Air Marshal's Perspective

Two factors that need consideration before deciding to ring the alarm bell are AVOIDABILITY and CREW ACCOUNTABILITY. Situation is SERIOUS if the trend shows that these are by and large repetitive and avoidable, caused because the lessons learnt from previous experiences have not being followed in letter and spirit. Second factor is related to the crew (Air or Ground) involved. Situation demands an IMMEDIATE AND DRASTIC action if large number of crew involved are the ones who are responsible for ensuring safe conduct of operations in their area of jurisdiction.

Need For Cultural Change

Modern equipment, platform, weapons and systems are very COSTLY. As a growing service their loss is unaffordable. Not only due to heavy cost and long time period incurred on their procurement but also due to loss of capability it causes. The product support, spares and repair schemes are also expensive and time consuming.

ACCOUNTABILITY is another factor to be kept in mind. As a part of responsible service it is every air warrior’s moral duty to be accountable for the equipment procured and operated. Since exchequer money is involved it becomes incumbent upon all uniformed personnel to look after the safety of the equipment.

TRANSPARENCY has increased over the years and the media glare has increased in terms of speed and wide coverage on written, electronic and social media. This causes negative publicity for the service and to a large extent a shadow is cast on the otherwise good work done by it.

Cultural Change in Our Approach Towards Safety

There is a need to bring in a cultural change in the way one looks at safety in our day to day working. There is a requirement to give a fresh impetus to the safety culture. Time has come to maybe launch a campaign for this purpose.

Ingrainment. Safety culture needs to be ingrained in minds of all the air warriors. Classic example which comes to the mind is that it is ingrained in our minds that one should never insert their fingers in the electric socket. This thought is so deeply ingrained in our minds that even if someone tries to pull your fingers towards the socket, involuntarily one would jerk their hands free. The safety aspects related to aviation and aviation related activity need to be ingrained to this extent.

Ownership. The safety programme cannot be seriously implemented till the time every air warrior develops that sense of ownership. Words of ex defence minister Mr Manohar Parriker come to mind wherein he used to give the example of child slipping through mothers hand and getting injured. Such an occurrence is never heard of because the mother will get hurt herself but not let the baby get hurt. This is because of the ownership – My Baby. Closer at home while handling costly equipment all of us take lot of precaution so that it does not get damaged. The equipment we handle at work is much costlier than anything at home. However, at times lackadaisical attitude is displayed while handling it. A sense of ownership needs to be inculcated in all the air warriors. MY EQUIPMENT – MY RESPONSIBILITY, MY JOB – MY RESPONSIBILITY. I WILL DO IT WELL AND I WILL DO IT SAFELY is the attitude required.

Use of Superior Skill and Judgement. Superior skill and judgement comes with practice and experience. It is acquired by senior crew with higher experience level and qualifications. On the flip side it also brings along tendency to be complacent or temptation to take risks. One needs to remember that the purpose of higher skill and judgement level is to avoid potentially risky or dangerous situations and certainly not for getting out of them.

Man – Machine Interface. Another aspect that needs to be remembered always is that aircraft and platforms are machines. They work and react according to rules of physics and science. These machines do not know the experience level or the qualifications of the crew handling them. They react to the inputs received by them.

Respect Legacy Aircraft and Equipment. Legacy aircraft and systems need careful handling. It is akin to handling of our old senior citizens at home. Extra care is taken about their needs, health, medicines, comfort and diet etc. In a similar way the legacy aircraft and systems need extra precaution and care.

Suggested Safety Rules

Respect Weather and Terrain. Weather and terrain constitute major components of the flying environment and deserve to be given their due. Flying over deserts, sea or mountains is totally different from one another. There are different peculiarities and challenges. One rule does not apply to all. The precautions to be taken and the DOs and DONTs need to be reiterated again and again. Now if the weather is superimposed on the terrain it adds to the stress and degree of difficulty. Adverse terrain combined with bad weather is even deadlier combination.

Strictly Follow SOPs, Orders and Instructions. The SOPs, orders and Instructions have evolved over the years with lot of thought. These need to be followed strictly in letter and spirit. The old Adage “Do what is documented and document what you do” is very relevant.

Comprehensive Briefing / Debriefing. Briefing and debriefing is a very important part of all the aviation related activities. It needs to be ensured that they are conducted properly in a comprehensive manner even at the cost of repetitions. They should include all possible contingencies, plans and safety related aspects. These should be conducted even for the ground activities with proper handing and taking over in between the change of shifts.

No shortcuts and Complacency. These two words have no place in aviation related activities. However they do creep in under two circumstances. One is when an activity is repetitive in nature like checks and procedures. Second is when the crew gains experience. These need to be reiterated time and again.

Unnecessary Risk Taking. Calculated risk taking is often heard term. In aviation especially in peace time there is no mission or aviation related activity which cannot be undertaken on a later date and time. If in doubt about the machine or the environment ABORT is a better option rather than PRESS ON or TAKING CHANCE.

Principle of 3 Rs. Principle of three Rs is very important to aviation related activity in the air or on the ground. Three Rs are Right Person, Right Equipment and Right Procedure for any job. It is duty of the supervisors to ensure that this is followed in letter and spirit.

Rules enumerated above have been derived out of years of aviation experience. It is seen that most of the accidents or incidents take place when these rules are forgotten or willingly ignored. Time is ripe to bring in a cultural change in the way safety is looked at. These rules and values need to be ingrained deeply into minds of all air warriors. Also they need to be followed strictly in letter and spirit.

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