As pilots, we know from our training that human beings use preconceived ideas and beliefs to simplify a complex world. The classic example is the mistrust of people who are ‘not like us’ – commonly displayed as sexism, racism or homophobia. From the perspective of a safety professional, however, allowing preconceived ideas to interfere in our thinking can be a very dangerous human habit. For example, for the last 25 years, every time I have selected the landing gear down, it has come down. But I do not assume that this time it will be the same – I always check the ‘green lights’, which confirm that the gear has indeed come down.
As President of ECA for more than the last 5 years, I have lead an organisation which is focussed on aviation safety – indeed every time we write our name, we add “Piloting Safety”. As the only voice of professional pilots at European level, we also represent their views on all other issues which affect them – but the lion’s share of the work and effort is aimed at improving aviation safety. This month’s ‘Cockpit News’ is no exception:
· Helicopter crews have for too long experienced a much higher risk of accidents than their fixed wing counterparts. Sometimes they are willing to accept a challenging environment, for example in search and rescue operations to save peoples’ lives. But unavoidable risks aside, ECA helicopter pilot representatives are not willing to accept risks associated with inadequate or non-existent safety regulation. We call upon EASA and the Commission to act.
· The rules for determining which EU Member State collects the social security charges for each worker have been changed, and guidelines published for flight crew, without consulting the industry social partners. The new rules will not be straightforward for either the social security departments or employers to implement and may leave open loopholes for abuse. ECA is calling on the Commission to properly consult in order to improve the rules.
· Fatigue is an insidious problem, with those suffering from it being least likely to recognise it. ECA has spent years arguing for the regulations which limit the duty days and set minimum rest periods for pilots, to be based on the best scientific and medical knowledge available. This is a requirement from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, has been required by European legislation and is the only way to protect the passengers, crews and people who live under the flight path. ECA takes such a science-based approach, arguing that any social or commercial effects should be ignored as they are very much secondary to the need to protect the travelling public from harm.
ECA has taken principled and safety driven positions on all these topics. I challenge anyone who doubts this: examine our words and public demands, ignore the ‘preconceived notions’ and ‘unlock’ your ‘wisdom’!
