One of the requirements of an air operator is to have a plan in place to cover incidents. It is all too easy to sit down, consider who will do what, write up a manual with a few procedures, place it on a shelf hoping it will never be used and to tell the regulator that you have a plan in place. It is also very easy to forget to revisit that original plan. It is too far down the priority list. But airlines change, management structures and personnel change, and the greatest vulnerability comes when you go for a long period without any form of major incident. What I'm about to relate is the story of an accident we had in 1999. It was our first accident for 33 years; fortunately, nobody was killed, although the aircraft was a total writeoff. We had started to look closely at our procedures about two years previously, and we were to an extent prepared. The catalyst for our preparation was a presentation to our board of directors by another U.K. operator who shared with us the experience of their incident, which again fortunately ended without fatalities. But even when encouragement comes from the top, there are still certain sections of an airline community who do not consider a major incident will be their problem.
展开▼
