Go Back  Airline Pilot Central Forums > Airline Pilot Forums > Regional
Interesting article on the Colgan crash BUF >

Interesting article on the Colgan crash BUF

Notices
Regional Regional Airlines

Interesting article on the Colgan crash BUF

Old 06-04-2013, 02:36 PM
  #1  
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
 
Joined APC: May 2009
Posts: 474
Default Interesting article on the Colgan crash BUF

Colgan warned by FAA about safety prior to 3407 crash - City & Region - The Buffalo News


Six months before Colgan Air’s Continental Connection Flight 3407 tumbled from the sky and crashed into a home in Clarence, killing 50 people, a key federal aviation official delivered a stern message to Colgan executives.“I have very serious concerns about the safety culture at Colgan Air,” Nick Scarpinato, director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s flight standards office in Herndon, Va., told executives of the regional airline, according to Dan Morgan, the former vice president of safety and compliance at the regional airline.......
globalexpress is offline  
Old 06-04-2013, 03:12 PM
  #2  
Banned
 
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Posts: 8,350
Default

Originally Posted by globalexpress View Post
Colgan warned by FAA about safety prior to 3407 crash - City & Region - The Buffalo News


Six months before Colgan Air’s Continental Connection Flight 3407 tumbled from the sky and crashed into a home in Clarence, killing 50 people, a key federal aviation official delivered a stern message to Colgan executives.“I have very serious concerns about the safety culture at Colgan Air,” Nick Scarpinato, director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s flight standards office in Herndon, Va., told executives of the regional airline, according to Dan Morgan, the former vice president of safety and compliance at the regional airline.......
....and half a decade later, virtually all the REAL problems that led to this accident are still in existance. The crowds and cameras have left Capital Hill and Congress has returned to their afternoon naps. Business as usual..........at least unitl the next time.
eaglefly is offline  
Old 06-04-2013, 03:27 PM
  #3  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Posts: 762
Default

Morgan was also the VP of Flight Ops for Pinnacle until being ousted in exchange for Joe Restifo.
SmitteyB is offline  
Old 06-04-2013, 04:41 PM
  #4  
Gets Weekends Off
 
JustAMushroom's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Capt
Posts: 611
Default

It's ironic that the continental guy went to a regional and called it low rent when the 80's to the current merger many people considered CAL as the low rent major. Not trying to stir the pot. Just saying everyone has their perspective. I've never worked at either airline so I couldn't really say if either opinion is accurate.

But every airline is in a constant squeeze for profits. They always press pilots to work more, earn less and provide less benefits. CAL wouldn't pay health care to new hires for 6 months. The constant is managements desire for profits over safety. And the strengh of the pilot group to overcome it. And how did the FAA get out of blame here. In the years I've been in this business they've always seemed impotent and therefore over reactive. Are they cheerleaders or inspectors?
JustAMushroom is offline  
Old 06-05-2013, 04:02 AM
  #5  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Leroy Smith's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Jul 2012
Posts: 126
Default

Originally Posted by globalexpress View Post
Colgan warned by FAA about safety prior to 3407 crash - City & Region - The Buffalo News

He said the major airlines’ continuing practice of bidding out many of their
flights to regional airlines poses a problem because, invariably, those flights
go to the lowest bidder.


“What makes this so potentially dangerous is that if you don’t cut your costs,
somebody else will,” Morgan said.
In a nutshell....
Leroy Smith is offline  
Old 06-05-2013, 04:27 AM
  #6  
Banned
 
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: A-320
Posts: 6,929
Default

It was a terrible place......I'll cherish those days where we were asked to sleep in cold hangars while they Jerry-rigged an airplane for us to fly people on the next morning. World class operation
JoeyMeatballs is offline  
Old 06-05-2013, 04:42 AM
  #7  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Sep 2009
Posts: 190
Default

“It was very – I hate to use the pejorative term – low rent,” Morgan said. “It was really a shoestring operation.”

"So, too, were the pilots. With the airline industry starting to run short on experienced pilots leaving the military and regionals like Colgan paying less than half what pilots would make at the major airlines, Morgan noticed that some of the Colgan pilots were not the same caliber as those at Continental."

I wonder if be same could be said about Republic. RAH pretty much took over Colgan's Q operation. The IBT at Republic also tried and failed to install the top 300 lifers into the Airbus captain seats at F9 during the whole failed "merger" fiasco.
toomanyrjs is offline  
Old 06-05-2013, 06:37 AM
  #8  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Jan 2007
Posts: 692
Default

Originally Posted by toomanyrjs View Post
“It was very – I hate to use the pejorative term – low rent,” Morgan said. “It was really a shoestring operation.”

"So, too, were the pilots. With the airline industry starting to run short on experienced pilots leaving the military and regionals like Colgan paying less than half what pilots would make at the major airlines, Morgan noticed that some of the Colgan pilots were not the same caliber as those at Continental."

I wonder if be same could be said about Republic. RAH pretty much took over Colgan's Q operation. The IBT at Republic also tried and failed to install the top 300 lifers into the Airbus captain seats at F9 during the whole failed "merger" fiasco.
RAH is running the Q operation and for that matter their entire airline in exactly the same way that Colgan operated. So really no change there. As far as the 300 lifers, many of them should not be flying anything that carries passengers. Many of the lifers were so bad that they had been repeatedly rejected by the majors over the years, hence the term "lifer." When I was at RAH I was told by several captains that they would personally refuse to deadhead on a flight operated by certain RAH pilots because they did not trust their flying abilities. I also witnessed a female captain who was my simulator partner for a PC perform in such a disturbingly poor manner that it made me scared to ever be a passenger on any of her flights.
sflpilot is offline  
Old 06-05-2013, 09:09 AM
  #9  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Joined APC: Sep 2009
Posts: 190
Default

Originally Posted by sflpilot View Post
RAH is running the Q operation and for that matter their entire airline in exactly the same way that Colgan operated. So really no change there. As far as the 300 lifers, many of them should not be flying anything that carries passengers. Many of the lifers were so bad that they had been repeatedly rejected by the majors over the years, hence the term "lifer." When I was at RAH I was told by several captains that they would personally refuse to deadhead on a flight operated by certain RAH pilots because they did not trust their flying abilities. I also witnessed a female captain who was my simulator partner for a PC perform in such a disturbingly poor manner that it made me scared to ever be a passenger on any of her flights.
It's almost scary to think that these same inept individuals that are unhireable by any reputable airline feel entitled to slide right into a captain seat at a major. Isn't it true that the union president himself was terminated for busting multiple check rides? Yeah, that's exactly who I'd want flying my family around.
toomanyrjs is offline  
Old 06-05-2013, 09:17 AM
  #10  
Gets Weekends Off
 
Saabs's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Jul 2011
Position: Airbus button pusher
Posts: 2,447
Default

C'mon guys lets get back on track and quit bashing rah pilots. It's the Colgan guys and gals that can't fly.
Saabs is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Airsupport
Regional
2
10-28-2007 04:35 AM
Lambo
Cargo
5
07-12-2007 04:55 PM
pilotrod
Regional
16
07-10-2007 05:26 AM
Pilot41
Technical
0
04-27-2007 06:57 AM
⌐ AV8OR WANNABE
Major
0
10-25-2006 12:43 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Your Privacy Choices