Once you declare Mayday or Pan, the paperwork starts
Without referring to the case in point, I make the following observations from my own GA career:
Re: the quote above: I cannot think of a
less legitimate reason to not comply with what is a perfectly clear recommendation in the AIP. It is this sort of attitude which pervades GA - supposedly "wise" old heads declaring that they don't comply with rule X, Y or Z because they're smarter than that
These rules are written in blood, yet we allow ourselves to dodge and weave and pretend that the rules don't apply to us for some "reason" that seems legit at the time.
As Commercial Pilots and ATPL holders we
MUST start holding ourselves to a higher standard. For a bit of inspirational reading I refer you to
Tony Kern's Blog.
When I was a young buck my head was filled with bar stories and "received wisdom" which, in that environment, led to a few colourful (career limiting) incidents
I received a few "attitude adjustments" and my attitude to safety & compliance today is somewhat different. With a bit of maturity (and more than a couple of scares) I started examining my actions and beliefs. Today, the decisions are simple: "What does the book say? Do that."
The guys imparting their wisdom at the Aero Club bar haven't faired so well.
The bloke who (truthfully) bragged that he had "barrel-rolled every aircraft I've ever flown" is dead.
The bloke who (truthfully) bragged that he always got in (but complained, falsely, that the operator forced him to break the rules) flew a Metro into a hill, and is dead.
The bloke who (incorrectly, as it turns out) reckoned he didn't need Aerobatic training is dead.
The bloke who reckoned Ops manuals are all bull**** and that CASA is only interested in "paper safety" lost his AOC and his airline.
Bizzarrely, the professional pilot who always reminded me to never press the weather
himself flew VFR into IMC at low level
- and he's dead, too.
Culturally we seem to tacitly accept the idea that "It's GA, therefore the rules are optional". It seems to me that many of us seem to forget that "Professional discipline" can apply to any level of operation - from RAAus to the Space Shuttle. But we must
choose to apply it.
The pilot is simply the last line of defence in the system - and in these days of automation that's the only reason we're on board. As the mechanical and other faults become more and more rare, and as "Pilot Error" and other human cultural factors come more and more to the fore, how long before "they" consider eliminating the greatest hazard on commercial aircraft - the pilot?
