Читать книгу Aftermath - Robert J.D. Firth - Страница 4

I flew commercial airliners for 42 years, logging over 22,000 hours. During that time, I’ve trained literally, hundreds of pilots, both in actual aircraft and simulators. I’ve been an IP (Instructor Pilot) like Captain Van Zanten, for many of those years and have made it a point to study the mind-set of airline pilots.

I have flown over a hundred different aircraft and I’m rated and instructed in the following aircraft;

•DC-3

•CV-440, Convair 240, 340, 440

•DC-6, 7

•Boeing 707

•Boeing 727

•L-188 Lockheed Electra

•Astra Jet

In my view, almost all aviation accidents are caused by inadequate training, poor maintenance or mechanical failure. The majority however are caused by human error, by the pilot or by the controller. Of course, weather plays a role but that’s what we train for- how to survive in bad weather and how to avoid it.

Accidents in aircraft usually result in high loss of life. These aluminum tubes, moving at high rates of speed are relatively fragile compared to ‘cumulo-granite’ (rocks in clouds) and good old terra firma.

Most of us are familiar with the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board). These are the guys that go to any accident site involving American aircraft immediately on notice. In Tenerife, on March 27, 1977, two 747’s collided on the runway. The NTSB team arrived the very next day. Their job is to study the evidence and determine the probable cause. Once their investigation is complete, they publish their findings in what they call a “Blue Book.”

There’s a string of coincidences involved in this tragedy that, one by one, lead the two aircraft, like lambs to slaughter into a no-win situation wherein death awaits them. Earnest Ghan, wrote a flying book called Fate Is The Hunter., in the case of Tenerife, it seems to me that death was indeed the hunter.

We will discuss this disturbing occurrence and focus our attention on what happened after the accident- the Aftermath.

Robert J. Firth