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Man vs Wire

George’s Point of View

As opposed to Boeing, where the pilot always has the upper hand over the machine, the basic tenet of Airbus philosophy is machine knows best. That must be the case, because when all else fails, here comes the Airbus autopilot and the pilot can’t do anything. We’ve seen this bite pilots in the *** in a number of circumstances, but the first one that comes to mind, for me, is the big TAM crash in Sao Paulo. Not being a pilot, I’ve had to ask airbus pilots about this, and believe me, I’ve heard some horror stories that would curl your hair. Maybe that’s what is at the root of my negativity toward the Airbus. The other would be their tendency to crash and kill a lot of people at one time.

Anyway, Airbus recently started production of the A320 series in China. They just did a maiden flight on the first plane. I like China very much but I don’t know about getting on China-made planes. It is bad enough that they are Airbus.

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    There were 120 aboard. An alternative flight was provided.

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    S7 Emergency Landing

    What: S7 Airlines Airbus A319-114 en route from Domodedovo
    Where: Novokuznetsk-Spichenkovo Airport, Russia
    When: Nov 7 2012
    Who: between 98 and 112 aboard
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    JetBlue Flight Suffers Bird Strike Near Salt Lake City International Airport

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    Air Maintenance in Crisis

    George’s Point of View

    Oversight is one of those words in the English language that bothers me because it means the opposite of itself.

    An oversight is something that was missed. Something that is over-looked is something that was not seen. That smudge on my windshield after a car wash–that is an oversight. The Christmas bicycle that came without it’s assembly manual–that is an oversight.

    Oversight means the unintentional failure to notice. It’s an “oops.”

    But–oversight also means the act of supervision. It is frequently mentioned in terms of aircraft; the FAA and the NTSB are responsible for Aviation oversight. But when I read that, I read two completely opposite sentences. The FAA and the NTSB are responsible for supervising aviation. AND the FAA and the NTSB are responsible for what they missed.

    When I read the usage of “oversight” (meaning supervision) I am waiting for the other shoe. What have they overlooked (missed) now? What’s the oversight (supervisor) oversight (missed)?

    And now I see the oversight (missed) is the licensing of aircraft mechanics.

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    The crisis comes down to faulty testing by FAA examiners who profit from testing in “diploma mills.” Apparently the FAA does not keep employment histories on the mechanics they license. There have even been programs where testing was delayed; and when the program was discontinued, the untested mechanics kept working.

    So where do we look when there’s an accident like the Indonesian Air Force Lockheed L-100-30(P) Hercules whose wing fell off in flight on May 20th 2009? (Granted that this is NOT a US plane–but there are US incidents. This is just a recent one.) Did the pilot cause that wing to fall off? Of course not. The pilot climbed into that plane in good faith, with complete trust in the mechanics whose job it is to keep the plane in safe running order. The pilot relies on the integrity of the mechanics to maintain the integrity of the plane. As do we all.

    Fortunately, integrity is a word in the English language that always means what it means:
    The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of being whole and undivided; the condition of being unified, unimpaired, sound in construction : the structural integrity; lack of corruption.

    Is it too much to ask of our FAA to require integrity in our mechanics and the planes they maintain? Integrity is not an oversight; but lack of integrity in oversight is.

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    Double double birdstrike birdstrike


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
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    Where: Kansas City
    When: Nov 24 2009
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    Airbus Hydraulics Failure in Canada


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Michael Carter
    What: Air Canada Airbus A320-200 en route from Toronto,ON to Winnipeg,MB
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    When: May 3rd 2009
    Who: 148 people on board
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    George’s Point of View

    It’s difficult to argue with a safe landing.

    Though it is impossible from our perspective to say whether this dangerous situation occurred due to maintenance failure or regular wear and tear, the Air Canada flight crew is to be commended for successfully landing without any injuries, and handling the situation in such a practical manner.

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