How Depressing
This thread has been near the top of the flight deck forum for a few days now, and yet there does not appear to be much comment from the Heathrow based pilot community.
I find this perplexing. Could this be because pilots in and out of Heathrow are not concerned by any apparent reduction in safety standards? I would not have thought so. Could it therefore be because they do not perceive any change in safety standards? I would like to know, and would welcome more posts from the pilot community. Sadly, I fear by now most will have become so bored by the bitching and internal bickering on display here that they will have ceased to take an interest and I will never know.
I have known 'Andrew' for a number of years. I am a Heathrow Approach controller. I would like to think that I am better placed than some to pass comment on his opinions and actions. To berate him (as many have) for keeping quiet whilst he worked for NATS is totally unjust. Those of us who worked with him have known for years about his disquiet regarding our procedures. He passionately believed that his concerns were valid and was very vocal on the subject.
However, I do not share his opinion that the Heathrow Approach operation is unduly skewed towards service delivery at the expense of safety, nor do I know of a single colleague who agrees with his opinion. The way we vector aircraft onto the ILS is as safe now as it has ever been. The truth is that 'Andrew's' very specific viewpoint about the Heathrow operation was at odds with all of those around him.
I believe this powerful conviction in his erroneous beliefs, allied to his perception that nobody else was listening led him to speak to the BBC - a spectacularly ill-conceived act.
However, I believe the vitriolic responses from some quarters on this thread are totally out of proportion and do more harm to the reputation of the ATCO community as a whole than any of the 'revelations' on last weeks' news.
Post 120 I find particularly unpleasant. Having just joined this forum, I've just read the rules for posting. Post 120 is in contravention of them. Why is it still here?