Colgan
and Cargo
As
with any media covered loss of life, the governmental agencies will always feel
pressure from the public to implement some new law or regulation to prevent
such loss in the future. In the case of Continental Connections Flight 3407
operated by Colgan Air, this proved true yet again.
One
of the biggest changes was in hours required in order to get your Airline
Transport Pilot certification. Now pilots are required to have 1500 hours of
flight experience (Imposed by Congress, not the NTSB recommendations) before
they can be certified. Rules and regulations governing how many hours pilot can
work and required rest cycles have also been implemented. Pilots
must have 10 hours of rest per day and 8 hours of uninterrupted rest. Until the crash,
regional carriers were putting crews in the air with as little as 250 hours of
flight experience for first officers and 8 hours of rest were
required and this included travel to and from the hotel.
While the Regional Airlines were hit with these new
regulations, the Major Airlines were not as effected since many or their pilots
were pulled from the regional’s with well over 1500 hours of flight experience.
Cargo pilot duty time generally still follows the old regulations of 8 hours
daily rest and 24 hours per week and flight experience remains the same.
People have speculated on why the Cargo carriers have been
excluded from these recent rule changes. Personally, I feel that this is
appropriate considering that the rule changes were implemented under pressure
from a misunderstanding public. Since cargo carriers do not carry passengers,
the perception is that the regulations are for the safety of passengers only.
It’s really more of a form of appeasement for the public perception. Airline
pilots have to acquire experience through flight hours. Imposing higher requirements
almost eliminates entry level positions and stretched the current workforce
thin. It boils down to quantity over quality.
If these new rules were implemented in the Cargo Carriers
as well, companies like Kalitta could not be a starting point in my aviation career.
Pilots have used the cargo carriers and regional’s to build hours for their
Airline Transport Pilot Certificates. Instead, I would be forced to continue as
a CFI flying back and forth to the practice areas instead of learning new
airports and planes. When asking anyone in the aviation field if the new
requirements will be effective, the answer will almost always be “No”. Even the
most experienced pilots can still make mistakes (Both Colgan Pilots had over
2000 hours). The real change can be made by competency checks and flight
reviews. Only then can we truly assess the quality of the current pilot force.
References:
I'm a little confused. Why would entry level cargo carriers no longer be an option if the rules were to change? Wouldn't that mean they would have to hire more pilots in order to adjust for the new rules like the airlines did? If anything I think you would have a better chance at getting hired at Kalitta if the rules were to change.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the competency check and flight reviews but I still think fatigue is a major issue. If a person only receives 4 hours of sleep they will not perform at the same level as if they received 8 hours of sleep. Although every person requires a different amount of sleep and some may be fine off 4 or 5 hours, others will not be. I guess it depends on who you talk to but most of the pilots I have talked to or read about seem to think the new regulations are a good thing.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it when you say it’s all about public perception. The FAA was less interested in safety and more interested in politics when they made this policy!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that the 1500 hour requirement wasn't recommended by the NTSB so thank you for teaching me something there you would think that they would have seen an issue and recommended it. I agree with your ideas regarding why the cargo carriers are exempt from the new rules and how the public doesn't always understand how we operate and the news doesn't help too much either.
ReplyDeleteIt is all about public perception. Boxes don't talk, people do. So why bother with carrying the new rules over to cargo operations... Interesting read here.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say that the rules were instituted because of a public misunderstanding, are you referring to the 1500 hour rule or the flight and duty rule? If you are referring to the 1500 hour rule, yes, I agree. The pilots involved in Colgan had plenty of time. But it is the flight and duty the we are addressing here. Both pilots in Colgan showed signs of fatigue. I guess another question would be if the new flight/duty rules address the fatigue issues that they experienced...
ReplyDelete