Pilots convicted of "Murder" in crash of ATR

[previous member]

The International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA), which includes ALPA, expressed serious concern that an Italian tribunal’s recent manslaughter conviction of a flight crew involved in a fatal crash represents a detrimental impact on flight safety and should not be tolerated by aviation authorities worldwide.

The crash involved a Tuninter ATR-72 that took off from Bari, Italy, and was forced to ditch in the sea along the Sicilian coast. The aircraft fuel gauges had been incorrectly replaced by maintenance personnel and indicated there was enough fuel on board when the aircraft took off, but the plane had insufficient fuel to carry out the intended flight. The two pilots were convicted and sent to prison because, in theory, they had the opportunity to reach an airport for an emergency landing if they had followed proper procedure.

IFALPA’s statement on the conviction and sentencing indicates the prosecution was unwarranted and the crew reacted to the loss of all engines “in a textbook fashion.” ALPA continues to support IFALPA efforts around the world to eliminate the criminalization of accident investigations.

 

[summitboy]

This is pretty sad ! I would like to see the judge put into a situation like that and see what kind of reaction he would have. Everyone thinks that when you have a emergency its as easy as following the manual, running the checklist and all will be fine. Quite the opposite.

Losing both engines is a very rare situation and most companies barely train for it. Ever since Sully put her into the drink i think more companies are starting to incorporate it into the training syllabus.

It never ceases to amaze me how people are experts in aviation when they have no idea about it. That judge is a moron.

Its kind of like the Winnipeg MP Jim Maloway who is trying to push through the Passengers Bill of Rights. He figures when a airplane is delayed more than 60 minutes you should get a 500 dollar per hour credit and a hotel room. If something like this ever gets pushed through you can kiss your 1-3 vacations a year goodbye because ticket prices will go through the roof. Where do these idiots come from ? I cannot believe he is smart enough to be in politics. There are always aviation experts everywhere !

 

[Plowboy]

Ticks me off to hear these kinds of things. My brother is a Helicopter pilot and no matter how careful a person is, sometimes things just don’t go the way that we would like, that’s just life and even more so when mechanical things are brought into the picture. Punishing these men doesn’t solve a thing, I feel for them!

 

[AkMike]

If anything the mechanics that installed the guages should be held accountable also. If the pilots were able to make it to an airport for an emergency landing they have blame also.

 

[revpilot]

There's a lot of pain in this old world these days, everyone wants their pound of flesh. Being a pilot isn't a glamour job any more, nobody wants to be a doctor either for the same liability reasons.

 

[previous member]

The manslaughter conviction is absolute BS. Dealing with these things in foreign countries is difficult. We had a pilot at my airline that was on a flight in the Phillipines. He was the Captain. An unruly intoxicated passenger was causing trouble in the back prior to departure. He kicked the guy off the jet which is absolutely his right under United States FAA regulations governing FAR Part 121. The guy happened to be some big shot muckity muck politician in the Phillipines. The wanted to arrest and imprison the Captain for what he did. Needless to say it became a problem between the two countries and that Captain never flew into the Phillipines again for fear they would tag him. I think he is now retired................

 

[previous member]

Uh, here is some more info on this particular crash.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gene... Technicians Convicted For 2005 Palermo Crash

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE52N63B20090324