16 July 2010
New cockpit recordings from the Polish presidential plane that crashed near Smolensk on April 10 indicate that the pilots were pressured into landing despite poor weather conditions, Interfax reported Thursday.
“If I don’t land, he will kill me,” read a cockpit transcript of chief pilot Arkadiusz Protasiuk’s words.
Kaczynski Pilots ‘Pressured’ | News | The Moscow Times
I know this message has been hammered home many times on this and other forums but, its a message which can never be overstated, especially for those working in smaller organisations where crews (often single pilot) are regularly marginalized by commercial and political pressures.
The bottom line is -
never allow yourself to be forced into compromising safety. Better to lose your job than your life or the lives of those in your care.
Anyone who hasn't read the NTSB report of the 2001 Gulfstream crash at Aspen ... should do so:
http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2002/AAB0203.pdf