The public is dependent on the airline industry for safety
Joe:
The concern the public has about airline safety relates to the fact that the vast majority of us are completely in the hands of the airline industry when it comes to flying. We depend on the airline companies to deliver us safely to our destination.
I know how to drive a car. I have a boat and a marine license. I can imagine what it is like to drive a bus or a truck or even a ship, but like most people I don't know how to fly an airplane. But because I don't have that first hand knowledge about flying, it does not make me ignorant about airline safety.
Because the flying public is totally dependent on the people in the cockpit, the airline industry has an obligation to make sure that their staff are well trained, sober, well rested and up to the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the passengers that they are carrying.
Unfortunately we have heard recently of situations in the United States where airlines have been cutting back on salary costs and pilots are sometimes inexperienced, often tired and they have used poor judgment that resulted in the loss of lives. The tragic accident of a Q400 aircraft in Upper New York State, this year, in which 70 people lost their lives is now attributed to pilot error and inexperience.
I have been in traffic accidents and got shaken up, but there is something very permanent about the crash of an airplane. Not many walk away with just bruises.
So, knowing something about the small safety margins at the Island Airport: the short runways, the limited stopways at the end of the runways, the deep water that surrounds the airport, and the high number of pilot cautions at the Island Airport -- that is enough to make many of us worried. Compound this with stories of long flights that exceed the nautical mile limit recommended by the manufacturer of the Q400, and the sum total of all this is that many in the public are worried.
We readily admit that we do not like the operations of the Island Airport. But as time has gone on many of us have become interested in this operation and are studying all aspects of it closely.
When I sum up all of the evidence around safety of this operation, it does not make me rest easy.
Bill Freeman
The concern the public has about airline safety relates to the fact that the vast majority of us are completely in the hands of the airline industry when it comes to flying. We depend on the airline companies to deliver us safely to our destination.
I know how to drive a car. I have a boat and a marine license. I can imagine what it is like to drive a bus or a truck or even a ship, but like most people I don't know how to fly an airplane. But because I don't have that first hand knowledge about flying, it does not make me ignorant about airline safety.
Because the flying public is totally dependent on the people in the cockpit, the airline industry has an obligation to make sure that their staff are well trained, sober, well rested and up to the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the passengers that they are carrying.
Unfortunately we have heard recently of situations in the United States where airlines have been cutting back on salary costs and pilots are sometimes inexperienced, often tired and they have used poor judgment that resulted in the loss of lives. The tragic accident of a Q400 aircraft in Upper New York State, this year, in which 70 people lost their lives is now attributed to pilot error and inexperience.
I have been in traffic accidents and got shaken up, but there is something very permanent about the crash of an airplane. Not many walk away with just bruises.
So, knowing something about the small safety margins at the Island Airport: the short runways, the limited stopways at the end of the runways, the deep water that surrounds the airport, and the high number of pilot cautions at the Island Airport -- that is enough to make many of us worried. Compound this with stories of long flights that exceed the nautical mile limit recommended by the manufacturer of the Q400, and the sum total of all this is that many in the public are worried.
We readily admit that we do not like the operations of the Island Airport. But as time has gone on many of us have become interested in this operation and are studying all aspects of it closely.
When I sum up all of the evidence around safety of this operation, it does not make me rest easy.
Bill Freeman
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