Originally Posted by
Lyman
These folks are BUDS. It is not fair to demand intellectul isolation of the investigators from their confreres. It goes against human nature, and in and of itself creates the conflict.
I disagree. Separating one's personal relationship from the working relationship is Professionalism 101, and in the case of aviation it's even more important to do so. Making sure that your colleagues do the right thing, and in turn allowing them to do the same for you should not be subject to whether you like each other, because in a heavily interdependent organisation getting it wrong lets the team down.
"Ombudsman"......eliminating the potential, and hence reality, of conflicts.
It could be argued that the BEA, NTSB and AAIB fill that role for their regulatory counterparts (i.e. DGAC, FAA and UK CAA) - it's why they were made independent in the first place. Prior to this, political and personal factors allowed standards to slip and it always ended in tears.
One major limitation to this system is that the investigatory agencies only come into play after something has gone wrong - Air France's troubled recent history was well-known amongst the piloting fraternity, but it took something drastic to allow the BEA to investigate. Another limitation is that the regulators cannot be compelled to act on the recommendations of the investigators, but that's for another time.