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Norfolk Island Ditching ATSB Report - ?

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Norfolk Island Ditching ATSB Report - ?

Old 2nd Dec 2017, 03:16
  #1221 (permalink)  
 
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How about you, LL? Have you ever made a mistake that could have resulted in a bad outcome, but luckily didn’t? (I've made plenty.)
Ever read Fate is the Hunter LB? Its the nature of flying and yes I have made plenty but more importantly I have learnt from them. One of the most important lessons I learnt from a wise old Captain was that when it all goes pear shaped the F/O looks left and sees the Captain. The Captain looks left and sees their reflection in the window.

Instead we got an attempted quick and dirty cover up and pilot scapegoating, and the consequent trashing of the ATSB's already-dwindling reputation. My "learning" from this episode is never to volunteer anything to ATSB. What a great outcome for aviation safety.
Thats the problem with those like yourself who are so wrapped up in your pathological hatred of all things CASA and ATSB that you are not prepared to look at the operational lessons.

The lesson I took from the report was that he was not about to bust minima attempting an approach, he briefed the FO on that point. Perhaps he saw a ditching as a preferable means to shooting an approach to below minima,
Then why do 4 approaches if you know you are not going to get in and why not prepare properly for the ditching? What would I have done? Hold overhead at a thrust setting that would give me maximum time to prepare for an attempt at an approach that I knew would have to take me below the minima. Use the capapbilities of the aircraft to its maximum extent. It had a RadAlt and it had EGPWS it also had an auto pilot. Give the F/O time to brief the crew and passengers. Declare a MAYDAY!!!! Tell the SAR my intentions. When its time to get out of the aircraft make sure my crew and passengers get out first.

The Mildura incident has been mentioned elsewhere as having similarities. Would the crews have been held at fault, responsible (chose your term) had the weather turned out to be zero/zero and a 737 was left spread across the grapevines/saltbush?

Would DJ still be a Captain with Pelair if he had landed successfully onto the runway?

Would Sully be the hero he is if he had tried to get back to a runway?

Would Ernst Gann be a legend if he had flown up the wrong fjord in Greenland?

Would RDC be a hero if he had gone off the runway in Singapore into the water?

Would Al Haynes be a legend if he had given up flying his DC10?

Where do you want to go with the hypotheticals?
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 03:36
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"This is a litany, not a lashing."

Really?? Sounds like a very clever, carefully crafted character assassination to me.

But who am I to judge?
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 03:38
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Where do you want to go with the hypotheticals
I'm afraid you were the one with the hypotheticals re letting the family with him as PIC. You've not answered the question, would you have let your family fly with Bob Hoover when he was alive?

Last edited by megan; 2nd Dec 2017 at 03:50.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 04:03
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Thats the problem with those like yourself who are so wrapped up in your pathological hatred of all things CASA and ATSB that you are not prepared to look at the operational lessons.
I don't hate, pathologically or otherwise, anyone or anything. (Except the Dutch, and even that's an Austin Powers allusion for those who don't watch many movies.)

I despair at what ATSB and CASA have been allowed to become. If you consider that either of them has a causally positive impact on air safety that's worth what they cost - not just in money - you should sign up. They're always looking for good people.

Another of you Monday morning quarterbacks has already identified the operational lesson: Don't run out fuel. I've already learnt that lesson. I once landed and uploaded an amount of fuel that was exactly the amount of usable fuel stated in the flight manual for the aircraft. Errors in enroute calculations. Never made the same mistake in the 27 years since. But there for the grace of the Quod (may you be touched by the Quod's noodly appendage).
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 04:43
  #1225 (permalink)  
 
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Megan I let that one go to the keeper as I thought the question was embarrassing enough for you. I am glad that you at least acknowledge that he is deceased.

LB you are starting to remind me of the long gone Gobbledock with your puerile statements. If all you have taken out of the operational lessons is "don't run out of fuel" then you really do not understand the many operational lessons from the incident. It also goes a long way to explaining why you always go for the personal and not the substance of other ppruners comments.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 04:58
  #1226 (permalink)  
 
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Lookleft; looking at outcomes and learning for a minute. If as you suggest Dj has an "attitude' problem then CASA and the ATSB are still failures at generating a useful outcome from this mess because they fail to label the problem as behavioural.

Furthermore their treatment of the event has created a saint when as you say, we should all be learning the lessons about where "attitude" inevitably gets you.

This mess is lose/lose - the operator, CASA and ATSB look like a pack of idiots. None of us can tell if DJ is a sinner or a saint. The only lesson the pilot community can draw from all this is that there is no justice, so act accordingly. Needless to say, that ain't useful.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 05:08
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I let that one go to the keeper as I thought the question was embarrassing enough for you
Why embarrassing? Not game to answer because it may be embarrassing?
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 05:16
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Lookleft said:
Well done Down and Welded you have summed up the situation quite succinctly. There is a lot of talk about lessons learnt. One reason I asked the question about getting into an aircraft commanded by DJ is that I don't think he has learnt from the experience and I am not talking about how to do a PNR.

This is one reason why I think this:

Quote:
But Mr James said a larger tank of fuel would not have changed the outcome that day – he would still have had to ditch the plane in the ocean.

Instead, he said a lack of information about the rapidly deteriorating weather that day was a major factor glossed over.

"For two-and-a-half hours of that flight, there were about four significant opportunities for air traffic control to look at the information in front of them and pass it onto me. All of these opportunities were missed," he said.
Over 40+ years experience I have held the view that rather than always expect to be given or handed such information, it is instead a pilot responsibility (a philosophy seemingly supported by AIP & CAR) to:
  1. obtain all operational information necessary for a flight;
  2. update it before flight, particularly if a significant time period has elapsed from the time the original material was sourced, and
  3. in-flight be proactive and regularly seek updates, e.g. half hour and hourly METAR/SPECI if available if going to a location where the WX or other local aspects may be subject to change, particularly if an enroute diversion/decision point is involved.
While ATC/ATS have a responsibility to pass limited information in-flight to particular categories of flight in specific classes of airspace,
  1. it is subject to their workload,
  2. their alert or delivery timing may not suit my calculations or decision times, and
  3. they will not be aware of my alternate(s) nor anything affecting flight thereto, which I also need to monitor.

To me, this is basic knowledge and practice for all pilots. If it isn't being taught, then that is a sad indictment of pilot training in this country.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 05:48
  #1229 (permalink)  
 
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The keeper is working overtime today.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 06:07
  #1230 (permalink)  
 
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Sunfish I don't disagree with you but as I said an attitude towards command is very subjective.Sim scores and check rides don't always give the whole picture about an individual.

Most of the pilot's I know who occupy the LHS know that the number one priority is to always cover your rear end with every decision that you make. It doesn't matter to me what the flight plan fuel is, if I think I need more I will take extra. It doesn't matter to me if Perth is CAVOK, I always carry fuel to go somewhere else. It doesn't make me a brilliant Captain it just makes me a cautious one.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 06:15
  #1231 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by CaptainMidnight
Lookleft saidver 40+ years experience I have held the view that rather than always expect to be given or handed such information, it is instead a pilot responsibility (a philosophy seemingly supported by AIP & CAR) to:
  1. obtain all operational information necessary for a flight;
  2. update it before flight, particularly if a significant time period has elapsed from the time the original material was sourced, and
  3. in-flight be proactive and regularly seek updates, e.g. half hour and hourly METAR/SPECI if available if going to a location where the WX or other local aspects may be subject to change, particularly if an enroute diversion/decision point is involved.
While ATC/ATS have a responsibility to pass limited information in-flight to particular categories of flight in specific classes of airspace,
  1. it is subject to their workload,
  2. their alert or delivery timing may not suit my calculations or decision times, and
  3. they will not be aware of my alternate(s) nor anything affecting flight thereto, which I also need to monitor.

To me, this is basic knowledge and practice for all pilots. If it isn't being taught, then that is a sad indictment of pilot training in this country.
Hmmmm.

So how often should I make the call: “X Centre, ABC, please provide all information that you have that’s relevant to my flight but you haven’t provided yet.”

Every 30 minutes?

I’ve learnt something new today.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 06:32
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So how often should I make the call: “X Centre, ABC, please provide all information that you have that’s relevant to my flight but you haven’t provided yet.”

Every 30 minutes?
Hardly.

If you have to ask me those questions, you reinforce my last sentence.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 06:47
  #1233 (permalink)  
 
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Gosh.

I must have misread your #3:
in-flight be proactive and regularly seek updates, e.g. half hour and hourly METAR/SPECI...
There was me thinking a “half hour” was 30 minutes.

What phraseology should I use on the half hour to seek an update, as you’ve advised?

It’s so very Australian that the ANSP devotes so much energy to explaining the services that it doesn’t provide.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 07:08
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It doesn't matter to me if Perth is CAVOK, I always carry fuel to go somewhere else
Now that’s my kind of skipper.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 10:51
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If it isn't being taught, then that is a sad indictment of pilot training in this country.
At the risk of generalisation, there is very little pilot training in this country. Once a pilot has passed his CPL and instrument rating and is looking for his first job, then it becomes up to him if he wishes to increase his professional knowledge. In the world of general aviation he learns on the job. Few employers have the time and financial resources to train him any more than he has already studied for in his licences and ratings.

There are some pilots who now rest on their laurels and deign to study any more than is absolutely necessary to keep their job. That probably applies to the majority.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 11:08
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Connedrod - RE post #1132 how's that head this morning?
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 11:55
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There are some pilots who now rest on their laurels and deign to study any more than is absolutely necessary to keep their job
That's true, and CASA with its exams are of little help. ATPL(H) candidates had to learn 767 EFIS and pressurisation - neither of which had any application to (H).
Sim scores and check rides don't always give the whole picture about an individual
How would you score an individual, carrying two pax, who took off in a piston twin and had a double engine failure as a result of refuelling with Jet. Inevitable crash, but all survived. Had it been DJ he would be nailed to the cross and flailed to within an inch for not doing a fuel check, noticing the signage on the truck, or checking the fuel release note. Something most would hardly expect of a student. Bob Hoover was the guy, just showing that no matter how good you are, you are human, and predisposed to making the simplest of errors, for any multitude of reasons.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 12:25
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How would you score an individual, carrying two pax, who took off in a piston twin and had a double engine failure as a result of refuelling with Jet. Inevitable crash, but all survived. ...................................Bob Hoover was the guy, just showing that no matter how good you are, you are human, and predisposed to making the simplest of errors, for any multitude of reasons.
Don't know how others would score him, but I would score him very low in the grand scheme of things. You have to admit, that is a very appalling error to allow to happen in your own aircraft.
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 14:07
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The proposed movie could be interesting.

ATSB and CASA took a hell of a chance with the initial investigation. What could possibly have been worth taking that chance? There has been much speculation, but we still don't know what was behind this.

Presumably the movie will attempt to answer this.

Was the real explanation that the FAA were in Australia and there was a possibility Australia would be downgraded to Category 2 status? Maybe that was sufficient reason for a fix.

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/0...RRA1081_a.html

The timing is astonishingly bad for CASA.

The incident took place 18 Nov 2009. CASA immediately launched a comprehensive safety audit which found multiple deficiencies with the operator (many of these had been previously identified in a routine audit in 2008). This inevitably raised awkward questions about the effectiveness of regulatory oversight.

At the exact same time (30 November - 4 December) , FAA are in Australia conducting their own audit, and expressed concern about "a shortage of properly-trained inspectors and excessive delegation of regulatory functions to carriers."

So what is CASA to do with an awkward safety audit that appeared to precisely support the FAA concerns?

Is this the smoking gun? Is this the reason the safety audit was never passed to ATSB?

Better stock up on popcorn and Choc-tops!
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Old 2nd Dec 2017, 20:07
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There is probably no single ‘smoking gun’ to explain the energetic efforts to blame the PIC of NGA alone.

The Mildura event merely exposed dysfunction in BOM (and to some extent the ANSP) and accordingly the regulator. It was mostly luck that there was no hull loss and injuries or fatalities. So pretty easy to use the ‘move on nothing to see here’ tactic.

The coin having fallen the other way on 18 November 2009, the PIC of NGA exposed fundamental flaws in:

- Australia’s Pacific neighbours’ flight services
- BOM
- Australia’s ANSP
- the governance of an external Australian territory
- the operations of a politically-connected air operator, and
- the regulator’s oversight of the air operator.

This around the time of the FAA audit.

Very, very inopportune circumstances for a pilot to make a mistake. Way too many embarrassments.

The subsequent attempted whitewash managed to expose the increasing dysfunction in the ATSB.

These factors (and Australia’s airport infrastructure) are why Australia’s international reputation is that it is the only third world aviation nation in which you can safely drink the tap water.

Naturally, in the Orwellian world of 21st century government, all these organisations have to pretend that they’re doing a great job and ‘punching above their weight’. FWGJAU!

Coincidentally - purely coincidentally - the governance arrangements for the external Australian territory in question were, subsequent to the ditching, changed, and YSNF coincidentally - purely coincidentally - reappeared in the Area Forecasts for Area 20.

I should note that I’m not criticising any individual. I’m not criticising any individual who provides air traffic control or flight information services, or weather forecasting or reporting services, or individual investigators or operations or airworthiness inspectors. What’s at fault is the busted organisations in which they work - organisations that as a whole are now much less than the sum of their parts.
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