I was winding down from engagement in another flurry of news media stories, and thinking that many of our members probably don’t understand Flight Safety Foundation’s relationship with reporters, or are not even aware of all the things we do with the media.
One big reason the Foundation engages aggressively with the media is to give safety professionals the room they need to do their jobs. Today, there is no shortage of people who understand safety, but these people endure a lot of interference from politicians, judges and policymakers. When an aviation safety event finds its way into the public spotlight, these politicians are compelled to respond. That means the Foundation has to reach out quickly to global media outlets to provide a balanced viewpoint. We put the situation into a reasonable context and may suggest reasonable actions. If people insist on being unreasonable, we are in a position to clearly point that out.
Last year, a controller in Washington fell asleep o…
