2014 - Year of the wet lettuce leaf
My 2014 prediction is that we will see the increased use of the wet lettuce leaf. Nothing has happened over the past 24 years to give me any confidence that a positive 12 degree bank to the left has started. Australia is still caught up in a phugoid motion, and more nose down than anything.
Unfortunately Clarise the lambs are still crying.
Nothing definitive will take place because nobody in power cares. Things weren't much better in New Zealand in the 70's until the Erebus accident. It then took a long time for things to start to change for the better but it did happen, although things are still not perfect. Several accidents in Canada in the 90's were a catalyst that saw their hands twisted by those in high places, and again positive changes were made by TC, and as a result safety standards improved.
Australia is in an aviation safety slumber ........... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ .......... The standard of the CASA and what is now the ATSB is proof that mental illness truly is an underestimated illness with far reaching tentacles. What other excuse could there be? An FAA downgrade or smouldering hull appear to be the only two unpalatable options at this point in time that could trigger change.
Tendentious bloggers like Xenophon, and succinct reporters like Sandilands are certainly a breath of fresh air, but they are two very small pawns in the giant CASA ocean. Until Australian aviators hand power to the Independent politicians the only way change will occur will be by way of something I have sadly experienced before, and you really really don't want to go there my friends.
No, 2014 will see more government obsfucation, the occasional bitch slap with a wet lettuce leaf by the Minister, lots of tough talk with no action, and lots of clever little decoys designed to fool the masses into believing our skies are actually safe.
So grab the beer and popcorn, plant some fresh lettuce seeds, stock up on the turd polish and raise your eyes skywards because 2014 will absolutely be the year of the wet lettuce leaf!
I believe this is now customary? TICK TOCK
Last edited by Paragraph377; 2nd Jan 2014 at 11:14.