system
Solid reporting, Paul. Boeing probably thought it was on the verge of a 100% safety world. We know that will never be true…
Solid reporting, Paul. Boeing probably thought it was on the verge of a 100% safety world. We know that will never be true…
May all those who have perished in skydiving aircraft accidents RIP, including the accident in Hawaii.
As far as increased FAA oversight is concerned, Paul is right, they don’t have the expertise or the resources to do that job. As far as rule enforcement, or lack thereof, the difference between FSDOs is not exclusive to skydiving ops. Even though Washington has issued rule interpretations, the different FSDOs out there run their own district like their own kingdom, each with their own interpretations of the rules. This issue is just as prevalent in Pt135 ops as in other aviation activities. It drives the various director of operations that I have worked for absolutely nuts!
Mr. Schindler’s idea of an endorsement for jump pilots is an interesting one. My response to that is who would sign off on that endorsement? When I started jumping after several years of flying jumpers, I could not find any flight instructor who would be interested in flying jumpers.
Most of the time the insurance companies have higher standards to be eligible for coverage. Problem there is that there is no insurance for piston powered jump planes and most DZs operate with no insurance at all. Coverage for turbine airplanes usually does not cover the act of skydivers leaving the airplane.
Most people have no idea what it takes to get a pt 135 or 121 certificate from the FAA. Creating an operating certificate for pt 105 ops would shut down the industry for at least a year unless that creation was done just like the FAA did for pt91K ops. Even then the cost of a jump would at least triple in this country.
Pilot training for stalls is an issue throughout the industry, just check out the new regs sim schools have to teach now and the changes to ATP training rules.
I wish I had a solution to this issue. I have been lucky enough to have flown for and jumped out of planes that I felt were safe enough. I have also walked away from flying planes that I did not think were safe. The waiver that most jumpers sign to be able to jump does spell out the risks involved. Is this something that is being relied upon too much? Only the legal system will determine that.
Extreme sports can have extreme consequences.
For some reason people no longer are allowed to say “that was stupid; don’t do what they did”.
Amen to that!
I guess we can add “Everything safe in America!” to the now-ubiquitous “Everything free in America!” mantra.
Neither is true, but it’s considered un-American to be a Debbie Downer.
Apparently, Big Government is going to keep us safe from all harm. Along with feeding us, housing us, clothing us, providing health care for us, educating us, providing reparations for some of us, etc.
I’m sure glad I’m on my way out, instead of on my way in.
Kudos to Paul.
-YARS
1 reply
Me, too, Yars. All the folks coming up to follow us are going to rue the day they turned everything over to others.
‘Me, too, Yars. All the folks coming up to follow us are going to rue the day they turned everything over to others.’
Snowflakes in June? Good grief, get over yourselves. So another generation is whining on the way out that life will be crap without their godlike presence. That’s original. But it’s always been that way and always shall be. Each generation seeks freedom through the acquisition and then exercise of power. Which always makes for messy affairs.
I assure you all of the upcoming generations will only remember what the dying ones were unable to see. Oh, and the messes they made from the pursuit of power that now have to be cleaned up.
As far as the blog subject, maybe I should look into skydiving. As a Private pilot I’m not afraid of heights, but am near frozen on the fear of falling. If skydiving can’t help me there, I reckon nothing will. I’ll think about it, maybe.
Condolences to all affected by the recent skydiving accidents.
Dave “Thads” Miller (figured I’d join the nickname parade)
Welcome back Yars, unless you have commenting incognito, I’ve missed your input.
It’s kind of a universal situation that, if you want to avoid some agency telling you how to run your business, you had better police it yourself. We all know the function of the NTSB is to investigate accidents and then make recommendations to prevent future occurrences. They don’t worry about implementing them or who has the budget or manpower to make it work. In the recent past they have done this for balloon operators, helicopter tours, now seaplane sightseeing and skydiving. As Paul says, the higher the body count, the more outcry there is for someone, anyone to DO SOMETHING! Unfortunately, they seem to be putting the cart before the horse in these matters, because the actual investigation takes much longer so simply telling the news media to wait for the final report no longer seems to suffice. They now feel the need to start making recommendations at the post crash news conference and that may not be the best approach. It’s all part of the modern news cycle and the public’s demand for instant reactions to complex issues. Sign of the times.
I’m not a skydiver, so I leave the final analysis to those who are. But it seems that the USPA needs to get out in front of this as best they can with substantive programs that are workable before the FAA gets too far involved. Just a casual observer’s two cents.
Gary:
Once I figured out that the site still is publishing posts without attribution, I started apending my ID to my comments. I think the ones about “equivalent level of safety” were anonomous.
Sooner or later, post attributions will resume - probably retroactively.
Nice to see Larry and Rafa contributing.
Dave: How do you prodounce “Thads?”
Yars-
I’m not calling you fat fingers…but, ot!
Ok, Aye promice to overlooke grammur frum now one.
Long ago in a search for teen esteem or girls, don’t remember which, or if both, our group went backwards with first names. I was Evad, then Evaddeus, to Thaddeus, finally to Thads. Stuck off and on thru life. Same th as thanks.
Always hoped Bob found his reward some other way, he deserved it.
Bingo!
I still have reservations. He is definitely more qualified than Mr. Washington. Problem is with Mr Nolen being an FAA insider, I don’t see anything changing within the FAA if he is made Administrator.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over yet expecting a different outcome!
There’s a guy named John Boccieri, who used to fly fighter planes and work for United Airlines. He got support from a bunch of aviation groups like the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), and The Regional Airline Association (RAA). This shows that Boccieri knows a lot about aviation and cares about safety and updating things. And he is a democrat.
… yeah, if “diversity hire” was the goal, Billy Nolen should’ve been the pick all along. He’s already got the “OJT”, and it would have saved Mr. Washington a ton of embarrassment.
Thw Washington nomination was the quintessential “stall, fall, crash, burn, and die.”
“Rollin’ with Cap’n Nolen”, YGBSM? Get the guy from the GAMA that was at the House Reauthorization Hearing – he knows what he’s doing and can get it done.
Bingo!
Agreed 100%
Hi all,
I posted some comments on 2 other articles on avweb on this subject.
I’m all in on Mr. Nolen to be appointed perm administrator. Look at his background
and qualifications. He worked his way up, he knows aviation. There is a poll on avweb
if the administrator should be a pilot. Overwhemingly we voted yes!
Raf mentioned a Mr Boccieri, while a good pick also, he fies C-130’s and a FO for united, im hoping Mr. Nolen gets the nod. A little older, and his quals in safety
for American, West Jet, Qantas, makes him the ideal pick.
My quals- 10 yrs USAF Atc, 28 yrs FAA Atc. Retired.
I sat in last year at airventure, at theatre in the woods, annual meet the administrator
hosted by jack pelton EAA. Mr Nolen is the real deal.
Please support Mr. Billy nolen for perm FAA administrator.
michael radtke
USAF
retired FAA
AOPA
EAA lifetime
Since Mr. Nolen has been in the “management path” for Flight Standards (both as the associate administrator and as the administrator) things have not been going well. The DPE program is a mess, the administration fumbled the “training in experimental aircraft” problem, FSDOs are becoming increasingly unresponsive, and the people working in Flight Standards are demoralized. GA is getting hurt.
Add to that the recent flurry of ATO problems (the NOTAM system collapsing, the numerous runway problems, etc.), and things don’t look good for the status quo.
The FAA needs a fresh start. Mr. Washington may or may not be the right person, but now is not the time to promote from within. The FAA needs a leader, not a follower.
I agree with you Steve, I never thought I would either.
There have been several recent administrators who were pilots, and none of them really seem to have improved the internal workings of the FAA. Just because they are/were a pilot, doesn’t mean they’re necessarily suited for the job of leading the FAA. I think having A background in aviation (ATC, airport administrator, pilot, whatever) and a proven record of leading is more important than just being a pilot.
1 reply
Hi all,
Rob M, your points are well taken. But alot of the problems are not mr nolens fault.
many people below him should be held responsible.
LODA, the new ICTRA cert database, atc errors, pilot errors. fsdo, short staffing, funding, lack of teeth to due something about the problem, law breaking pilots.
atc training, used to be 50% washout okc. but as in todays society no more scores or grades. everyone passes. a tropy hug and certificate. trust me the last few years of my atc career wore me down. trying to train and supervise the untrainable. unbelievable that some of the trainees we got passed at okc. .
people in todays society getting jobs because of how many boxes they can check.
uniteds aviate pilot program At GYR, mandated, 80% min women or people of color.
whatever happened to the most qualified or by merit?
aviation accidents, pilots found not current, expired medicals, expired annuals, not cert in plane flying. Just seems to be no accountability in todays society.
a 40 yr jr college instructor friend told me recently that if he applied the same standards of 40 yrs ago that 70% of the students would flunk. The latest atc errors
at KBUR, Sarasota, KAUS, just downright scary.
Wheres the supervision?
Michael.
1 reply
Did you not just make Rob M’s point?
None of the problems being recited are the “fault” of Billy Nolen, and he seems to be a valuable member of the management team, but the responsibility for addressing those problems belongs to the Administrator (“Acting” or Congressionally-confirmed).
To reiterate a point I have made many times, a successful FAA Administrator requires no actual experience in aviation. The primary function of the FAA is to provide grants to states and private contractors for aviation services and infrastructure, and to supervise a tiny (relative to its budget) workforce. Managing such an amalgam of disparate (and competing) entities is the very definition of “herding cats”. The job is not one where thousands of hours behind the stick will be at all useful. Every so often, someone will come along with the requisite management skills, who was also involved in some form of aviation, but that’s just gravy, like being photogenic, well-spoken, and thick-skinned.
Who thinks Dale Earnhart Jr. would make a good FHA administrator?
1 reply
Agree 100%
hi all,
thanks chip D for your perspective. but as someone who spent 38 yrs on the inside,
i.e. atc, it was great to have someone who had some aviation experience.
Mr washington, one yr aviation office at denver as a ceo. previous office LA transportation, now embroiled in past corruption and scandal.
no thanks, i’ll pass on him.
as to the atc gaffes, this can only be stopped by direct supervision. too many young newbies. more will happen until a castrophe. the only way is to have enough supervisors in the twr cab or radar room, directly listening to and monitoring the action. the faa cannot rely on newbies, probably working combined positions, and also acting as
CiC- controller in charge
this is not just related to aviation.
look at the latest train derailments. 2 people working on a 137car freight train. my god , how about someone in the very back watching ahead ?
again, ive met billy nolen. hes smart, well spoken, knowledgeable, he talked about
mosiac, staffing & covid at the cert branch in okc, 100LL, etc.
jack pelton was an excellent host and asked good questions.
his most greatest qualifications are his safety related jobs. especially right now!
yes also as others, i didnt think id ever agree with ted cruz, but hes got this one correct!
please consider Mr. Billy Nolan as permanent FAA administrator.
respectfully,
michael.
You are absolutely right. Careless error for which I apologize. I’ll fix it.
??
Did anyone ever consider that the FAA is not fixable no matter who heads it up? It seems pretty clear to me.
This gentleman makes perfect sense for this position and he checks the progressives boxes. But because he has the backing of Cruz it will never happen.
hi all,
john M,
with the make up of the house and senate now, it will be a bi partisan vote
and i think that Mr . Nolen will get the nod.
my fingers are crossed. He’ got lots to do, but his drive and enthusiam to do so
will set an example to the faa workforce.
respectfully,
michael.
