Every cause needs a champion. Meet “Miss Haps” - our very own Sultana of Safety, Queen of Caution and Princess of Preparedness.
Each issue she’ll tackle a different safety issue in her own unique style.
THE COVID TRIPLE THREAT
We talk a lot about safety. But in the COVID-19 world we currently live in, the idea of safety is taking on a whole new meaning. That’s because the pandemic has created a once-in-alifetime triple threat of safety, combining three things that make this truly terrible:
- Inactive aircraft Today’s aircraft are built for continuous use. The more they sit, the more issues that can creep up and impact performance and reliability. The only thing worse than an overused aircraft is an underused one.
- Inactive pilots Staying sharp requires staying active. There are pilots out there today – particularly new pilots – who haven’t flown in months. From where we sit, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone eager to fly with a rusty pilot.
- Shared air and tight quarters Even with a mask, let’s face it: aircrafts were never built for social distancing. You’re sharing air. You’re rubbing elbows. And you’re touching the same surfaces.
Never before have we had to worry about the competency of the pilot, the integrity of the aircraft, and the safety of the shared air circulating within the aircraft. It’s a troubling challenge, and one that we’ll have to deal with for the foreseeable future.
But with an industry turnaround slowly rising on the horizon, the hope is that the aircraft and the pilots flying them will be back to shipshape. While COVID-19 will still loom, we’ll take two out of three any day.
