Originally Posted by
Eutychus
Thanks for your (alarming!) answer.
It's an interesting insight from an SLF point of view that we don't perceive (or think much about) how particular factors change risk levels. I've flown in Trislanders to and from CI many times and from a layman's perspective, while it's clear there are more engines, the overall experience is similar compared to a larger aircraft.
Would any regular CI pilots like to comment on the above analysis?
My perception is that this kind of flying goes on there all the time. A few years ago I was on the same Cherokee with a senior French official (the decision to travel this way being due to industrial action at the nearest port and the imperative for them not remaining stuck outside French territory. He was a heavy guy, too.)
Eutychus, you’ll be glad to hear “chalk from cheese” when comparing this sad event (or what appears to be the operation behind it) to the good old days of the Tris out there. As you said, from your experience of those flights “… the overall experience is similar compared to a larger aircraft.”. The reason for that is that both Aurigny and Blue Island operated the Tris as an Airline with all that entails; initial Line Training on the routes to be flown, regular refresher training, full flight planning including diversions and diversion fuel, full weight and balance, full safety briefings on every flight…. The overall setup was absolutely identical to any other routes operated by larger aircraft. There are a whole raft of hoops to go through to run an Airline. Such hoops do not come cheap, but ensure the highest possible safety standards are maintained through strict adherence to a raft of processes and regulations – sadly, even that does not result in zero accident rates.
Before I go on, many, many “Charter Operations” are just as rigorous as any “Airline” and are perfectly competent /safe in their operations – indeed many Airlines do charter work as well. Where it all starts to unravel is where people set up “charter operations” (note the careful change to lower case there!), a field which has been referred to elsewhere as “grey charters”. Now, without knowing the details, I’m not saying this was one of those. But aviation is littered with people setting up “grey charters” on the cheap, or even just “doing friends a favour”. Such operators simply do not go through all the hoops Airlines or reputable Charters go through, both to set up and then maintain a safe operation. Hoops are often missed through lack of knowledge or even through deliberate avoidance and, before you know it, you are then in bandit country – with possibly a smooth-talking pilot in a reasonably well equipped plane hiding that fact. The difficulty, especially to a lay person, is sorting one from the other in that transition from “Charter Operations” to “charter operations” – sadly, there is no illuminated red dividing line. Maybe the best guide is “If it seems too good to be true….it probably is!”.