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Airlines Flight 1354 was a scheduled cargo flight from Louisville
International Airport to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International
Airport.
On August 14, 2013, the aircraft flying this route—a UPS Airlines
Airbus A300-600F—crashed and burst into flames short of the
runway on approach to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International
Airport in the US state of Alabama.
Both pilots—Capt. Cerea Beal Jr. and First Officer Shanda Fanning—died
in the crash.
They were the only people aboard the
aircraft.
In thriller or scary movies, the proverbial
‘voice from beyond the grave’ is not uncommon.
In the aviation industry, which is based
on knowledge, facts, and checklists, such occult humbug usually has
no place.
But the just-released National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) accident report for that all-cargo UPS flight
delivers rather disturbing and haunting transcript quotes from the
CVR (cockpit voice recorder) .
While NTSB attributes the
crash of UPS Flight 1354 to fatigue on the side of the crew, the CVR
had recorded a conversation of the crew complaining about the different
duty time and rest requirements for pilots of all-cargo aircraft and
passenger aircraft, which were mandated after the tragic accident
of Comair flight 5191 on August 27th, 2006.
It’s worth noting here that while
increased rest times have been mandated for pilots of passenger-carrying
aircraft, no such increases have to date been mandated for all-cargo
transporters.
About one hour before
the fatal accident, the Captain of the doomed flight commented to
the First Officer:
“I don’t get that.
“You know it should be one
level of safety for everybody,” to which the F/O is heard
saying:
“It makes no sense at all.”
The conversation continued for quite
some time, touching on the fact that both pilots obviously experienced
fatigue because of irregular duty times and interrupted sleep cycles.
Here are some excerpts:
At one point the Flight Officer says:
“It should be across the board.
“To be honest, in my opinion whether
you are flying passengers or cargo or you know box(es) of chocolate
at night.
“If you’re flying this time
of day…”
“…the you know (stammer)
* fatigue is definitely…*** (expletive deleted).”
Captain: “Yeah yeah yeah….**
(expletive) really, God, I know these people have no clue. I know.”
Flight officer: “And I just
don’t understand what they…”
Captain: “And they, you know,
they talk about cost. Well, on the passenger side it just costs as
much, the same thing.
“You know, I mean give me a break.
“And these companies are the ones
that are really making the money.
“They got a lot (of) nerve. (…)
“They do that (stammering)
*(expletive) and it says a lot about what they, how they
think about you.”
While factors other
than crew fatigue certainly played a role in this accident—non-availability
of BHX runways 06 and 24 and the crew being distracted by ATC communication
to a FedEx flight that, for some reason, bore an identical flight
number (FX1354)—the hope is that the communication of the tragic
UPS flight recorded on the CVR will serve as a wake-up call to legislators
and authorities to do away with second-class and first-class flying.
One thing is getting clearer; a life
threatening emergency can occur aboard a cargo aircraft just as easily
as on a passenger flight.
The potential for loss is not that much
lower to warrant an entirely different set of rules as currently exists.
According to one report last week on
CNN:
“Cargo pilots have special rest
needs, they say, because they typically fly ‘on the back side
of the clock’—at night—which raises havoc with sleep
rhythms and contributes to fatigue.
“UPS argues,” CNN said “that
it gives pilots ample opportunity to sleep, that it has a non-punitive
system for pilots who say they are too tired to fly, and that work
hours have been largely negotiated with the pilots' union.
“Finally, UPS said, ‘pilots
share responsibility that they get adequate rest and are fit to fly.”
Jens |
