AEI Blasts Airline Industry for Putting Profit Before Safety

AEI looks to past industry failures to create future aviation safety.

Aviation safety group Aircraft Engineers International (AEI) said Tuesday that the December 2014 AirAsia accident highlights the air industry’s failure to learn from past accidents.

“This avoidable accident regrettably highlights that the industry as a whole has learnt little from two previous tragic accidents,” said AEI in a press release issued Tuesday, referencing 2008’s Spanair and 2009’s Turkish Airlines accidents.

All three air-crash investigations found unreported aircraft defects and crew training issues. In addition, the AEI pointed to maintenance system inadequacies that allowed repetitive, low-key fault that culminated “in an avoidable accident.”

“The public must be made aware that aviation today is driven by cost. Cost, not safety, is paramount,” AEI said. “Pilots and engineers are often placed under increasing pressure to accept second best, in order to ensure aircraft, meet unrealistic flight schedules. The consequences of which are more incidents and ultimately more avoidable accidents.”

Finally, the AEI found the crashes all involved “ineffectiveness of the current regulatory oversight system which consistently fails to detect safety issues prior to an accident whilst the same issues are detected immediately post‐accident.”

The AEI is urging the following reforms:

• An industry culture of safety before operational needs
• Create an environment where pilot and engineers’ licenses can be properly exercised, free from reprisal
• Making an industry mantra of “doing it right the first time”
• Training all levels to be improved and increased

“With training of pilots and engineers often the bare minimum, spares and manpower levels reduced to unacceptable levels, and increased workloads; the working life of these safety professionals has become centered on lowering costs,” the AEI said. “The lesson to be learnt from this and other avoidable accidents is, that it is now time for the industry to listen to, and properly support, safety professionals trying to keep flying safe.”

AEI represents the interests of 40,000 Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineers in over 30 countries. AEI provides representation and support in order to promote aviation safety and maintenance standards worldwide.

[Photo: Getty]