(This comment is in response to James Ball's posting about safety at the Island Airport.  Editor)

My original post on island airport safety referred to pilots with a cavalier attitude dismissing the concerns raised. I trust Mr. Ball is not one of those types of pilots.

Should he know any, he may wish to pass on the following observations contained in the document, “THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN AVIATION SAFETY: The Inside Story and Legacy of Dryden “

The report was presented to the ICAO by Justice Virgil Moshansky, Commisioner for the Dryden Inquiry. Mr. Moshansky, in a footnote, cites the following letter. The phenomenon referred to is icing and the attitude of pilots in the 80’s and before to “a little ice on the wings.”

“Dr. C.O. Miller, former Director, Bureau of Aviation Safety, NTSB, an aeronautical engineer, pilot, internationally recognized expert and consultant in aviation safety matters, and special advisor to my Commission, responded to this article in a letter to the Editor writing: ‘I’ve reviewed too many accident investigations, seen too many flight test reports and been party to too many professional discussions on this issue, to question, in any sense of the word, the insidious and serious nature of the hazard as typified by the Air Ontario Dryden case. Pilots who think they can rationalize their way around this phenomenon based upon their experience and judgment are an accident waiting for a place to happen. Pilots who have perhaps hundreds of lives dependent upon their skills including decision making, have absolutely no business playing a probability game based mainly on their own personalized and rationalized experiences ...his disdain for current knowledge about wing contamination effects, suggest he’s going to end up in the ‘crock’ himself one of these days. Let’s hope he doesn’t take others with him.’ “

Bob Kotyk