Всё
← Back to Squawk list
Pilot in Kobe Bryant Crash Violated Federal Standards, Likely Became Disoriented, NTSB Finds
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) – Federal authorities reported Tuesday that the pilot was likely at fault for the January 2020 helicopter crash which killed Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others. The pilot flew the helicopter through the clouds — in an apparent violation of federal standards — and likely became disoriented just before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board found. (losangeles.cbslocal.com) Ещё...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I know a commercial pilot who was fired decades ago for refusing to fly because the weather was below minimums everywhere and the flight was not safe. The guy who took the flight ran out of fuel trying to find a place to land. Fortunately, he was carrying cargo and not people. I was told the story to reinforce the fact that the pilot in command has sole responsibility for the safety of the flight. It is such a tragedy.
No doubt influenced by a Passenger!
I am not a pilot but I absolutely enjoy the knowledge and wisdom of those that are. Thank you for sharing. I did, however, jump out of a bunch of planes Mid flight. Took me awhile to get used
To landing again.
To landing again.
"Wait! You're gonna try to hit this thing down on a strip of concrete? No thanks, buddy! I'll just get out here!"
Human factors psychology research does far too little studying "money" as factor in behavior. When the NTSB lists contributing factors in their reports, do they ever simply list "money"?
Hubris in the form of narcissism and irreverence seems to go hand in hand with wealth and fame. I think it is because of a disconnect with realities of survival. When you think you can buy your way out of any situation... Has anyone done a study of aircraft accident rates involving the 'rich and famous' compared to the rest?
Hubris in the form of narcissism and irreverence seems to go hand in hand with wealth and fame. I think it is because of a disconnect with realities of survival. When you think you can buy your way out of any situation... Has anyone done a study of aircraft accident rates involving the 'rich and famous' compared to the rest?
Federal incident investigator here. (though retired) Also certified in investigating human causal factors.
Certainly money is a potential causal factor. A company takes shortcuts with their safety program because it's less costly. Quality control of raw materials are not properly verified. Manpower is stretched with overtime rather than hiring additional staff. Maintenance is delayed.
Every company says "Safety First!" But that's just not true. I investigated a muti-fatality incident at DuPont in La Porte TX where a freak cold snap in November caused freezing of sections of a plant that had never occurred previously. Wait a week for restart, and the weather warms up. The system thaws. Production resumes. DuPont chose to try to thaw the system during the cold snap, ending up opening lines that contained highly toxic chemicals. Four people died. Several others almost died. My conclusion? Money talks.
Certainly money is a potential causal factor. A company takes shortcuts with their safety program because it's less costly. Quality control of raw materials are not properly verified. Manpower is stretched with overtime rather than hiring additional staff. Maintenance is delayed.
Every company says "Safety First!" But that's just not true. I investigated a muti-fatality incident at DuPont in La Porte TX where a freak cold snap in November caused freezing of sections of a plant that had never occurred previously. Wait a week for restart, and the weather warms up. The system thaws. Production resumes. DuPont chose to try to thaw the system during the cold snap, ending up opening lines that contained highly toxic chemicals. Four people died. Several others almost died. My conclusion? Money talks.
Safety is almost never an absolute - tradeoffs are almost always present. I worked as a urban/suburban local route bus driver (a long time ago) - safety was number one, and drivers were immediately terminated for an avoidable accident (regardless of amount of damage), not just an at fault accident. However, we were under pressure to maintain our schedule at the same time. A driver overly focused on safety while driving in rush hour traffic could end up slipping the schedule so much that the next bus would be immediately behind the cautious driver's bus. Drivers had to try to maintain the schedule but without dropping safety below the level that could result in an avoidable accident.
In these marginal conditions, policies and procedures that mandate safety practices are important; they remove the need to make a "judgement call". The person who follows the policies and procedures is (should be/must believe they are) protected from blame for economic consequences, which can relieve pressures that affect judgement. However, it is critical (and should be emphasized in training) that if conditions are marginal enough that a policy/procedure that eliminates judgement applies, then that policy/procedure should be scrupulously observed as the individual's ability to make judgement calls correctly is probably already significantly compromised.
I've read that there are lots of dead bodies at higher elevations on Mt. Everest because people made judgement calls when policy/procedure already said "no go"/"turn back".
In these marginal conditions, policies and procedures that mandate safety practices are important; they remove the need to make a "judgement call". The person who follows the policies and procedures is (should be/must believe they are) protected from blame for economic consequences, which can relieve pressures that affect judgement. However, it is critical (and should be emphasized in training) that if conditions are marginal enough that a policy/procedure that eliminates judgement applies, then that policy/procedure should be scrupulously observed as the individual's ability to make judgement calls correctly is probably already significantly compromised.
I've read that there are lots of dead bodies at higher elevations on Mt. Everest because people made judgement calls when policy/procedure already said "no go"/"turn back".