As a Canadian licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME),
aviation has been my life; from twelve years in the Royal Air Force (RAF), to
being an apprentice in Canada after I emigrated from England, to my time as a
licenced AME.
In recent times we have been plagued by tragic incidents in
aviation; very tragic indeed. In light of
this, I felt compelled to address what has transpired in the last seven days.
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Flight 9525 Germanwings ~ Airbus A-320
Passengers 144
Crew 6
TOTAL 150 all killed
RESULT more broken hearts than anyone
could
possibly imagine
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Flight 624 Air Canada ~ Airbus A-320
Passengers 133
Crew 5
TOTAL 138 all walked away alive
RESULT class action lawsuit to sue for ‘physical
and psychological harm’
They walked away! Perspective? I’m not so sure.
The following is a clip from an
article (Gulliver Business Travel) in The Economist...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Britta Englisch, who flew with the airline the day after the
crash, posted her experience on Facebook (translated from German):
“Yesterday
morning at 8:40am, I got onto a Germanwings flight from Hamburg to Cologne with
mixed feelings. But then the captain not only welcomed each passenger
separately, he also made a short speech before take-off. Not from the cockpit,
he was standing in the cabin.
He spoke about how the
accident touched him and the whole crew. About how queasy the crew feels, but
that everybody from the crew is voluntarily here. And about his family, and
that the crew have a family, and that he is going to do everything to be with
his family again tonight. It was completely silent. And then everybody
applauded. I want to thank this pilot. He understood what everybody was
thinking. And he managed to give me, at least, a good feeling for this flight.”
The pilot, Frank Woiton, also volunteered to operate the
Barcelona to Düsseldorf route the day after it ended in disaster.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am sure that his late colleague, Captain Patrick
Sondenheimer from flight 9525, would have been proud of Captain Frank Woiton’s
approach to the passengers.
Just wishing I could say the same for the passengers of
flight 624 who have chosen to sue Air Canada for their physical and
psychological harm. Some of these
passengers are, apparently, “seeking answers and justice”.
I have one answer for them; they walked away. If you want more answers and justice, perhaps
you can start by asking the bereaved relatives of flight 9525.
And that’s why I’m angry.
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