Criminalisation over accidents

[blueloo]

Criminalisation over accidents.


I realise there is a thread in Rumours and news but I raise it here only because of a letter to the editor in the SMH today.

Pilots not above the law


Professor John Faulkner seems to think the Indonesian pilot should not face criminal prosecution for wilfully flying in a dangerous manner, resulting in death and injury (Letters, February 7).


Should pilots be exempt from the law, while other professions are not? I take his point on cockpit voice recorders, but I question his sense of perspective when the requirements of accident investigation take precedence over due process of law. If pilots turn off the recorders, maybe that, too, should be viewed as an offence. As a former air traffic controller, I never had the option of turning them off, nor wanted it.

Wayne Talbot Kelso

Anyone know the answer to this?
Do ATC recordings cover the area they sit in/around all day and record everything they say or just when the recieve/transmit?

[just the facts]

No, ATC are only recorded when making or receiving calls to/from aircraft, or when speaking to other controllers on a coord line. General conversations are not recorded.

[cudza101]

No, ATC are only recorded when making or receiving calls to/from aircraft, or when speaking to other controllers on a coord line. General conversations are not recorded.

This is not the case. If you do a search for CVRs on the internet you'll see that everything is recorded, not just transmissions between other aircraft. Two examples I can think of: the CRJ crash at Lexington in 2006 and the 737 overrun at Midway in 2005.

The lesson here is obvious!

[Louis Cypher]

Currently there is no 'area recording' in ATC environments; only R/T and intercom is recorded.

However, there is a recent ICAO requirement for 'area recording' of all ATC environments. I can't recall the ICAO deadline, but it is still a few years away.

[cudza101]

My mistake... I didn't read blueloo's question properly. An alternative question might be why general conversations are recorded when they take place on the flight deck but not when they take place in other settings which might also be operationally significant.

[westausatc]

Not sure I am comfy with this whole proposition.

Yes, I can see the safety benefit. However, given the dictatorial nature of the current leadership of AsA, this will only be used by them to harm their ATC workforce. It won't be driven from the centres but given the animosity with which the ATC workforce is held by those in CB, you can bet London to a brick that they will gain access to it and use it somewhere, somehow.