Air New Zealand Flight 901 Essay Example for Free

Air New Zealand Flight 901 Essay A McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft (Registration Mark 2K-NZP), owned and operated by Air New Zealand, Ltd. , as non-scheduled air transport flight TE-901 from Auckland, New Zealand to Christchurch, New Zealand, over Antarctica, collided with Mount Erebus, Antarctica, on November 28, 1979, killing all 257 persons aboard. The accident has caused widespread attention in that, up to this day, controversies and debates remain over the true cause of the accident, and in the amount of responsibility and accountability the airline and its crew should assume. Public opinion also remains polarized. The accident report compiled by Ron Chippindale, the chief inspector of air accidents, attributed blame to the decision of Captain Jim Collins to descend below the customary minimum altitude level, and continue at that height when the crew was unsure of the planes position. The aircraft altitude was 445 meters (1465ft), way below the customary minimum prohibited descent below 1830 meters even under good weather conditions. The flight plan led Collins to believe that the plane was over flat ground, and previous Flight 901 pilots regularly flew low over the area to give passengers a better view. The New Zealand Government also conducted a one-man Royal Commission of Inquiry into the accident. On April 27, 1981, Justice Peter Mahon cleared the crew of blame for the disaster. According to Justice Mahon, the cause of the crash was the interaction a series of entries of co-ordinates into the plane’s navigation computer, including an erroneous entry from years earlier, its correction on the morning of the crash and entries of the flight plan. The result was that the pilots thought they were flying over low flat ground when they were in fact flying directly into the mountain; there was a whiteout at the time. No one’s action was the cause if the crash; it was the cumulative result of the series of actions. Justice Mahon also found that the radio communications center at McMurdo Station had authorized Collins to descend to 450 meters. Controversially, Justice Mahon accused Air New Zealand executives of cover-up, disposal of evidence and subterfuge, famously using the phrase orchestrated litany of lies. However, the Privy Council consequently found that Justice Mahon, as Royal Commissioner, had acted in excess of his jurisdiction and contrary to natural justice regarding those allegations. In their judgment, delivered on 20 October 1983, the five Law Lords of the Privy Council dismissed the Commissioners appeal and upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal decision, which set aside the costs order against the Airline, on the grounds that Mahon had committed clear breaches of natural justice. On the basis that the requirements for the crime of criminally negligent killing could be made out, were the required actions and mental state to have been those of a human being, the accident cannot be blamed to the pilots and crew of Flight 901. According to the Section 23 of the Criminal Code: â€Å"Subject to the express provisions of this Code relating to negligent acts and omissions, a person is not criminally responsible for an act or omission which occurs independently of the exercise of his will, or for an event which occurs by accident. It can be recalled that the crash was caused by interaction a series of entries of co-ordinates into the plane’s navigation computer without the knowing of the pilots. Clearly, the pilots and the crew were not accountable for the disaster. However, Air New Zealand is still criminally and morally responsible for the loss of lives of the Flight 901 passengers. At the time of the crash, the Civil Aviation (Carriers Liability) Act 1959 was available to impose liability on corporations. The Act was enacted to implement the Warsaw Convention in Australian law. Basically, the Warsaw Convention imposes strict liability on international air carriers in respect of death or personal injury to passengers, destruction or loss of or damage to registered baggage or cargo. Liability under the Warsaw Convention for personal injury or death ranges to from 125,000 to 250,000 francs. If the Warsaw Convention cannot be applied, liability may still be imposed under Australian law. Part IV of the Carriers’ Liability Act 1959 applies to air carriage between Australian States; to from or in an Australian Territory; or between Australia and another country. For such air carriage, liability for death or personal injury is currently capped at $500,000. Moreover, the catastrophic crash of Air New Zealand flight 901 into Mt. Erebus provides an interesting case in examining the idea of corporate moral responsibility. A principle of accountability that has Aristotelian roots and is significantly different from the usual strict intentional action principles maintains that a person can be held morally accountable for previous non-intentional behavior that has harmful effects if the person does not take corrective measures to adjust his ways of behavior so as not to produce repetitions. In the case of Flight 901, the pilots and the crew were not morally accountable since they were not informed about the series of corrections that caused the crash. They could have taken corrective measures had they known these changes.

American similarties to Rome :: essays research papers

American civilization could possible end up like the Roman Empire. The Romans did many of the same things that we are doing today right before they fell. We are probably not going to fall but we are not the best we could be. We should change our habits before they become worse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Romans did many things that led to their destruction. They ruined their morals by focusing on the moment and not worrying about the future. They stole jobs by bringing in slaves to work at latifundias which caused homelessness which lowered public health and caused crime to go up. Bringing in slaves also made them not need to advance in technology which caused other nations to advance farther then the Romans. They also â€Å"sold† the seat of emperor to highest bidder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In America we do many things that greatly need improving. We ignore major health risks such as AIDs, obesity, health care, nuclear wastes, and illegal drugs. We dump toxic waste in our environment, sprawl like crazy, and fill our televisions with violence and sexual content. We spend millions of dollars and kill thousands of lives from our own country in war and â€Å"conflicts.† We drop huge bombs that kill hundreds of innocence people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In both nations there are a lot of similarities. They both have political corruption such as selling the emperor or giving high positions of power to people that have a personal relationship with a higher power. They also share a high unemployment rate whether it is because of outsourcing or slave labor. They both spend lots of money on the military because of unprotected borders or threats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  America clearly does have some faults but most of them can and hopefully will be solved.

Minimizing weather disruption in aviation: regard of Heathrow, British Airways and UK aviation system

Introduction More than any other mode of transportation, aviation is significantly affected by weather conditions including fog, thunderstorms, snowstorms, and wind as well as temperature and pressure extremes (Iyengar, 2002). Kulesa (2010) notes two major adverse effects of weather on aviation which are its impact on safety and efficiency of operation. The aviation industry must regularly deal with adverse types of weather to enhance safety while attempting to maintain integrity of flight schedules and to rein in on costs attendant to disruption, a significant budget item in aviation (Qualley, 2009). Weather disruptions at London’s Heathrow Airport in recent years have highlighted vulnerability in the industry. Of note was the adverse snow condition on December 18, 2010an exceptional event with unprecedented volume and speed of snow fall (AOA, 2013; DoT, 2013). This condition was compounded by capacity constraints and consequent lack of operational contingency since Heathrow operates at 9 9% capacity daily and the pre-Christmas period usually has high customer volumes (DoT, 2013; Seabury, 2012). The challenges of the day highlight prevalent problems and potential damage of weather-related disruption. A serious problem exists in the parallel forecast models run in the US and EU which give variations in weather forecasts. Conflicts are particularly often on parameters such as temperature of the day – which defines whether precipitation will fall as rain or snow (DoT, 2013; Qualley, 2009). On this day, weather forecasts and predictions were accurate and congruent and were received on time. Based on extensive experience on the part of British Airways (BA) and National Air Traffic Service (NATS), and in anticipation of greater challenges of disruption, a decision to cancel all BA flights between 1000 and 1700 was arrived at (BA, 2014; UK Parliament, 2011). There was however misjudgement among stakeholders on the severity of prediction and actual weather conditions. In the confusion, Heathrow claimed ‘business as usual’ while BA (its largest carrier) cancelled its schedule. Media reports of continued operations even after eventual closure of airport also undermined the decisive action taken by BA and thousands of passengers continued to turn up for cancelled flights creating chaos (UK Parliament, 2011). The command and control structure was not employed proactively or efficiently (Seabury, 2012). Overall, the airport failed to recover as quickly as it could have done and the impact of the day was extended unnecessarily. BA’s extensive and refined contingency plans for recovery following disruption were not replicated by Heathrow airport and were thus not useful (UK Parliament, 2011; Kulesa, 2010). A lack of forward planning and lack of shared operational experience about the most effective approach for return to efficient regular operations was evident when the airport re-opened (DoT, 2013). Major emphasis was put on the op ening of the runway without regard to the taxiway, apron and stand infrastructure which are also essential for efficient airport operation (Deloitte, 2013; UK Parliament, 2011). The ineffective approach caused many of the problems faced on re-opening and impeded return to normal operations. Eventually, a decision by Heathrow airport to invoke the Scarce Capacity Protocol (SCP) designed to ensure fair and proportionate allocation of access to take-off and landing slots for airlines was reached. This protocol was however overly conservative and difficult to enforce, hindered by policing issues (AOA, 2013; UK Parliament, 2011). Various UK airports have similarly been affected by weather conditions to varying degrees though recovery has usually been swift. A number of these airports remain open to receive long-haul diversions in times of disruption (DoT, 2013; Seabury, 2012). Although weather forecasting would add value to minimization of disruption, AOA, 2013 and Deloitte, 2013 disclos e that none among UK’s civilian airfields has a dedicated forecasting service based on site. Closure, delay, and/or cancellation have far reaching consequences beyond the inconvenience caused to customers which portends erosion of passenger goodwill and loss of future revenue (BA, 2014; Deloitte, 2013). Costs associated with weather disruption vary depending on contingency and elusive to pin down exactly. Direct costs derive from airline operations such as diversion, cancellation, delay or insurance and include listed costs such as: fuel, crew, time, and aircraft operating costs, lost passenger and cargo revenue, hotel accommodation and meals, ground-based employee overtime pay, insurance, etc. (Deloitte, 2013; Seabury, 2012). Disruption, particularly for hub airport operations given their extensive connectivity may have widespread effects affecting myriad flight schedules and airport operations in far flung areas. Seabury, 2012 and Deloitte, 2013 estimate that one diverted f light can cause 2 to 50 flight delays, while a cancelled flight can result in 15 to 20 delays. British Airways has more recently in 2013 and early 2014 been impacted by adverse weather in its operations at home and internationally (particularly the US) and affecting its global network (BA, 2014). In 2012, the airline also suffered mishaps on its Airbus fleet due to the freezing of pilot tubes which feed vital air speed data to on-board computers facilitating the autopilot mode. This led to two emergency landings evidence of the risk weather portends to safe flight linked to the potential damage in loss of life, property as well as repute (BA, 2014; FoE, 2013). This scenario lays out a representation of problems and damages consequent to weather disruption at Heathrow affecting BA and the entire UK aviation system. Steps to minimise the effect of bad weather and the ramifications of decisions to stakeholders Accurate weather forecasts are a priority for safety and efficiency in aviation. This is a primary focus area in order to minimize effects of weather disruption (FoE, 2013; Seabury, 2012)†¦ Accurate information derived from congruent forecasts from numerous agencies enables an effective prediction of the extent of disruption and therefore appropriate response. The use of varied and possibly conflicting forecasts was the probable cause of conflict in the case above creating problems and compounding the issue (Qualley, 2009; Iyengar, 2002). Adverse effects of weather on the industry can be avoided if only airlines and the entire industry work together to interpret such natural phenomena better. Various agencies – both state and private – should participate in accumulating reports and materials on weather patterns useful in the creation of referential databases. These can th en be updated and shared widely across the industry to minimize the impact of adverse events. Uniformity and congruence of information should be aspired to and costs associated with provision of weather information should be addressed (Kulesa, 2010; Qualley, 2009). Despite additional costs, the development of meteorological capacity on site in airports manned by employees or forecast vendors should be made mandatory. This strategy will negatively impact weather forecast contractors and vendors. Timely transmission of forecasts is also essential allowing sufficient lead time for appropriate preparation, and early response (FoE, 2013). Such include the efficient conduct of the intricacies of flight planning such as re-routing, rescheduling, load and fuel balancing, among others, as well as institution of mitigation measures. Open and extensive communication and consultation among various players is paramount for coordinated and effective response towards overall reduction of impact. T his can be achieved through efficient and proactive use of command and control structures and involvement of external entities such as the broadcast media transmitting vital information to customers. During response, focus should be on the entire airfield and mix of essential operations in an interdependent system (Kulesa, 2010). Development of comprehensive and extensive protocols and contingency planning should be undertaken to facilitate response to disruption (Deloitte, 2013; DoT, 2013). These should entail forward planning, strategies and methods to govern operations, as well as effective business continuity plans to mitigate risks to the extent possible. Despite prohibitive costs, use of intricate computer programs in planning and response should be encouraged. Existing policies, protocols and measures should be realigned and restructured for better effectiveness and enforcement mechanisms should be instituted to ensure compliance (Seabury, 2012; UK Parliament, 2011). On-groun d mitigation measures such as de-icing and ploughing of snow should be made mandatory and part of essential procedure. Such measures may not sit well with independent industry players but should be enforced. At the operational level, measures to protect reputation and consequently the potential loss of business from inconvenienced customers should be instituted (Deloitte, 2013). Customer support programs and response centres undertaking such tasks as rebooking, refunds processing, and provision of information are thus essential. Airlines should also create alliances and agreements activated in times of disruption to enable support for affected players and entities (Seabury, 2012). Though it comes at a cost, this will serve to benefit customers and to reduce overall adverse impact of event. Safety measures such as enhanced flight briefings, appropriate pilot training, and continuous streaming of updated current information should be emphasized as weather is unpredictable and subject to change. Overall, comprehensive reviews of incidents and failures and generation of continuous applicable learning for particular locations and scenarios is beneficial. Regarding policy, the expansion of airport capacity at Heathrow and major airports, as well as creation of new airports is essential for better resilience (Deloitte, 2013; Seabury, 2012; DoT, 2013). With no spare capacity, Heathrow is vulnerable to short term operational disruption (BA, 2014; AOA, 2013). Capacity expansion may also enable diversion in times of need easing intense pressure and thus enabling better management of adverse events. Alongside such developments, it is also important to focus on surface connections such as rail and roads to ease pressures of domestic air travel and hence to free some airport capacity (DoT, 2013; Seabury, 2012). They could also serve in times of disruption facilitating diversions and airport transfers. These measures may not be popular however with political players and cust omers seeking convenience. References Airports Operators Association, 2013. The Airport Operator, Amsterdam: AOA. British Airways, 2014. Our Business. Matching capacity to demand. London: BA: Deloitte, 2013. Aviation and Sustainability. Niigita, Japan: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Department of Transport, 2013. Aviation Policy Framework. Report of Secretary of State for Transport. March 2013. London: HMSO Friends of Earth, 2013. Aviation and Global Climate Change. London: Friends of Earth. Iyengar, J., 2002. â€Å"The Role of Risk in Aviation under Adverse Weather Conditions.† In: Vickery, S., (Ed.) Research Issues. Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. Michigan State University. Decision line: May 2002, Pp. 7-10 Kulesa, G., 2010. Weather and Aviation: How Does Weather Affect the Safety and Operations of Airports and AviationViewed from: http://adds.aviationweather.gov/ on 18th Apr, 2014. Qualley, W., 2009. Impact of Weather and use of Weather Information by Commercial Airline Operations. Texas, US: Amrcorp. Seabury, 2012. Sustainable European Aviation: A position paper. Association of European Airlines and Seabury. Viewed from: www.seaburygroup.com on 22nd Apr, 2014 UK Parliament, 2011. Impact on transport of recent adverse weather conditions: Written evidence from British Airways. Session 2010-11. Viewed from: www.parliament.uk/publicaions&records/commons_select_committee/transport/transport/ on 18th Apr, 2014.

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