Flight safety: A major concern

The recent plane crash involving DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo once again brings to the fore the problem of aviation safety that continues to hound this country. It’s not as if this is the first time that such fatal accidents have occurred, with reports of mishaps involving planes and choppers of private tour operators and flying schools, commercial aircraft and even Philippine Air Force air assets occurring at a disturbing frequency.

Last December, a Beechcraft Queen Air crashed in a Parañaque slum area, resulting in the death of eight people. March this year, a Cessna 172 plane owned by Aviatour crashed in Camiguin, leaving two people dead. Last May, a Philippine Air Force SF-260 trainer plane crashed in Mariveles — with the headless body of the pilot only recovered a week ago while his co-pilot remains missing.

In 2007, the US Federal Aviation Administration slapped us with a Category 2 rating downgrade. It’s been four years and we have yet to get back our Category 1 status. In the technical review conducted in January, the FAA noted 23 “critical elements” that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines must address: questionable qualifications of inspectors conducting pilot skill tests and aircraft worthiness assessments; unreliable record keeping; conflict of interest issues because inspectors get “free rides” from operators during inspections. CAAP dismissed these “critical” elements as “minor concerns” — an oxymoron. How can a Category 2 rating be considered minor?

Robredo’s death reopened the aviation industry’s can of worms. For one, some private aircraft operators/owners take maintenance and safety shortcuts to cut costs, like using diluted aviation fuel (known as “mogas” or motor gasoline fuel) that can lead to engine trouble, or neglect installing an emergency locator transmitter that is supposed to help in locating a crashed plane. Worse, unscrupulous aircraft mechanics cannibalize parts from decommissioned aircraft and use them as replacement.

A couple of years ago, a local business tycoon who frequently lands and takes off from his buildings with his fleet of helicopters was duped of hundreds of millions of pesos by his maintenance people — by extending the usage of certain helicopter parts double their flying hours despite manufacturer’s strict compliance requirement to a certain number of hours, pocketing money meant for the purchase of replacement parts. After the discovery, the helicopter manufacturer bluntly told the tycoon, “Sir, you are lucky to still be alive.”

There are also a few cases where the CAAP issues airworthiness certificates and renews registrations despite the failure to comply with certain requirements. Sources said the Beechcraft that crashed in Parañaque had an expired all-risk insurance policy, yet it was still allowed to fly. When Aviatour’s Cessna crashed in Camiguin, Secretary Mar Roxas ordered its fleet grounded. However, CAAP only suspended the flying school license and allowed its air charter services to continue, rationalizing that they were not sure if it was a charter flight because the co-pilot was an Indonesian student. Yet records show there were tourist passengers, one of whom died in the process — giving rise to suspicions that some operators do an “all-in-one,” making students earn the required training hours by using them as co-pilots for charter flights.

Even regulations regarding air space are violated. In fact, we figured in a near mishap a couple of years ago when a seaplane flying on a low altitude reserved solely as the “helicopter route” almost collided with the helicopter we were riding in. The American pilot/owner based in Subic claimed connections with the US Embassy — so what? He could have been connected to Obama — and who the hell cares? The point is, he violated airspace rules and could have caused a major accident.

As his closest friend, Mar owes it to Jesse Robredo to do everything he can to address flight safety issues that have plagued the local aviation industry for decades. Even the state of our own Air Force is really no better, with a fleet of “flying coffins” that are half a century old. The proposal of Congressman Danny Suarez to purchase a presidential plane and modern aircraft for many of our Cabinet secretaries is definitely in order. The Philippines is an archipelago with 7,100 islands — how can we expect a DILG or Environment Secretary to be more effective? We should stop being penny wise and pound foolish.

Jesse Robredo is a great loss to this country. But in death he has become larger than life like most people who die early — Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino and John F. Kennedy. Jesse can very well be the perfect example of what the ideal public servant should be. All those who are in government should emulate his example. Money and power is temporary but reputation is eternal. Jun Magsaysay, Noynoy Aquino and Caroline Kennedy know this very well.

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The appointment of Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno as the country’s first female Chief Justice came as a surprise to many. She has no known political connection nor has she any real connection to the President. Despite the political pressure that was going around during the selection process, President Noynoy Aquino did what many people least expected by appointing the youngest candidate and the first female chief magistrate, making history. Once again, P-Noy displayed his “in your face” kind of bluntness by doing what he felt was the right thing to do — deciding “out of the box” and not succumbing to any kind of political pressure or payback. Those who have doubts about Noynoy’s following the straight path are beginning to be convinced of his sincerity. Those who are biased against him will remain that way for the rest of their lives.

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