Squawk 8888
31st Aug 2001, 17:56
Primetime last night ran a segment on vacuum pump failures- here's the summary. The piece documented some crashes that involved VFR pilots who flew into IMC at night then crashed after a vacuum pump failure. While watching it became obvious that the piece was written by the lawyers who are suing the pump's manufacturer, neglecting to mention that (1) the pilots involved flew into conditions for which they were not qualified, (2) the pilots failed to check the suction gauge regularly and (3) training standards for night flying in the USA are abysmal. Again we are seeing "litigation chill" driving up the cost of GA- the manufacturer has decided to get out of the market. How long before nobody makes training aircraft, and when are the airlines going to realize that they'll run out of drivers if these lawyers aren't reined in?