Once again, we have been reminded of the significance of our aviation system safety work, including the intense news media scrutiny that a single aviation event can generate. The tragic situation involving Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), which had lasted 31 days as I wrote this, has brought our industry role into sharp focus.
You may have noticed, and perhaps wondered, why Flight Safety Foundation was not front-and-center in the media speculation on the root cause of this event. The answer lies in the word speculation. Quite simply, we refused to add to the mass of speculation already being disseminated.
The Foundation prides itself, and our members demand, that we be a voice of reason and calm in situations like this. That is why, after most of the wild speculation passed, we chose to call for a detailed review of technology and processes to improve aircraft location-tracking in a practical and prudent manner. We believe that this is the seminal issue that needs to be addresse…
