Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
How many deaths is ok? How many accidents (when they are attributed to the same causes)? I'm not defending the FAA actions in the sense that this is the only way to "fix" the problem, but most operators would be very hesitant/resistant to put training and other fixes in place themselves to prevent the accidents. It's incredibly hard to convince someone that spending a little more $$$ here and now will save many times that down the road when there's an accident. No matter how culture improves, this is always an extremely hard sell to stockholders and corporations that are interested in the bottom line right now. Yes, some would do the right thing, the "good" ones, but others would not. Unfortunately organizations like the FAA don't have the power to revoke someone's operating certificate just because they are one of the "poorer" operators, unless there are specific gross regulatory violations. If they are meeting the regulation requirements, what options are there? What if they are not meeting the regulation requirements, but it's impossible to prove? It's great that there are pilots out there that are absolutely unwilling to place themselves in danger and will fly the aircraft as it was intended, but there are ones that won't, and if they are flying the public or carrying their property, there has to be some mechanism to protect the public.
So it's ok to shut down everyone else because of a few bad apples? There are always a "few" unfortunate accidents out there, with many variables attached. You have to know your equipment and it's limitations, that's on the pilot, regardless of who you work for.
We operated 9 C310's, and never had an "icing" incident or accident. Sadly, there were two fatal accidents, both CFIT in low IFR. One was many years before I hired on, a guy tried getting back to home base on a NDB approach, hit the woods 1/4sm sw of the Rwy. Then 3yrs after I left, the owner was flying a gps app and kept looking for the Rwy past the MAP.....hit the hill on the opposite side of the Rwy. So by your logic should we ban all non-precision approaches because a few people consciously decided to push the limits and/or blatantly ignore all rules? Might as well make all C310's operate with the gear out, as we have all seen the videos of them landing with one dangling in the wind too. Where does it stop?
Same goes in cars, but yet we try and solve the problem of dumb@&! Drivers And add stability control, abs, traction, etc..... Resulting in even poorer driving skills a use now you have this magic crutch. One day people might wise up and realize we can't have a "zero" accident and death rate, it is impossible, even when you try and take the human element out of it. If anything, I see worse judgement now than when we didn't have all these nice electronic systems. Training and experience, it just can't be substituted to build judgement and skill.