Urges Standards For All Airline Pilots
ALPA President, Capt. Lee Moak, issued the following statement
in response to the NTSB meeting last week regarding the 2009 Empire
Airlines Flight 8284 accident at Lubbock, Texas.
“The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, commends
the National Transportation Safety Board for its work to enhance
aviation safety with a thorough review of the Empire Airlines
accident. In its meeting, the Board discussed flight crew fatigue,
flight operations in icing conditions, and the need to enhance crew
resource management training for all airline pilots. Unfortunately,
these safety concerns, which ALPA has pressed to address for
decades, persist in our industry today, even in this period of
remarkably safe airline operations.
“The Board reported that the flight, conducted under 14
CFR 121 supplemental rules, was operated in the very early hours of
the morning, and the crew experienced a level of fatigue that
likely contributed to the accident. For decades, ALPA has called
for ‘One Level of Safety’ and sought standardized,
science-based flight- and duty-time limits and minimum rest
requirements that apply to all airline operations, regardless of
whether the pilots fly cargo, military equipment and troops, or
commercial passengers. The Board’s discussion pointed to the
particular threat posed by operations during times of
‘circadian low’—overnight flights when pilots are
especially vulnerable to fatigue.
“In addition, the Board drew attention to the icing
conditions in which the Empire Airlines flight was operating, which
included ‘supercooled large droplets’ that can
significantly degrade aircraft performance. In the nearly 20 years
since the tragic accident near Roselawn, Indiana, that was linked
to this type of icing, the weather phenomenon has been studied
extensively, but our industry has only recently begun taking
positive steps to account for its effect on aircraft
performance.
“Much more needs to be done to address the hazards posed
by in-flight icing conditions, and the NTSB echoed many of
ALPA’s long-standing priorities such as avoiding flight in
supercooled-large-droplet-icing conditions unless
manufacturers’ testing has concluded it can be done safely.
Other ALPA priorities include enhanced training for pilots,
dispatchers, and flight followers, and greater fidelity in flight
simulator replication of icing conditions.
“The NTSB also highlighted the need for airline captains
to be required to receive specific training in leadership skills as
they apply to effective crew resource management.
“We owe it to all who were affected by this accident to
act on these opportunities to advance safety. ALPA particularly
commends the recognition by the Board that all airlines, regardless
of the size of the aircraft, the size of the airline, or the nature
of the payload, must be operated to a single high safety
standard.”
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