July 4, 2005 -- Under Negligence Law commonly known as "Duty Of Care", airport owners may increasingly find themselves involved as parties to legal action taken against them following a crash on their airport.
Errors in loading procedures, equipment or policies are one area that airport owners need to be interested in. Another area id published airport data, such as runway slope and elevation.
“Recent advisories issued by Transport Safety Board (TSB) Canada, the accident investigation body for Transport Canada, with regard to MK Airlines B742 Flight 1602 crash, October 14, 2004, mean airport owners have good cause to be concerned.” Said independent researcher, Captain Geoff Ogilvie.
One advisory raised concern about the management of loads for cargo flights. For several reasons, the actual weight of the built-up load was not measured in Halifax and only estimates were provided to the crew.
The other advisory notified Transport Canada of inaccurate information regarding the slope of the runway from which the aircraft attempted take-off. Slope information can be critical for the crew to calculate aircraft performance during take-off and landing.
Aviation consultant Geoff Ogilvie (www.oacs.homestead.com)who is closely following the crash of MK Airlines Flight 1602 at Halifax International airport, as part of his research into improved weight & balance systems for aircraft (www.Avibridge.com), said today. “I suspected overloading or out of balance conditions as a possible causal factor, but this release by TSB Canada highlights another grave area of concern for many aviation stakeholders. "Duty of Care responsibility”
“Duty of care responsibility under the law of negligence means that all stakeholders must exercise reasonable care that their actions/inactions or omissions do not cause injury or loss to anyone subject to that care,” continued Captain Ogilvie.
The way the system works at present is that after an accident an investigation team of experts is assembled by the local accident investigation authority (TSB Canada) to find the cause(s) of the accident. The accident investigation body issues interim reports, and advisories (Communiqués) as the investigation progresses and a final report to its regulator, in this case Transport Canada.
One of the problems of the present system is that the accident investigation advisories, communiqués and reports are recommendations and are not legally binding on the regulator. This means that after these reports are released they can be politicized by interested parties keen to protect or pursue their interests.
With the increased spotlight on the law of negligence, civil legal remedies may be the way interested parties force change when it is needed in the future. A useful tool in this regard is the law of negligence and its attendant “Duty of Care” responsibility. Lawyers acting for the deceased’s estate may well bring cases in the future when alternative sources of evidence become available or the subsequent action/inaction by regulators is challenged in Court.
“I see a whole new field of litigation emerging over the next few years as more lay people & Lawyers are aware of the limitations and errors in the present system.” Said Captain Ogilvie. “With the advent of aircraft external weight & balance systems such as Avibridge ™ (www.avibridge.com) an alternate, accurate, independent and verifiable form of weight & balance evidence will be available to accident investigators, litigant lawyers and other aviation stakeholders,” continued Captain Ogilvie.
Airport owners and other stake holders are becoming increasingly aware that they are more at risk to litigation following an aircraft accident on their “watch” than before. The emphasis is now shifting away from the old analytical approach used in accident investigation to a systemic management approach. “ Said Geoff Ogilvie.
Previously the pilot in command (PIC) was the first to be in the finger pointing line of fire. But now it is realised, with study, research and a systemic approach to the management of accident investigation, that the total system is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Whatever the final findings in this accident it is safe to assume that all aviation stakeholders have cause for concern about whether they exercised reasonable care in their area of responsibility to prevent injury or death to the crew of MK airlines Flight 1602 who sadly perished October 14. 2004
© Copyright Geoff Ogilvie 2005
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