Airline Pilot Central Forums - Colgan Not Liable for Crash Costs

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes (Post 1371549)

Yep. One day a lawyer is going to get this right IMO. If whatever major airline wants to put their name on the aircraft, they should be responsible. There's a big push for this in the FAA with 135 operators and others, but unfortunately the 121s have the ability to push back on their congressmen still.

To some extent some of this is being addressed with SMS, by making an executive responsible, but I think the corporations will make it inneffective somehow, and the operators that need these things the most are usually the ones that do not/can not do it.

You bring up a very good point. I recall reading that the FAA is cracking down on this convoluted chain of ownership going on in part 135 flying, and maybe some part 91 stuff. Why shouldn't 121 be at least as transparent in terms of the lines of responsibility?

Quote:

Get into Trouble Outdoors -- Who Pays for the Rescue? - TIME

This article seemed somewhat pertinent...

Yeah man. I was rock climbing alone and got my arm stuck by a huge boulder. Nobody came for me and I had to saw off my own arm to get free.

Wait, never mind, that was a movie I saw.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyJSH (Post 1371586)

That sounds nice, but where does it end? Main line hires regional X. Regional X flies flies the new Em-bardier One-Seventy-Nine-Hundred equipped with the SuperSnazy FMS loaded with data provided by Mappesen. An X plane flies into the side of a mountain because Mappesen had a typo on an MEA. REALISTICALLY (forgetting that everyone including Badyear, who made the tires will be sued) realistically, shoud the mainline be responsible?

Yeah, it sounds silly, but in our litigious society, it isn't far from the truth.

That's just the point. Majors want the rewards (extremely low-cost flying) without the responsibilities. When a Delta mainline aircraft gets in trouble, Delta is responsible, because Delta put the aircraft, crew, and its infrastructure in play to gain a profit. Either make Delta take the name off its surrogate aircraft, or own up when ITS NAMESAKE aircraft gets in trouble...let the mainline be responsible for lapses in training, crew fatigue, infrastructure, etc..on aircraft it puts in play. If it does NOT want this responsibility, make mainline take the mainline name off the outside. This crazy patchwork of regionals and mainlines is subterfuge to enrich executives and lawyers of mainlines and regionals at the expense of other industry workers...and it's done by legally bypassing traditional ideas of responsibility and accountability. Sam