FTL
CAP371: limits are not the asymptotes that the regulator assumes them to be... They naturally become targets. As the cost-benefit of pushing your luck is a system that has catastrophic but infrequent/exceptional events, then the fact that the companies, CAA's, passengers and crew "get away" with risky processes is a reinforcement of the assumption that all is well. Coupled with inherently dysfunctional reporting systems, that is endemic at all levels of society, (messengers are a, er, um, "target" audience.... ) in all countries... The people who can end up bleeding from the immediate consequences continue to be the bastions of operational safety, with minimal support.
How many companies give operational risk management, CRM, HF training to the CEO, managers, rostering staff etc? When did any of the EASA/EC senior management undertake same? Invariably, the bleeding edge manager, the pilot, is left to make the decision that the wheels have come off the wagon, with the mute, but imposing and menacing presence of the corporation, and with the indifference of the regulator. Passengers vote with their wallets, as do share holders, and the immediate, non lethal outcomes that "normally" occur are resented, yet, the pilot will be held solely accountable post disaster as not having the fortitude to prevail, and for being fallible. After all, the PIC is "in command".
FTL is an issue, but it is only one of the symptoms of a seriously flawed system. Keeping on topic, fatigue results in damage and losses, on a relatively routine basis. Back when I cared about such things, I recall 2 events of severe structural damage done in flight that were, factually, directly attributable to the crews fatigue, and additional high headcount fatalities where fatigue should have been held as the primary contributory factor, not further down the lists. In these cases, the forces of darkness failed to accept moral responsibility, or modify their practices to reduce their exposure to operational risk.
The industry relies on the boy scout mentality of the flight crew, with the added incentive of punitive sanctions applied outside of the stated policies, (in contravention of the policies and in breach of the obligations of post holders duty of care). Nothing wrong with being boy (girl) scouts, but if you take a stand, be prepared for the outrageous fortune that may result, recall that "Unity" may sound like a group ideal of cohesiveness, but also means "One".
Having been threatened personally by an AOC postholder for a company that has a global public reputation for doing better, "if you put in [a] safety report, "we" will get you...", I am under no illusions as to the nature of our industry. Truckflyer's post on the state of the union I am sadly in concurrence
It was written rather optimistically
"Though the vicious can sometimes pour affliction upon the good, their power is transient and their punishment certain; and that innocence, though oppressed by injustice, shall, supported by patience, finally triumph over misfortune!" Ann Radcliffe
Which is a good bed time tale, great fodder for subjugation, unsubstantiated by recorded history.... A salve to fears and a carrot to righteous behavior, it is, however, wrong. Even Burke was overly optimistic and simplistic, with "for evil to triumph... ", as "The end excuses any evil" Sophocles said, and, Steinem contends, "Evil is obvious only in retrospect."
Each one of us that assume the mantle of professionalism in this industry are individually and collectively, held responsible for a safety outcome that is compromised by the regulator and the operator to a significant extent. How we manage that may end up defining us. At the end of the day, you all get to look in the mirror and can see whether the decisions that are made are those that you are either proud of, or not. I can personally say that standing up for your beliefs will always come at a cost, but it is far less than being a statistic, or losing your self respect.
One prime minister of a land down-under once described pilots as "bus drivers", and he was wrong; bus drivers have more public interest in their welfare and that of the general travelling public than pilots have.
"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful". Samuel Johnson