In spite of what folks might think, I (
too) think Arik Air has a great future.,,, but they (
and others) really do need to get their house in order.
So here’s a suggestion,... how about stop buying so many aircraft and, instead, spend some time & money on getting the infrastructure, oversight and safety systems right?
Ah,
Tombola, did I touch a nerve? ... Far from being an ignoramus (
as you put it)... I did
not accept (
numerous) situations where it was somewhat ‘expected’ that one would look the other way wrt the rules (
made all the harder given that Part A was not available onboard the aircraft).
Veritably I (
and some others) do the things which a good Commander does.
And now let me give you a small lesson in flight safety. It's something all encompassing and not specific just to aircraft flight (
it’s actually supposed to come from the top, and trickle down), wherein not sticking to the rules & laws, failing to supply crews with pertinent and accurate information, sweeping difficult / embarrassing issues under the carpet, are NOT conducive to flight safety. Neither is it open, or honest, and therein if this post stings a few folks into action, then great... this post might do some good!
It appears to me that you’re trying to defend that which shouldn’t be defended, whilst similarly not attacking (
which is probably too strong a word?) poor practices and failings?! So don't be scared man, speak up!.... though I'll take the point that in Nigeria (
and other places) this can lead to a very short career.
I'm pleased that you agree that some (much?) of what I say is true (
well, you can hardly deny it... ‘coz you & I know that it’s true), but wherein I'll now endeavour to pick you up on the points of disagreement.
As for Part A (
& D)... it's common practice, certainly at every airline that I've ever worked at, to have a copy of Part A
onboard the aircraft.... this is not the case at Arik (
and trust me when I say that I looked for it, in all the obvious places).
It's likewise common practice, again at every airline that I've ever worked at, to be given a copy of that airlines Part A, Part B, Part C & Part E... be that in paper or electronic format... but this is not the case at Arik.
That one pilot (
your friend) might have a copy is great, but what about all the others... e.g. none of the people I joined with were given a copy of these manuals.
I should also perhaps add that the MEL / CDL onboard the aircraft are missing a lot of entries (
which found out when I was wondering why the MEL/CDL book was soooo thin?!)
Wrt to potential circumstances leading to the aircraft being over-weight for takeoff or landing. This is typically caused by the lack of competence / training (
or sheer laziness) of the ground staff (
and often a belief by them that you'll turn a blind eye to such things... which I don't!)
E.g. Prior to departing base one asks for PLOG fuel (
having confirmed there are no substantial LMC’s since the PLOG was generated). However, when you get to the aircraft you find that the ramp team have over-fuelled the aircraft (
because they were not paying attention).
So would you have it that I should go and do their job for them? Maybe I should go and do the passengers check-in too, so that we can be sure of the load?!
Wrt overweight for T/O or Landing (
according to several of the FO’s who relayed this to me) some of the Captains are prepared to turn a blind eye to such limitations... though (
again for the record) I, however, am not
(unless under the provisions of an emergency = different case)!
Aside - At a good number of airports on Arik’s network fuel uplifts are not available, not because it's not available, but only because Mr Johnson won't pay for the fuel there (
for reasons best known to himself) which, imho, is actually a causal factor towards reducing flight safety... remember what I said about safety trickling down from the top?!
I’ll admit that I found it hard to fathom how the Nigerian FTL’s worked (
and I’m not the only one)....if only because they are so ‘non-restrictive’.
It is certainly the case is that Nigeria’s CAR’s FTL’s were written a long time ago and are not in-sync with current thinking on fatigue (
as embraced by more reputable Regulatory Authorities, e.g. JAR, FAA, etc).
E.g. a FDP of 14 hours, starting at 5am, with 6 sectors, is legal in Nigeria... requiring
no ‘Discretion Report’ (
the reason being that the sectors within Nigeria are short and the Nigerian FTL’s are based on the ‘block’ hours, i.e. chock-to-chock).
Wrt Nigerian airspace NOT being mapped in accordance with WGS84, have a look at this link
WGS-84 Updates - Jeppesen and see if you can spot Nigeria in the list.... it’s not there by the way... and I trust that you’ll agree that Jeppesen is a reliable enough source?
It’s all too easy to get suckered into using a fabulous system like ‘IN’ to shoot approaches.... but to do so safely it’s got to be backed up by training (
especially for the failure case), proper system / country mapping, and regulatory approval.
Fwiw.. I did go out at night in Lagos, and several of my closest friends are Africans (
black Africans, for the avoidance of doubt). So please don’t try to portray me as some sort of fresh off the boat racist..... ‘coz that I am most certainly
NOT!
LongJohnThomas - whilst I thankyou for some of your comments, you do seem to suggest that I would tollerate the loadsheet & performance calculations being in error? If so, I'd invite you to go back and carefully read what I wrote, wherein I think you'll find that my position is one of the exact opposite. Indeed I gave many a lesson on the intricacies of the Airfield Analysis and its application to real-world effects of being overweight - especially for the stopping case (
e.g. on poor runways)... might I suggest a review of the Boeing FCTM (
which I'll trust you are well aware of?).
I'll agree with you that flying in Africa is great... ideally having been well trained first, and maintaining high standards!