So is that a yes or a no then
I would have thought it was pretty clear, yes.
So, to avoid any misunderstandings, let's clarify my "crime", for which I was fired only on the basis of the fact that I did not deny the truth, if I had done so, as no other person was present at the aircraft to see what happened, there would have been no case to answer.
The aircraft concerned was a GA Seneca, an Air ambulance, and he had ferried a transplant organ into DUB. On his way over, his headset had failed on the flight from the UK to DUB, and he got stuck at DUB.
The SA duty manager asked me if I had my (personal) headset, and when I said I had, asked me to "see if you can get yer man out of trouble".
I did.
Several people already knew before I got involved that he also by now has a flat battery through too much testing to try and fix his headset, he'd used the phone in Ops to discuss it with the base, and to try and solve the problem, without success up till then, as he had no headset he could use, and no hand microphone for the aircraft.
The Pilot had agreed with his engineering manager what was needed to get him going.
I checked it out, and as I have qualifications that meant I'd been trained to do a lot more than was needed to sort this, I saw no problem with it, and neither did the aircraft captain.
Without going into the complex technicalities, as it was a GA type, rather than a commercial airline aircraft, I was one of the few people on the airfield that could assist him legally. Line maintenance engineers could not assist him, they are not trained on GA aircraft.
SA had previously used my external licences and qualifications to get me to perform tasks that they had not specifically trained me for, and this (as far as I was concerned) was no different, and I'd done the same before on my own aircraft several times, as well as being signed off on external power starts as part of professional training.
At the last moment, a manager intervened, without knowing anything about what was happening.
I had a choice. Strand an air ambulance aircraft for at least 3 hours, and arrive late at my next flight, which was also going to mean deep s
t, or finish what had already been agreed, and get him out, which took all of 90 seconds, so I would get to my next flight on time, which I did.
I helped him out, and in the same circumstances, I'd do exactly the same again, I wasn't about to see an air ambulance stranded for the lack of someone that knew what they were doing.
No one witnessed the start, no one even mentioned it to me for over 10 days, and no reports were written by "involved" people until after I'd been suspended. If I'd turned to the ramp manager and denied being "involved" when he first raised it, no one could have proved different. The captain was happy, and if I hadn't been 100% happy with what we were doing, it wouldn't have been done.
As far as I was concerned, my licences covered what I did, and SA had been happy for me to do other tasks for which they'd not trained me on the strength of that professional licence. This time, they chose not to.
I have my own opinions as to why, and they have very little to do with the way I did the job, and a lot to do with some people not liking the fact that I knew a damn sight more about what I was doing than they did.
SA's training is very good as far as it goes, but there is nothing type specific in a lot of it, which means that there are massive risks to people that don't know. As an example, rampers will often move props to fit restraints on (say) a Dash 8-300, the airline requires it, and at times, a prop will be turned to allow access to panels.
If a ramper did the same on a Seneca, without knowing exactly how to turn it, under certain circumstances, that engine could start, and kill the person. There's NOTHING in SA training to cover this.
I got fired for doing a job, and doing it professionally. One of the trainers, when asked by management what he would have done said something like "exactly the same". They chose to ignore that.
A few weeks earlier, a DC8 diverted into DUB. There was no pushback bar on station, so (with the commanders agreement), it was pulled back off stand so that it could leave by placing cargo straps around the main gear to pull it. That's not SA procedure, and the person who did it was not trained to do that by anyone, but he's still there.
Another lead agent was reported for putting chocks and ground power on to an HS748 while both engines were still live, at ground idle, in direct contradiction of SA procedure, even more important on this type, as there was fatal accident on a 748 a few years ago. He got a verbal warning.
The ramp manager removed the by pass pin on an A300 before removing the push back bar, and it was only luck that the ramp agent standing beside the bar didn't get 2 broken legs as the bar swept him out of the way. Nothing was said, despite the clear danger of what was done.
Another manager did serious damage to a main deck hi loader by attempting to get an MD11 engine out of a 747 by using the lowering platform to pull the engine with cargo straps connected to it. It didn't work, and did serious damage. Nothing was said, but it was a procedure for which he hadn't been trained.
A ramp agent (not me) had a battery mulag catch fire. He got serious grief from Aer Rianta because the fire extinguisher on the unit was unservicable. Later, he checked all the battery equipment, and reported 15, yes fifteen unservicable fire extinguishers. A month later, they still had not been replaced, but nothing was said about it.
A Euroceltic F27 had it's nose wheel lifted off the ground by a push back tug when the lead agent went to connect up, and the tug jumped suddenly, due to a sticky throttle. That delayed the aircraft. I had reported the fault to the maintenance manager at least 6 times, but nothing had been done about it, and at least twice, the tug had been returned to service without any action being taken.
That's just a few reasons for my total lack of respect for some of the SA DUB management.
Not the ramp staff, they never gave me less than 110%, and always worked well for me.
I could say a lot more, but what's the point, I think it's been made pretty clear that there are some serious issues with SA at this station.
I'm doing other things now, but that doesn't stop me seeing and hearing on a regular basis about some of the things that still happen regularly.
The standards imposed on flight crew, airlines and aircraft maintenance are very high. The standards imposed on ramp handling are at times non existent. Somewhere, that's a danger to all involved. It's time that was changed, partly by having people on the ramp that have formal aviation training, so that they understand what they are doing, and how it affects the aircraft. That's not there at the moment, and before long, it will lead to a serious accident. That's unacceptable.