Originally Posted by
sandyhelmet
At risk of sounding like I'm taking sides (I'm not), let's talk about dinosaur age........from the previous operator standpoint to Ornge's one....
1. Old and underpowered S-76 A models incapable of meeting required H1Helipad performance requirements.
2. A system of managed helipads that didn't meet CAR 305 regulations or 325 Standards, utilizing a unaided 'black hole' let down approach procedure. Why don't you do a survey amongst the crews, of how many near misses and near ball ups occurred whilst carrying out that procedure?
3. A number of training accidents on said S76s over the years, plus the Snake Lake black hole approach crash in Temagami in 2008 that everyone seems to want to blame on Ornge.(Ornge was only certified as an Air Operator in 2012).
4. No change in SOP, equipment or anything after the Snake Lake crash, business as usual, even after a 38 page analysis was published with recommendations for changes and higher standards. (To Donut King's 35 years............why change)
Now, since Ornge...
1. AW139s
2. Implementation of hard proficiency and currency targets
3. AV-70 lighting for every heliport designated as black hole as an interim measure until completion of the NVG program, plus currency restrictions on crews
4. Improved, more robust changes to SOPs, training program, progression for FOs etc
5. NVGs (this was a non-starter from the previous operator, not even considered, the CP was dead set against them).
6. Integration of a fully functional EFB with real time weather wherever there's cell coverage.
It's nice to moan and groan and demonise Ornge, but many of their issues were inherited, legacy ones that functioned only in that unique business model of the previous operator. So the ongoing level of disingenuousness and intellectual dishonesty I see from the previous cadre stuns me.
Yes, a nasty, poorly-managed, hostile take over of business by a bunch of entitled criminals happened initially, but after everything is said and done, I think you have in Ontario a better, safer, more robust air ambulance system than what previously existed. Unfortunately you're now working in a government bureaucracy instead of a profit driven company, but that was determined at a political level, so it's now the world you live in.
It will never be perfect, but it's time the old school guys like Mac and Arcal wake up and smell the coffee - you definitely didn't come from a perfect world either. This whole attitude of "we've always done it this way" and resistance to change for resistance' sake that still pervades is in of itself a risk to the operation.
BTW, FO left seat retention is normally used as part of a pilot progression scheme where, after he becomes captain (or senior FO) qualified, and after a right seat check to qualify him for command duties, he can operate as P1 U/S with LHS trained and qualified Training Captains, Line Training Captains, or approved senior Captains, leading up to his final checkout as an aircraft captain. Nothing out of the ordinary, welcome to the real world.
My two cents.
Thanks for the info. I followed the Ornge crash with great interest and have a couple questions for you since you seem to be "in the know". Sorry if this is hijacking the thread.
From an outsider's perspective (reading the report and hearing the odd rumor here and there), it seems like Ornge really didn't have any intention of changing anything until the crash in Moosonee. For example, I was under the impression that many of the pilots were asking for NVGs for years prior to the crash, and neither the previous operator or Ornge showed any interest in purchasing them. Same with the old S-76A's. Weren't the bases in the blackest part of the province operating those things for years while the south bases benefited from the more modern aircraft?
I'm not saying that things were better before. But based on what I read in the TSB Report for the Moosonee crash, and from the rumblings through the rumor mill, I am pretty skeptical that Ornge had any intention of changing much until the crash happened. The report made Ornge out to be a pretty incompetent operator as a whole, and TC to be an incompetent regulator.
Again, not saying things haven't improved (I'm sure they have otherwise the OC would probably have been pulled), but your post comes across as a piece of propaganda put out by someone in a management position rather than an honest recollection of the facts as outlined by the TSB Report.