I recently attended the HAI Safety Symposium at the HeliExpo in Anaheim. The main presentation (from the NTSB) discussed the now infamous flyNYON accident in New York City, where 5 passengers were killed following a successful autorotation to the East River. Particularly interesting to me were the details around the safety culture and operational control issues with this “aerial photography” flight. operated by Liberty Helicopters. Investigators found a troubling safety culture and blurred lines of operational control. They cited reports of ineffective safety management as well as instances of the CEO of flyNYON (the customer) chastising Liberty pilots directly for raising safety concerns. It is not difficult to see how failures in training and maintenance can set the stage for an accident. So many accidents are quickly followed by a chorus of people who claim to have “seen it coming”. But, what about failures in management and safety culture? How do we prevent these accidents?
There were a few commenters at the symposium who wanted to know why the FAA hasn’t done more to prevent these types of accidents from happening. It may not come as a surprise to know that the FAA has, since its inception in 1956, been faced with the challenge of supporting both safe operations and air commerce. One of the FAA inspectors on the panel attempted to explain the FAA’s need to be fair to all operators through public comment periods and by conducting cost-benefit analysis before issuing a new rule. He also explained the tendency for industry to simply build a taller ladder whenever a new wall is erected by regulators. It MAY come as a surprise to know that the flyNYON/Liberty operation had recently been visited by FAA inspectors and, although there were concerns raised, the operation was not determined to be out of compliance. Further, following the accident, there were no enforcement actions issued. This operation was totally in compliance with current regulations and guidance. So, if Liberty was technically legal and in compliance, what is everyone so upset about?
One attendee at the symposium questioned what could be done to address the human factors, such as operational pressure placed on flight operations by CEOs, customers, and the “almighty dollar”. He waived a dollar bill in the air and suggested that the root cause of these situations is the need for operators to turn a bigger profit. As long as some operators are willing to cut corners to turn higher profits at lower cost, operators willing to do the right thing will continue to struggle to stay afloat.
So, if the FAA does not adopt the NTSB’s recommendations out of concern for the financial health of air commerce and the inability to guess the design of industry’s next ladder, how do we apply lessons learned to avoid repeating history? And, if unscrupulous operators simply blow off these suggestions because they are not required by regulation, how will we ever get people to change to a safer way of doing business?
The answer to this dilemma may indeed need to come from the root of the very problem itself. Perhaps the market, and the almighty dollar can set the industry in the right direction.
Let’s support non-regulatory industry best practices as suggested by entities like ARG/US, IS-BAO, and the soon to be created HAI Safety accreditation program. Let’s not wait for the FAA to mandate SMS participation for part 135 operations. Let’s stop doing things simply because they’re “technically” not in violation of the regulations. Let’s let our customers decide to support safer operations, not taller ladders.
Let’s start doing the right thing even though no one is looking…or we can just wait for the next accident when suddenly EVERYONE will be looking…