The Garuda air crash in Indonesia
Regular readers of my blog may be aware that I have a Commercial Pilots License and keep a keen interest in air safety. If you have no experience in aviation besides sitting in a passenger seat you may be surprised that a fully operational large jet can run off the end of a long runway in perfect weather. It's not as rare as you may think. At the end of the day it all comes down to the training of the pilots up front in the cockpit.
When I was running my aviation business from Jandakot Airport, many large asian airlines operated their training out of there. I was always amazed that within a short period they were able to train pilots from zero to co-pilot of a large jet. Sure they may have accumulated enough flying hours and passed their exams.... however "P" plate drivers also accumulate driving hours and pass their exams. My point is experience. We all know that when we get our drivers license we think that we are a bloody fantastic driver.. we must be because we have a license don't we? If you have been driving for a few years and are honest with yourself you know that you are a much better driver than you were when you got your license.
The same thing applies with a pilots license. I thought I was crash hot when I got my Commercial License back in 1987. I look back now and think of all the stupid decisions I made up in the air with passengers lives in my hands and somehow survived and didn't kill anyone else. The co-pilot of the Garuda crash only had 2ooo flying experience and he was sitting in the right hand seat of a Boeing 737-400!! My point is that when the shit hits the fan you want someone up front who has the experience to handle the situation and I really don't think that many countries such as Indonesia, China, Russia etc have the appropriate regulatory bodies in place to make sure that the standard of pilots and aircraft maintenance are high enough. Many years ago I decide I wouldn't fly on any domestic airline in the above countries and although I have flown internationally with Garuda in the past, I won't be again.
When I was running my aviation business from Jandakot Airport, many large asian airlines operated their training out of there. I was always amazed that within a short period they were able to train pilots from zero to co-pilot of a large jet. Sure they may have accumulated enough flying hours and passed their exams.... however "P" plate drivers also accumulate driving hours and pass their exams. My point is experience. We all know that when we get our drivers license we think that we are a bloody fantastic driver.. we must be because we have a license don't we? If you have been driving for a few years and are honest with yourself you know that you are a much better driver than you were when you got your license.
The same thing applies with a pilots license. I thought I was crash hot when I got my Commercial License back in 1987. I look back now and think of all the stupid decisions I made up in the air with passengers lives in my hands and somehow survived and didn't kill anyone else. The co-pilot of the Garuda crash only had 2ooo flying experience and he was sitting in the right hand seat of a Boeing 737-400!! My point is that when the shit hits the fan you want someone up front who has the experience to handle the situation and I really don't think that many countries such as Indonesia, China, Russia etc have the appropriate regulatory bodies in place to make sure that the standard of pilots and aircraft maintenance are high enough. Many years ago I decide I wouldn't fly on any domestic airline in the above countries and although I have flown internationally with Garuda in the past, I won't be again.
posted by Paul at 8:11 PM
0 comments
