Aviation could put up a good argument that it is the most safety-conscious industry in the world, except maybe for explosives manufacturing. But for all the training, reviews, regulations and education, the same old sins still stand out from the safety statistics. It’s not like pilots are finding new ways to transgress; the old ways seem to do just fine.
And that points at a people problem. Things aren’t breaking down or failing; pilots are largely contributing to their own safety woes through laziness, a poor attitude or a simple lack of understanding what is and isn’t safe practice.
Andreas Marcelja, CASA Executive Manager Stakeholder Engagement, told Australian Flying it was often due to a history of successful transgression.
“Almost all the accidents we see come back to decision-making and risk-taking and peoples’ attitudes,” he says. “What we often find behind that is normalisation of deviation: continual, deliberate instances where you take a risk that you know you shouldn’t.
“It might only be very small, but it’s dangerous when you’re successful at it. It continues to reinforce that if you get away with it safely, you’ll do it again, and again and again until it becomes the norm.
“But eventually, there will come a time when you don’t away with it.”
So, what are these oft-repeated cardinal sins that haunt general aviation’s safety record? We threw that question to CASA, who consulted with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Airservices Australia and the Bureau of Metrology
