Runway at BRS was unsafe.
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Runway at BRS was unsafe.
Link to report: BBC NEWS | England | Bristol | City airport runway 'was unsafe'
May have to copy and paste.
May have to copy and paste.
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The operations manual provided by the operator advised that the aircraft should be loaded with a forward centre of gravity for operations in strong crosswinds. The commander of G-BWDA (and others in the company) were not aware of this and as a result of this incident, the operator issued Flying Staff Memo General 14 2007 on 20 December 2007.
I was sitting in the back row of G-BWDA. Sorry, it was all my fault.
I was sitting in the back row of G-BWDA. Sorry, it was all my fault.
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There are times when PPrune really makes a difference. When people ask, I always cite the BRS thread on PPrune as a classic example.
Well done to everyone that constructively contributed.
Pinkman
Well done to everyone that constructively contributed.
Pinkman
One of the things that strikes me is the "Risk Assessment" of the task, which nowadays is compulsory for such works as otherwise the HSE will get you for being "unsafe", never even considered any aviation issues about operating on a temporary surface that was not up to standard, but just documented a few random peripheral things like airfield vehicles and construction vehicles being in each others way - and even then it just says who is therefore responsible for that aspect, rather than giving concrete guidance.
Many of us feel that the " 'elf an' safety" so-called profession (as opposed to real flight safety overview done by aviation professionals) is nothing more than a make-work for those who follow it, and here is a typical example.
Many of us feel that the " 'elf an' safety" so-called profession (as opposed to real flight safety overview done by aviation professionals) is nothing more than a make-work for those who follow it, and here is a typical example.
A risk assessment is only effective if all of the stakeholders are at the table when the risks are being listed and mitigated. By the sound of things, they never even considered asking the air operators to join them.
One would have thought that a licenced airfield operator would be able to realise this without needing to discuss it with the airlines. But then of course they're more interested with the profitability of the shops and overpricing the car parks than with anything on the aviation side.
The list of "risks" does indeed seem to have been generated principally from the construction contractor's experience of works rather than anything from the airport's side at all.
Is the MD of Bristol Airport, who I seem to recall at the time telling the media that the runway was perfectly safe and up to spec, still in post ?
The list of "risks" does indeed seem to have been generated principally from the construction contractor's experience of works rather than anything from the airport's side at all.
Is the MD of Bristol Airport, who I seem to recall at the time telling the media that the runway was perfectly safe and up to spec, still in post ?
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From the BRS website:
"Paul Kehoe was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in May following the departure of Managing Director, Andrew Skipp. Paul, who was previously responsible for the management of Luton and Belfast International joined the airport on 4th June. Prior to Andrew's departure the £17m runway resurfacing project was officially completed - to schedule and on budget. "
"Paul Kehoe was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in May following the departure of Managing Director, Andrew Skipp. Paul, who was previously responsible for the management of Luton and Belfast International joined the airport on 4th June. Prior to Andrew's departure the £17m runway resurfacing project was officially completed - to schedule and on budget. "
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Prior to Andrew's departure the £17m runway resurfacing project was officially completed - to schedule and on budget.
Michael
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And we all remember the interview with Andrew Skipp stridently asserting that the runway was safe and by implication us mere pilots did not know what we were talking about.
His attitude to the safe well being of his customers was utterly reckless.
There were three "offs" before we finally refused to operate from BRS and countless near misses as we skidded to a halt.
Had fatalities occured there would have been a very strong case for manslaughter charges against this arrogant man.
I trust his current and any future employers are made aware of these facts.
His attitude to the safe well being of his customers was utterly reckless.
There were three "offs" before we finally refused to operate from BRS and countless near misses as we skidded to a halt.
Had fatalities occured there would have been a very strong case for manslaughter charges against this arrogant man.
I trust his current and any future employers are made aware of these facts.
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I worked all through that. The airport 'officials' were a disgrace, entirely blaming the airlines, and giving absolutely no updated operational information/performance figures.
No wonder skippy resigned.....it was a shambles!
No wonder skippy resigned.....it was a shambles!
Paxing All Over The World
Tinytim
Except that this is Britain and all the legislation to have charges of Corporate Manslaughter - usually result in acquittal. There seems (I don't have figures) to be no improvement in companies being brought to book for failures - whether it is one death or many.
Had fatalities occurred there would have been a very strong case for manslaughter charges against this arrogant man.
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The corporate maslaughter and corporate homicide act introduced in 2007 set out a very clear offence which was designed to catch arrogant know- it- alls like Skipp.
As to whther or not an offence would stick would depend on the degree of negligence.
I suggest that there was evidence of recklessness on his part (ie a greater default than mere negligence) since he was expressly advised on numerous occasions that we, the operating pilots, had very serious concerns about operating from this runway which he was busy re-laying at night.
Of course, had the unthinkable happened, yours truly might well have been in the frame as well for knowingly operating an aircraft onto a runway that we had reason to believe was unsafe.
As to whther or not an offence would stick would depend on the degree of negligence.
I suggest that there was evidence of recklessness on his part (ie a greater default than mere negligence) since he was expressly advised on numerous occasions that we, the operating pilots, had very serious concerns about operating from this runway which he was busy re-laying at night.
Of course, had the unthinkable happened, yours truly might well have been in the frame as well for knowingly operating an aircraft onto a runway that we had reason to believe was unsafe.
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And we all remember the interview with Andrew Skipp stridently asserting that the runway was safe and by implication us mere pilots did not know what we were talking about.
His attitude to the safe well being of his customers was utterly reckless.
There were three "offs" before we finally refused to operate from BRS and countless near misses as we skidded to a halt.
Had fatalities occured there would have been a very strong case for manslaughter charges against this arrogant man.
I trust his current and any future employers are made aware of these facts.
His attitude to the safe well being of his customers was utterly reckless.
There were three "offs" before we finally refused to operate from BRS and countless near misses as we skidded to a halt.
Had fatalities occured there would have been a very strong case for manslaughter charges against this arrogant man.
I trust his current and any future employers are made aware of these facts.
Excellent post; I can still remember listening to a live interview he gave on BBC Radio Bristol just after an airline (RyanAir maybe?) had bailed out of Bristol until it was sorted.
His arrogance was beyond belief; he simply stated the runway was perfectly safe, and that it was regrettable that some of the budget airlines worked to "different operating parameters" (yep, ad verbatim).
The interviewer even went as far as to say that surely the pilots knew what they were doing and he just repeated the "different operating parameters" line.
The clincher was when he was asked if he would be losing any sleep over the state of the runway and he said no
As you say Tinytim, I hope his present employers are aware of his blase attitude to safety.
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easyJet took initiative.
Excellent post; I can still remember listening to a live interview he gave on BBC Radio Bristol just after an airline (RyanAir maybe?) had bailed out of Bristol until it was sorted.
As I remember, I belive that Ryanair decided to continue to operate from BRS, but I'm ready to be corrected.
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It was a pain for the many passengers being diverted during the Closure of the runway including crew.
However I was under the impression that Mr Skipp was acting on information from the CAA, (not just his team) stating the runway was safe?
Airlines force runway closure at Bristol airport | Business | The Guardian
However I was under the impression that Mr Skipp was acting on information from the CAA, (not just his team) stating the runway was safe?
Airlines force runway closure at Bristol airport | Business | The Guardian
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Risk assessment was flawed as it failed to even consider the scenario that ungrooved parts of the runway were a hazard in wet and windy conditions despite the fact that these conditions could have reasonably been forseen to occur at Bristol in any normal winter (both Belfast City and Luton considered such risks and the contractor was aware of such a risk).
Rumour has it that despite being told about pilot reports re-aquaplaning prior to any of the incidents in the report, a senior airport manager denied that this could occur and that the pilots concerned didn't know what they were talking about. Mind you, it's only a rumour and this is a rumour network.
Rumour has it that despite being told about pilot reports re-aquaplaning prior to any of the incidents in the report, a senior airport manager denied that this could occur and that the pilots concerned didn't know what they were talking about. Mind you, it's only a rumour and this is a rumour network.
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However I was under the impression that Mr Skipp was acting on information from the CAA, (not just his team) stating the runway was safe?
In my experience, the CAA does not confirm that things are safe nor does it endorse work - at best it accepts that the proposals meet the rules. How this is perceived by the other party no doubt varies. What appears to be a weakness in this instance is that the CAA did not challenge the scope of the risk assessment. Nonetheless, the facts appear to remain that even when faced with serious incidents no significant action was taken to assure aircraft safety until the business' finances were affected.
In theory, the airport had to have a safety management system. In theory that SMS had to have been assessed in some way by the CAA and accepted. The CAA should then have gained assurance that the SMS was being applied and was achieving suitable results. Perhaps it is surprising that these points did not receive greater consideration in the investigation. The whole world seems to be going down the SMS route, at least in aviation, if it doesn't work then maybe a big rethink is needed. And yet the UK AAIB barely mentions it.
I don't think the fault lies with Safety Management Systems but rather with management who fail to use the Safety Management System. They have all provided splendid SMS documents to the CAA and thereby obtained the tick in the box.
However, the next problems then frequently rear their heads. Eg. The SMS document sits in a bookshelf unused; the SMS uses high falluting language and concepts which are often a mystery; Managers fail to grasp and/or 'buy into' the philosophy of SMS; Safety Management Systems can be and often are overly bureaucratic; many of the CAA inspectors/regulators have never actually operated a SMS themselves etc etc.
The concept of having a 'system' for managing safety is excellent without question. Its introduction into the world of Airports has been haphazard [although not always]. As spitoon says, it is remarkable that even the AAIB make scant reference to SMS in most of their reports.
Helen49
However, the next problems then frequently rear their heads. Eg. The SMS document sits in a bookshelf unused; the SMS uses high falluting language and concepts which are often a mystery; Managers fail to grasp and/or 'buy into' the philosophy of SMS; Safety Management Systems can be and often are overly bureaucratic; many of the CAA inspectors/regulators have never actually operated a SMS themselves etc etc.
The concept of having a 'system' for managing safety is excellent without question. Its introduction into the world of Airports has been haphazard [although not always]. As spitoon says, it is remarkable that even the AAIB make scant reference to SMS in most of their reports.
Helen49