SMS and FRMS on way out?
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Curtain Twitcher
The amendment to CAO 48 was, following a period of consultation of three years to be introduced this year...Apparently the operators 'needed more time' and so the can was kicked down the road for another year. Interestingly CASA made no reference to the issues that led to the original re-write, it is as though they no longer existed, so the roster practices continued unabated.
For a pilot considering an extension, I would recommend and have in a previous life, asked the company for an indemnity in writing for any resulting accident or incident were I to extend. Any company unwilling to indemnify a FCM to step outside the legislated rules that protect the FCM and the traveling public, is not a company I will risk my licence for. Naturally as a junior pilot I was on my own. The other guy wanted to get home to bed... I expected a call from a fleet manager, but it never eventuated and having independent legal representation is always money well invested.
.The Senators last year paid a little attention, but lacking a headline (and for some a camera) they moved on..CASA could quietly kick the can down the road. Union representatives were late to the party..
As a wise man once said to me, 'you are only a doormat if you lay down'. Collectively pilots do themselves a disservice. As Diane Vaughan said cultural drift occurs in which circumstances classified as “not okay” are slowly reclassified as “okay.
The problems CASA were going to address in the CAO 48.1 have not gone away
The amendment to CAO 48 was, following a period of consultation of three years to be introduced this year...Apparently the operators 'needed more time' and so the can was kicked down the road for another year. Interestingly CASA made no reference to the issues that led to the original re-write, it is as though they no longer existed, so the roster practices continued unabated.
- Specifically changes were to be made to roster construction where extensions were ONLY granted where the occurrence under consideration had occurred in statistically less than 5% of previous extensions.
'unforeseen operational circumstance' means an unplanned exceptional event that becomes evident after the commencement of the FDP, such as unforecast weather, equipment malfunction, or air traffic delay. Thunderstorms in Sydney in summer are not 'unforeseen' and therefore roster construction would see that 11.40 day reduced so that the TOD woulds be completed by 12 hours.
- Rest periods commenced in accommodation not in the taxi and pilots were to be left to rest.
Note When an FCM is interrupted during sleep opportunity, this may affect the FCM’s fitness for duty before the commencement of, or during, the next FDP.
For a pilot considering an extension, I would recommend and have in a previous life, asked the company for an indemnity in writing for any resulting accident or incident were I to extend. Any company unwilling to indemnify a FCM to step outside the legislated rules that protect the FCM and the traveling public, is not a company I will risk my licence for. Naturally as a junior pilot I was on my own. The other guy wanted to get home to bed... I expected a call from a fleet manager, but it never eventuated and having independent legal representation is always money well invested.
.The Senators last year paid a little attention, but lacking a headline (and for some a camera) they moved on..CASA could quietly kick the can down the road. Union representatives were late to the party..
As a wise man once said to me, 'you are only a doormat if you lay down'. Collectively pilots do themselves a disservice. As Diane Vaughan said cultural drift occurs in which circumstances classified as “not okay” are slowly reclassified as “okay.
The problems CASA were going to address in the CAO 48.1 have not gone away
Last edited by Tuck Mach; 20th Mar 2017 at 08:17. Reason: typo!
There is no problem here though. If you look at it from the other side there is no credible evidence of a fatigue issue in the industry. The only ones complaining are the flight crews, and traditionally we are all overly industrialized lazy so and so's.
The airlines cry poor and CASA in their eternal spinelessness capitulate by allowing the (yet to be proven unsafe) fatigue management systems to continue. Nobody has factored the latency of an industry wide, and growing fatigue problem.
The airlines cry poor and CASA in their eternal spinelessness capitulate by allowing the (yet to be proven unsafe) fatigue management systems to continue. Nobody has factored the latency of an industry wide, and growing fatigue problem.
A senior management pilot once remarked to me "We do not have any fatigue issues here." How can you be sure of that?" I asked. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Because we do not have any fatigue reports!"
There it is, in a nutshell.
There it is, in a nutshell.
That is it in a nutshell but why ?
The word 'fatigue' and the stigma/ feelings / opinions it conjures is part of the problem.
At one stage a year or so ago if you went to the main offices of my outfit people didn't say the word fatigue, instead they said "the F word". If you were a pilot and you went in there to visit the rostering team or pay clark, safety team, you were guaranteed to receive disparaging remarks about how little you worked and how soft you are ( complete with expletives) regardless of how friendly and cordial you were when you approached the office.
This even extended to the senior ' leaders ' (cough cough) although I admit they steered clear of the expletives. I haven't been into the main offices in a long time so I am not sure if the same culture still exists there.
Allowing a culture like that to develop and then continue to exist in an Airline is a failing of senior management. It results in pilots disengaginging from the safety process and actively reducing communication and contact with the safety department and management in general.
As long as childish management sit atop an organisation SMS and FRMS will fail quietly and steadily until the latent threats reveal themselves in a way nobody can ignore.
SMS and FRMS rely on mature and sensible leadership to work as advertised.
The word 'fatigue' and the stigma/ feelings / opinions it conjures is part of the problem.
At one stage a year or so ago if you went to the main offices of my outfit people didn't say the word fatigue, instead they said "the F word". If you were a pilot and you went in there to visit the rostering team or pay clark, safety team, you were guaranteed to receive disparaging remarks about how little you worked and how soft you are ( complete with expletives) regardless of how friendly and cordial you were when you approached the office.
This even extended to the senior ' leaders ' (cough cough) although I admit they steered clear of the expletives. I haven't been into the main offices in a long time so I am not sure if the same culture still exists there.
Allowing a culture like that to develop and then continue to exist in an Airline is a failing of senior management. It results in pilots disengaginging from the safety process and actively reducing communication and contact with the safety department and management in general.
As long as childish management sit atop an organisation SMS and FRMS will fail quietly and steadily until the latent threats reveal themselves in a way nobody can ignore.
SMS and FRMS rely on mature and sensible leadership to work as advertised.
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Self regulation rarely achieves anything, the finance 'industry' a case in point.
The only way to has always been effective regulation and enforcement. Australia has neither.
With management pilots working to keep the corner office and protect KPI bonuses nothing will be pushed up the line, ultimately the pilot is all alone...
The only way to has always been effective regulation and enforcement. Australia has neither.
With management pilots working to keep the corner office and protect KPI bonuses nothing will be pushed up the line, ultimately the pilot is all alone...
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As Diane Vaughan said cultural drift occurs in which circumstances classified as “not okay” are slowly reclassified as “okay.
