Page 20 - Volume 16 Number 4

will be easier do it again, with maybe a bit more bending of the standards. If procedures are to be worth the paper they are on, they must be taken seriously by the pilot in command.
That said, situations can arise that aren’t in the book, perhaps from a combination of factors, each of which is manageable on its own, but not when linked together. Fatigue, added to poor weather, with an equipment deficiency or two – perhaps one on the ground and one on the airplane – will add up to more risk than the rule book was designed to cover. In such cases, the pilot’s discretion has to be encouraged.
Basic operating standards are there for everyone’s guidance, but they do not make decisions, they only establish advance directives, to be used when meeting a challenge. The person in the pointy end of the airplane must always evaluate, dispassionately and objectively, the manner in which the flight is to proceed. Safety must remain the absolute, inviolate, number- one priority. Speed, comfort and reliability are also important, but safety is never to be subordinated to achieve a lesser goal.
In the case of the now-famous Gulfstream crash in the mountain valley, it was abundantly clear that a diversion should have been made to the readily-available alternate, and indeed the pilot did apply full power to begin a climbout during the final seconds of the flight. It was a matter too little judgment used too late, because the focus had already been shifted to completing the mission, rather than remaining on safety. The crew knew it was taking risks, as it searched the snowy darkness for sight of the runway while being tempted by glimpses of ground features. The fatal descent from MDA was undertaken because the nearness of the runway threshold would have made landing impossible if the aircraft remained high. Getting the mission accomplished became paramount.
18 TWIN & TURBINE
APRIL 2012