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.