian international flights have had to declare emergencies when arriving at Perth after unforecast weather materialised. One flight, from Singapore, Pilots even discussed ditching until a paxing Captain convinced them otherwise.
Despite being called (behind their backs) “AUSTR-ONAUTS” for their pedantic ways, Australian pilots routinely set off to destinations in Australia without carrying enough fuel to reach an alternate airport, carrying only enough to cover and INTER or TEMPO for bad weather.
But they don’t get it. It’s not only weather that can cause troubles. The better the weather, the more light planes out and about.
One day, before flying from Alice Springs to Darwin, a Flight Engineer and I had to work really hard to convince a new Captain to carry enough fuel to get to Katherine if anything went wrong. He was terrified he would “be called in the office” for carrying extra fuel.
We arrived in Darwin, on short final for 11, to see a Cessna 210 brake off a wheel and spin on the runway in front of us. Going around from fifty feet, we had only seven minutes of fuel before we were committed to fly to Katherine.
Thankfully, the Cessna pilot dragged his wreck off onto the cross runway, the men in the little yellow car removed the wheel; and our passengers reached their destination.
Had my Captain taken his planned fuel, and had the Cessna suffered a more debilitating arrival; we would have had to land over the wreckage on whatever runway remained.
Fog is the enemy in Australia, a country that talks big about air safety, but only has two Cat 3B runways. When you fly into third world countries that have better facilities you wonder: “So does that make my country, Australia, the 4th, or 5th, world?”
Pilots: if they don’t give you a Lo Vis licence and Cat 3B runways, cover your backside with fuel to go somewhere else. Not 200 kgs on every flight “for Mum” (200 kgs gets you no-where and is not going to help your Mum); but enough for a realistic alternate.
And if they want to call you in the office for it, great. Get them to put it in writing. Take pics of every document, then contact Ben Sandilands or me.
We’ll make you famous for sticking-up for your passengers.
As Don Kendell once told me: “I haven’t spent 20 years building my company so you can turn a Metro into a rotary hoe, 20 miles west of Hamilton. Take The Fuel”.
He was a very wise man.
James Nixon