I said I was done, but really have to respond to that. You're right; there is no excuse for lack of safe proceedures or attitudes. In the case of the tanker industry, the pilots doing this job don't approach it with an "at any cost" attitude. The details I provided before are the stats when everything is going well, in a normal year. This isn't pushing things; this is just normal operations.
Airline pilots didn't have to deal with these conditions or the risks faced ten years ago, or twenty , or fifty. Nor will they ever. It's not really a good comparison; if a tanker pilot decides it's not safe, then he or she doesn't take the trip. However, the conditions and requirements over the fire are very different. This has nothing to do with gung ho aviators who just haven't had enough yet, or operators pushing their pilots to the limits. This is all about pilots doing a professional job in a professional manner, and dealing with some inherent risks in the process.
Electricians have unions, yet still get injured or die on the job, as do fishermen, boilermakers, and divers. In this case, the very limited number of hours flown each year and the limited number of crewed positions available, make the statistics very stark, but there is no lack of attention to detail or seriousness about the job. It will never be an airline type environment. Nobody wants that. It would be dangerous indeed, and nothing would ever get done.
Improvements can be made everywhere, and imrovements are always being made. A few years ago, I went through a season in which not a single heavy tanker crashed and not a single heavy tanker pilot died. (Several helicopters and single engine air tankers, as well as smoke jumpers, weren't so fortunate). It does happen, just as we recently had a year without a single major air disaster.
Airline pilots need unions to accomplish what they do. Tankers don't utilize unions, and I can't imagine a single benifit that could be had from unionizing. In many cases the pilots have the employers over a barrell, if anything; it's not like the employer can go find a replacement in a moments notice. I have been told to load and return, and have refused before due to conditions over the fire. A very effective SAFECOM system exists to transmit safety concerns. I've used it, and typically within fifteen minutes to a day after an incident or unsafe condition, every base in the country will be fully informed. National management visits with every pilot throughout the season, usually multiple times. Sometimes informally, sometimes formally. Everyone has a voice, and there is rarely any hesitation to speak out.
I don't know that I'd go so far as to say tanker trash does it out of a sense of duty or honor; we do it out of a sense of wanting to eat...but the pay isn't the reason people stick with it. Everyone has their reasons...how many jobs let you take a large four engine airplane down in the dirt and ash and flame and play with it like a cub? There is nothing as sweet as the smell of smoke in the cockpit. A million different personal reasons, I guess, but the ability to fly some neat equipment and wear a t-shirt while doing it is worth something.
Probably more than anything is the life; once in the tanker for the season, life is very cut and dried. Tanker, sleep. Tanker again. That's it. There's a lot to be said for that. Whatever. I said I'd give it a rest, and I will. The tanker industry is easy to expound on; we all have our passions, and this is mine. There is nothing in this world I would rather do more than fly an air tanker...my greatest regret (such as those may be) is giving it up. That said, my greatest hope is returning again to doing it soon.
We've all got our corners in life; the areas we fit. For some it's the military, others the airline. Some the bar. Personally, I don't like wearing a white shirt around an airplane. I don't like shiny shoes. I don't like epaulettes, or ties. I feel suffocated in them, and it's time to make the change back to a life I much prefer. God willing (unconstitutional?), I will again.
A reasonable assesment:
http://www.aviationnow.com/content/publication/awst/20020624/aw56b.htm
Airline pilots didn't have to deal with these conditions or the risks faced ten years ago, or twenty , or fifty. Nor will they ever. It's not really a good comparison; if a tanker pilot decides it's not safe, then he or she doesn't take the trip. However, the conditions and requirements over the fire are very different. This has nothing to do with gung ho aviators who just haven't had enough yet, or operators pushing their pilots to the limits. This is all about pilots doing a professional job in a professional manner, and dealing with some inherent risks in the process.
Electricians have unions, yet still get injured or die on the job, as do fishermen, boilermakers, and divers. In this case, the very limited number of hours flown each year and the limited number of crewed positions available, make the statistics very stark, but there is no lack of attention to detail or seriousness about the job. It will never be an airline type environment. Nobody wants that. It would be dangerous indeed, and nothing would ever get done.
Improvements can be made everywhere, and imrovements are always being made. A few years ago, I went through a season in which not a single heavy tanker crashed and not a single heavy tanker pilot died. (Several helicopters and single engine air tankers, as well as smoke jumpers, weren't so fortunate). It does happen, just as we recently had a year without a single major air disaster.
Airline pilots need unions to accomplish what they do. Tankers don't utilize unions, and I can't imagine a single benifit that could be had from unionizing. In many cases the pilots have the employers over a barrell, if anything; it's not like the employer can go find a replacement in a moments notice. I have been told to load and return, and have refused before due to conditions over the fire. A very effective SAFECOM system exists to transmit safety concerns. I've used it, and typically within fifteen minutes to a day after an incident or unsafe condition, every base in the country will be fully informed. National management visits with every pilot throughout the season, usually multiple times. Sometimes informally, sometimes formally. Everyone has a voice, and there is rarely any hesitation to speak out.
I don't know that I'd go so far as to say tanker trash does it out of a sense of duty or honor; we do it out of a sense of wanting to eat...but the pay isn't the reason people stick with it. Everyone has their reasons...how many jobs let you take a large four engine airplane down in the dirt and ash and flame and play with it like a cub? There is nothing as sweet as the smell of smoke in the cockpit. A million different personal reasons, I guess, but the ability to fly some neat equipment and wear a t-shirt while doing it is worth something.
Probably more than anything is the life; once in the tanker for the season, life is very cut and dried. Tanker, sleep. Tanker again. That's it. There's a lot to be said for that. Whatever. I said I'd give it a rest, and I will. The tanker industry is easy to expound on; we all have our passions, and this is mine. There is nothing in this world I would rather do more than fly an air tanker...my greatest regret (such as those may be) is giving it up. That said, my greatest hope is returning again to doing it soon.
We've all got our corners in life; the areas we fit. For some it's the military, others the airline. Some the bar. Personally, I don't like wearing a white shirt around an airplane. I don't like shiny shoes. I don't like epaulettes, or ties. I feel suffocated in them, and it's time to make the change back to a life I much prefer. God willing (unconstitutional?), I will again.
A reasonable assesment:
http://www.aviationnow.com/content/publication/awst/20020624/aw56b.htm
Last edited:
Sorry, way off topic and if this guy is just flaming then so be it! 
