At no point have I said 'accidents happen' Pitts. I am saying statistics lie and that emotion clouds reality. This accident is a tragic loss of life and I hope that we all can learn from it to avoid repitition. Pandering to FB, basing the public opinion on hearsay from a relative of a passenger, and picking and choosing which stats to look at are the issues I am completely sick of.
When an oil rig catches fire, explodes, leaks crude, or kills people do we shut them all down? Or all semi-subs? No, it's ridiculous. I trust that the men and women working on the vessels I land on, spend time on, and race to when I am needed are professional enough to do their best to provide a safe environment for me.
I do the same for them!
As for the grounding....good sense for the
PR guys. Limited adverse effect if not necessary. But if a 332/225 has an incident removed from the previous by every magnitude possible, no connection whatsoever, the damage to the type and the operator will be insurmountable. Risk assessment says pander to the mob.
Operationally, given the paucity of information, the groundings are unjustified. The history of the type does not support it nor do the stats. I believe that if there was a design flaw that had come to light there would not be a single individual trying to hide it. We would all know.
We are where we are because too many people have traded in their brains for paperwork, their balls for
PR and longevity, and our CEO's have no connection to their industries.
P&A - I didn't attribute the "accidents happen" element to you.
I hear the view over the groundings but I'm not sure what message it sends had they not occurred, even if there are willing passengers to fly in them today in any event? I don't know. One can suggest its irrational but the one who pays the piper calls the tune...
I don't agree with the last paragraph. I don't think the stockholders of Bristow (keep the piper and his tune in the front of the mind) give two fecks about Bill Chiles ability to fly a helicopter. They care that the business is tightly run with increasing margins and revenues, end of.
The same will be true for the stockholders at EADS, however it does seem that the man now at the helm of Eurocopter is in fact a professional pilot but I don't expect much to change, do you?