What Will It Take For This Industry To Develop A Conscience Of Its Own?

Aero-News Commentary/Analysis By ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

Thomas Paine

His name was Morris... and he lived his life in humble service to those around him. Even when in his 70s, this simple small-town General Practitioner didn't think twice when a call came from the local fire department at an ungodly late hour requesting his help at the scene of an accident near his home. The 72 year old country Doctor, a beloved fixture in a community he had served quietly for decades, still made the occasional house call, and dragged his weary bones out of bed to journey to the site of an accident, There; a young lady, barely old enough to drive, had flipped her car over an embankment and was in the process of getting extricated from the mud, the blood and the glass that surrounded her accident scene. Morris worked his way down, actually entered the car to render expert medical assistance, and helped direct the ambulance crew as they removed the stricken girl. Once finally extricated from the mess, he saw her safely over to nearby Highland Hospital, started her on a course of treatment, got her stabilized and off to a sound sleep, before updating her records... Tired, he headed back to bed in the very wee hours of the morning, where sometime later, he passed away quietly, peacefully, in his sleep.

His full name was Dr. Morris Schwartz... and I am his Grandson.

I have learned so much from the quiet heroism and courage he displayed on a daily basis that his life has become the cornerstone for mine... and while it took me years to learn the lessons now fully ensconced in my noggin and wrapped so very tightly around my soul, his dedicated service to the people and community he loved, honestly and without fail, serve as the mission statement for how I try to live mine. Where he saw something wrong, he tried to fix it and even during service in the Second World War, he never shied away from doing what he thought to be right and proper... and while our career paths were widely divergent, I am working hard to make sure that I live my life with the same values he installed in that crazy grandson of his that loved to fly more than anything else in his life.

I claim none of the calm gentle courage he exhibited throughout his life, I am not a hero and have had few moments in my life that I feel might be called heroic... but I know that my life has been greatly enriched by the guidance of his life, and that of a few other men who have provided me with inspiration and a foundation for the soul of my work. I am a simple human being, as flawed as any man (and maybe more than most... its up to God to decide that), but I am inspired by the calm dependable heroism of my 'Grandpa' as well as the influence of dear friends like Bob Hoover, Jim Moser, Paul Poberezny, Peter Diamandis, Gregg Maryniak, Alan Klapmeier, Phil Boyer, and so many others. I find myself empowered, every day, to give something back, of value, to the world that I love -- no matter how difficult or controversial it might be.

The Schwartz family... in 1944.

And that starts with an aged adage -- 'Primum Non Nocere' First, Do No Harm... which I interpret (as a journalist) to start with, "Write Only The Truth. Even When it Hurts."

So... I live my life with the mandate to "Do The Wright Thing" and that means that when I see something wrong or in need of correction, investigation or scrutiny, that I can not, dare not, turn away from it. But... I have found this to be a lonely and difficult pursuit, with little visible support, understanding or encouragement -- not that it needs any of that for validation. My life would be so much simpler if I could learn to keep my big mouth shut, but about the time I get most discouraged, about the time that what little courage I possess flees my consciousness, I get a letter or email (and mind you, I've gotten THOUSANDS like this, over the years -- no kidding) that starts out something like... "Dear Jim... you're the only guy I know that might listen to my problem... and I know of no one else to whom I might turn..." And no matter how painful it might someday become or how much flak I might take on, I simply can not give in to the institutional cowardice that pervades so much of the aviation world and refuse to 'Do The Wright Thing.'

So; we pursue the truth, take a LOT of flak for it, at times, and pay an occasionally high price for doing nothing more than refusing to lie or ignore the perils that might befall YOU. 

But... there is so much misdirection and falsehood pervading the aviation world right now that I fear, in no uncertain terms, for its future. Sometimes it's subtle... like those who turn their backs on what they know of be wrong for fear of "bad press" or "giving the wrong impression" -- or worse, those who deliberately deceive others for their own gain... and to the detriment of those around them.

I've spent decades working the stories others wouldn't touch, or only whispered about when they thought that only a few were in earshot -- and I've paid a heck of a price for it. And for as many times as I've been told that we were being alarmist, or when our opponents accused us of being wrong (without evidence to support such), each and every time we've proven right -- both in terms of the veracity of our statements as well as for our concerns about the issues in question. When we had concerns that people were being cheated and said so, that turned out to be true. When we had concerns that hazards existed, that turned out to be true. When we thought that a problem was serious that people might be hurt or even die, we were horrifically proven to be right... and no matter what, I hate that we were.

We took on so many skirmishes... liars, cheaters, thieves, unsafe companies, unsafe products and even the God almighty FAA (especially in the Bob Hoover case)... we got harassed, we were threatened, we were assaulted, we were even banned from one misguided event (the infamous Sun 'n Fun debacle) after proving a number of safety issues were more than a concern as our warnings turned to tragic "I Told You So's" following Deaths and Accidents that we predicted -- and COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. And for as many times as were attacked, or told we were wrong, or told we were making too much out of a 'minor' thing; we've been vindicated every single damned time. Every one.

Sadly enough; for all of our victories, I have hundreds of stories from throughout a few decades of service to the aviation world, of people who have been scared away from this business, or cheated so badly that they can not pursue their dreams of flight, or become so disillusioned that they are unwilling to hazard further participation in aviation -- and far worse, those who have been hurt so bad they can no longer fly, as well as a dizzying, sickening, gut-wrenching list of flyers and friends who have died because they trusted the wrong plane, the wrong company and the wrong people. With all that, with all the stories we've written and shown to be the truth, you'd think that we'd have no problem keeping that mission going without harassment, interference, derision or threats.

And yet... here we are again.

Just this year, we had to deal with some fairly nasty threats over our stories on the FlightPrep patent fiasco, and recent stories about the dangerous details inherent in the so-called Ultimate Air Race Challenge has resulted in yet another round of threats and harassment -- although, this time, we had help from the most unlikely of sources... one courageous blogger who smelled trouble, as well as the FAA -- who fully understood that the what UARC was promising was blatantly dangerous and could not be allowed (which left me in the weird position of having to defend the FAA after folks associated/allied with UARC tried to blame the Feds for their failures... talk about a Twilight Zone moment).

I want to you to think of something, though. The cads of the UARC effort lied and distorted the truth in order to put one over on the FAA, the airshow organizers, the local media and the public. We exposed several of the UARC players for what they were... liars, felons, cheats, under-qualified, unprofessional, and just plain dangerous. In an effort to get the FAA and others to agree to their dangerous plan to turn their version of air-racing into an aerial gladiator sport, they used all kinds of pressure -- lying to the media, threats of legal action (and worse), false claims of expertise and accomplishments that simply did not exist, bizarre propaganda, obfuscation, misdirection, appeals to myopic and uninformed lawmakers and public officials, and when all that didn't work directly, they got others to do some of their dirty work for them... with several of the Camarillo airshow officials attacking the FAA for their caution, while trying to claim that the UARC races would be as safe as Reno's, and using local media to wage a war of disinformation. Let me remind you, the modus operandi for this original racing plan was a ripoff of the Red Bull style low-level races with ground based 'gateways' and a complex course between them... with the added complication of allowing MULTIPLE planes to vie for passage through the gateways at the same time. It was an accident waiting to happen... and if it had been allowed to happen, as planned, I strongly feel that the probability of an accident, and the hazards to the public in attendance at the show, would have been horrifically high.

Now, imagine this... nightmare.

Imagine that the con-men who tried to railroad this past the FAA had been successful. Just imagine that these so-called 'seven best pilots in the world' (who weren't, by any stretch of the imagination) managed to weasel their way into getting a 'go-ahead' to pull this race off at the Camarillo airport and that the worst case scenario occurred (a far more ponderous possibility than you might imagine when you see ALL the facts laid out)... Just imagine that an accident resulting in injury to the pilots -- and to the spectators who would have been there to watch the event, happened. Imagine what would have transpired under the hue and cry of the resultant media onslaught, the intense examination, the incredible microscopically detailed focus that would have been brought on by the media, as well as public officials... and then imagine all the 'UGLY' details that would soon be coming to light -- a race designed by a felon with multiple convictions and a history of cons, yet another with FAA violations, all the easily documented lies and falsehoods, a team that didn't even meet their OWN specifications, their vicious attacks on their critics, the incredible hazards undertaken by unqualified pilots who had not even practiced a single full-on race, the contempt the racing plan faced from folks with REAL Air-Racing credentials... and so much more... and know this... Aviation would have been crucified as a result -- as well as permanently and catastrophically damaged -- possibly beyond repair -- and yet only the FAA, a California blogger (www.aviationcriminal.com) with a conscience, and Aero-News (as usual) stood up to this and refused to take the heat off until the dangers passed -- and damned if we didn't all take a tremendous amount of heat over it -- while the threats, derision, and harassment have not stopped.

Yes, as bad as recent/real events have been... they could have been FAR worse.

The aviation world may be able to survive the tragic accident that DID take place just over a week ago... and if we do, it will only be because the real tragedy that befell Jimmy Leeward and his friends and fans at Reno 2011, differed markedly with the aforementioned worst case scenario, by occurring with one of the best pilots in the world at the stick (without question), at an event with solid professional credentials, records, and procedures, and where all concerned banded together in seconds to act as a cohesive, professional, caring and devoted community to support the wounded, mourn the dead, and show the world that when true ACCIDENTS happen to flyers, that there is a community to stand with them... with love and care and ethics and courage. Yes, we're in for tough times because of a tragic accident, but we can and should survive it, because Reno was just that -- an accident -- and because this community WILL band together and do its utmost to see that an accident like this shouldn't happen again.

Reno 2011 shows THE WORLD what happens when the best of us (in the aviation world) are faced with unspeakable and unforeseen tragedy... God help us if such a horror befalls this community when those who are not remotely our best (like the clowns of UARC) pull one over on everyone and foist a hazard on us that should never have been allowed to exist.

Think about this... please... because if you're not terrified, you're not paying attention.

Look, I'm not here to whine about how bad it is to be one of the few aero-journalistic entities (often the only one) to take on the tough stories... though I gotta tell you, its getting REALLY old hereabouts trying to do the right thing and getting so little support for it.

Our problem is NOT just about the flak we take, but principally about the interference that results in what we try to do to make things right, and the fear that the lack of support and/or interference will allow one of these dangers to slip through the cracks and hurt us all.

Lead, follow or get out of the way... We choose to lead  -- but it sure is lonely out here.

Every time (it seems) we take the lead on a serious issue or project, we catch hell for it. We have yet another mess that we're trying to resolve -- where a big company with lots of money (and an affiliated group led by those with no guts or sense of ethics) seeks to shut us up in regards to the stories we have published about issues that we believe are important to the survival of the GA community... we found some serious problems -- with the company making false statements, acting in an ethically 'challenged' way (business-wise), breaking contracts, treating customers and depositors in a less than forthright way, hurting those around them (financially), and they seemed to have NO problem at all with making public threats against their critics and attempting to harm them in a number of venues -- even bragging about it in front of video cameras (not just deplorable, but stupid, to boot)... this entity has shown itself to be so arrogant that it seems that they think that the rules of proper ethical conduct apparently are meant for others. So... we have yet another story to tell... and as much as we hate to get involved in other one of these dogfights, we feel this may be one of the most important ones yet. Because, when it all comes down to the barest of details, aviation lives or dies based on the realities of the community and industry we work and fly in... and to those who seek to harm it, we're simply not going to stand idly by and say nothing.

I just can't.

Simply put; its time for the GA world to face up to the fact that too many entities in this business don't act in a proper, ethical or even legal manner... and that as long as the aviation world and its so-called notable persons and organizations turn a blind eye to it, flyers will be driven away by the fallout from the treachery, harm and death that are allowed to occur without the proper oversight. We need to look out for each other. We need to be concerned about how we work with each other. We need to be honest with each other... and when those things aren't happening, we need to speak up, as a united industry... or watch our world wither away, dying the death of a thousand cuts, as people are driven away by the dishonesty and disillusionment that is still too pervasive for this industry to bear.

So... in the next few days, we'll have another deplorable story to tell of yet another fight we've waded into... and as soon as we finish a few details with the cops, the FBI, the FAA, TSA and our own legal folks, we're finally going to tell it. And, God Help Us, we're sure it won't be the last of them...

While it admittedly hurts us to pursue the truth, we need you to understand the high price that we're paying for this fight so that you know how seriously we take our responsibilities to you... and why one of the major things we need to change about this industry is a culture that turns its back on far too many wrongs for this community to have any hope of long-term survival... Stay tuned.

In the meantime, until I can no longer do so, I will fight for the community I care about... you and the aviation world. I am my Grandfather's Grandson, after all.

FMI: Comments/Criticism For ANN???, www.faa.gov, www.uarc.tv