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Old 28th Dec 2011, 18:11
  #85 (permalink)  
Big Pistons Forever
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Canada
Age: 63
Posts: 5,227
Received 135 Likes on 62 Posts
There is and always will be a difference between Military and Civilian flying. What is "reckless behavior" in peace time will sometimes be the difference between life and death for those your aircraft is supporting, in war time.

This inherent conflict will always exist. There was a very cogent point made in an earlier thread about how if everyone was asked to write a confidential list of "dangerous pilots" the same names would keep coming up. I don't think that will ever change in a military culture.

The B52 airshow crash was a huge deal for the USAF with all the Generals saying the "culture that contributed to this accident will never be allowed to develop again"; yet 10 years later a C17 crashed in Alaska and all the same factors applied. The AC was a known risk taker, the aircraft was deliberately flown well outside its envelope some crew members were concerned but did not speak up etc etc.

I think at the end of the day this is not something the "Brass" can fix. It is up to the guy/gal sitting in the aircraft to speak up. Easier said then done I know, but for every tragedy like this one there are many that have been averted when in the excitement of the moment you have let your ego over rule good judgement, but somebody has spoken up before a potential tragedy happened.

On one day I will never forget, my career and maybe the lives of everyone I was responsible for was once quite likely saved by a very junior crew member blurting out "Sir, what are you doing ? "........
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