Sir, - I write with reference to a report by Jim Cusack published in your edition of August 1st on the Garda Defender aircraft. In aviation, there is an area of study devoted to human factors in accidents, known as crew resource management (CRM). This subject examines the complex behavioural and personality traits and patterns that we humans exhibit, both in normal activity and, more importantly, in emergency situations. It is a compelling subject. Its incorporation into worldwide pilot training ground academic syllabuses, civil and military, has already made a positive impact on flight safety by reducing accident rates.
One of the key issues in CRM is the avoidance of misusing the term "pilot error". Accidents happen as a result of a chain of events catastrophically occurring in sequence. The breaking of this chain either stops the accident, or may reduce its seriousness. The human element in that chain, the pilot, is but one link.
In the case of the Tramore Dauphin crash of 1999 to which Mr Cusack refers, the Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Public Enterprise produced an exhaustive report detailing the chain of events that led to the loss of four lives. It is essential to read the entire report, not just extracts, and observe the chain.
Search and rescue (SAR) helicopters, especially those which operate at night, perform a task not fully appreciated or understood by fellow aviators, let alone the general public. SAR crews frequently carry out rescue missions at night, at maximum range, in appalling weather, sometimes over mountainous seas, when they are themselves tired. They may have been wakened from their sleep and told that other people's lives depend on the success or failure of their actions. There are other dynamics in a rescue such as language barriers, weather changes, systems failures on board the ship in distress, systems failures on the helicopter itself; the list is endless.
Where non-rescue pilots avoid putting any links in place that could lead to an accident, SAR helicopter crews operate on occasions with such links in place, especially on night missions. Hence the term, "operating on the edge". Why else do you think they wear layers of thermal suits under dry diving suits, as well as carrying emergency oxygen diving cylinders? In case of ditching, that's why. (Annual emergency underwater training is compulsory for Air Corps and Irish Coast Guard SAR helicopter crews.)
If Mr Cusack wishes to conclude from the evidence to hand that the Waterford crash was a result of pilot error, he is entitled to his opinion. However, he should make it clear in his articles that it is his opinion, and is not based on the findings of the AAIU investigation. Nor is it scientific or reported fact. And it is not an opinion I share. - Yours, etc.,
David Courtney, Former Chief Pilot, Shannon Helicopter Rescue, Irish Coast Guard, Ennis, Co Clare.