PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Spend on safety gadgets? or better training!
Old 18th May 2015, 23:30
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9 lives
 
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Oh the better training Mary! Pilots need to have the confidence that was common decades ago to be able to fly the aircraft, and get back on the ground by doing so. I accept that for military and aerobatic aircraft, there is a greater risk of the aircraft becoming unflyable while you're up, but this is very uncommon for GA aircraft.

Well maintained, well flown GA aircraft nearly never abandon their pilot, why would their pilot abandon them? I do like the idea of the get of jail free parachute for one primary reason - a non pilot passenger can help themselves down, if the pilot becomes incapacitated - but that's happily very rare too.

I have seen a certain type of person who has the means to fill a plane with safety equipment, and then conduct themselves to a lesser demanding skills standard, thinking that the safety equipment will save them. Applying well developed and maintained skills will prevent that safety equipment being necessary nearly every time!

In my capacity as a volunteer firefighter, we have to be aware of things which will go bang, after the car has come to its stop. It is a lot more work, and slower now to cut a patient out of a car, as we first must strip quite a lot of interior panels, to find the airbags, so as not to cut through them when cutting a car apart. From my experience, this can add several minutes to an extrication. We take annual training to learn about new systems in cars, but I don't think we keep up. Imagine our surprise to learn that a certain brand of convertable has explosive roll bars, which pop up under specific accident conditions - it sure would be bad to be leaning over one, assisting a patient!

A plane I was responsible was fatally crashed by its pilot. It was carrying wing mounted atmospheric equipment, with included tiny lasers which, when energized, shone across a 1/2" gap. These bore the same "radiation" sticker that one would see on a laser pointer ('cause they about that intense). Well, the first responders parachuted in to this poor fellow, and happened across one of these probes first. Radiation!?!, we can't go near the plane! It was a fuss for a while, until they considered the actual danger = zero, there was no electric power. But, in fairness, the sticker did not say "when powered", so how would they know?

Military aircraft are suitably placarded for dangers to rescuers, and access points. I doubt that the proud owner of the half million dollar composite wonder is willing to accept warning labels all over it, but they would identify a possible hazard to rescuers....
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