The reality of the judgement of Erebus must rest in the knowledge that flying is a dangerous business and nothing has replaced the crucial role of the pilot in the whole scheme of things, for when we think about it, the prime role of a pilot is not to have an accident. To help him or her achieve this result, no let or hinder should be acceptable and this applies to those on the ground who prepare the data for use in flight
This from "The Erebus Enquiry, a Tragic Miscarriage of Justice," compiled by C.H.N. L'eSTRANGE.
Quote:
"his final sentence has these damning words'..once airborne, the captain is finally and totally responsible for the safe flight operation"
Actually, such statements really irritate me. They reek of pompous sanctimony and imply that once in the air, a competent captain should gain some sort of overriding omnipresence that protects the flight from all outside influence. Which of course is glaringly untrue and in this case, irrelevant anyway - it was the misuse of the INS combined with failure to observe MSA which caused the accident here; not the vagueness of the destination waypoint.
It's statements such as those above which give ammunition to those who would write off Chippindale as an anachronistic buffoon who didn't understand "computerised" aircraft.
I think it has to be appreciated and acknowledged that the Honorable Justice Peter Mahon, during this Royal Commission of Inquiry, wouldn’t be bribed, bought or lied to and refused to have his integrity compromised.
I agree. Mahon was utterly sincere but - utterly wrong. He allowed personality politics to cloud his judgment. It's clear he was irritated by the fact Gemmell wasn't intimidated by him, for example. He placed far too much credence on his own superficial and very quickly acquired knowledge of aviation procedures. Some of his logic is grossly assumptive and laughably facile "pilots had found from experience that the INS was very accurate, therefore it was okay for Collins to be wholly reliant on it" is one such example. I could go on and on.