Philippine Safety Standards?
I've recently returned from a holiday in the Philippines and I have to admit I found the standards of flight safety both on the ground and in the air a serious concern.
a. Departing MNL domestic mobile phones were not x-rayed but rather passed around the metal detector in plastic trays
b. Yak xx, off the side of the runway at Caticlan & propped up with car tyres (the staff told me they'd been off the runway twice this year)
c. Approaching MNL in a Do328 a plastic kite passed 3-4 feet beneath our wing (I estimate we were at 2500ft and just slightly left of the extended centreline of Rwy13). On landing I spoke with the crew & suggested they let ATC know & submit a safety report. (I also told them I fly 744s for an Airline that flies into MNL & therefore had both a personal & professional interest in notifying the authorities ).
They said they had not seen the kite at all & brushed the whole thing aside, simply commenting that kites are normal for the Philippines.
d. Approaching Caticlan in a Dash7 at approx 5-6000ft a 3rd pilot entered the cockpit. I was stunned to see the whole windscreen covered in maps/charts! There was no way the crew could see outside.
Finally passing through Hong Kong, an ATC friend detailed a recent incident where at A319 from a Philippine based airline turned sharply left after take off from Rwy25L. (the hills are less than 2km left of the runway).
The "rumour" is that the crew had a late runway change (from 07R) and failed to update the Departure in the MCDU. When the AP was engaged the A319 tried to do a 180deg turn.
Folks...did I just have a bad run of luck or is this just par for the course in your lovely country?