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I can't get into specifics, but I have observed what seems to be a reduction in skill and proficiency in the NAS from both pilots and controllers, and to a lesser degree, dispatchers.

Although I typically don't care for anecdotes, I have spoken with some leaders on the national level one-on-one in unrecorded conversations, and as one guy said,

"You're not imagining it. It's everywhere. And many of the new guys just suck, and they don't care if people get hurt."

As I've heard this repeated by numerous big wigs in their conversations with me, and I'm able to see the executive summaries an back-end machinations, I feel that it might be true.

This leads me to worry that we are not long from having another Tenerife.

Thoughts?

Apathy. Work ethics, what is that?

I see it with new pilots and mechanics in school now; I used to be able to hire 4-5 graduates, now they all suck. They would rather be on TikTok, than be working. Human Factors, the Dirty Dozen - Distractions is coming up as the most common cause for discrepancies. It has even made it as an identified hazard, that needs a risk assessment and mitigation.

People, just don't give a shit.

Oh, that NAS...

Lucas wrote:This leads me to worry that we are not long from having another Tenerife.

I've thought for a long time that the next "big one" is going to be either someone fat-fingering the performance numbers (although some spectacular accidents going as far back as AF358 suggest that even a high-speed overrun isn't guaranteed to be fatal these days) or a horrific runway collision - and that if it's the latter, it'll be in the US.

From my European layman's perspective, crossing runways, LAHSO, all of it gives me the heebie-jeebies. It amazes me that you can crank so many aircraft through a system with such inherent dangers without it going horrifically wrong.

Yet.

How did these numbers manage to go up in 2020?

It's not just this industry, it's everywhere.

I notice it more as I get older, and I see a lot of it in what my parents and grandparents used to complain about (for my generation it was TV and early computers and video games), but it seems to be getting exponentially worse. I have a feeling (with plenty of evidence to back it up) that as the human race evolves technologically, they are receding quickly in intelligence as that technology does more of the thinking for them. Just as my parents complained about my generation beginning to use calculators and missing out on practical math skills, I see plenty of younger adults who can't grasp simple practical concepts of science, math, physics, and lots of other areas of basic intelligence. They simply (G)google it. Then they believe the first return they get, regardless of the source, and they are easily manipulated in this manner many times each day.

So back to the main topic... I see many examples of this often on ATC channels on YouTube, AUS seems to be a hotbed of ATC mistakes and we're going to have a big incident/accident if it continues, destroying decades of advances in air traffic safety gains.

I saw a report of a recent accident (fatal) where a small plane hit tower guy wires literally seconds after its pilot made a TikTok post. Wow.

I have a feeling (with plenty of evidence to back it up) that as the human race evolves technologically, they are receding quickly in intelligence as that technology does more of the thinking for them.

I used to be able to drag phone numbers out of my memory from 20 years earlier. These days, I just add people to my contacts and have no idea what anyone's number is. The skill of memorising long strings of numbers has definitely atrophied, and I can no longer do it when I need to.

Queso wrote:Then they believe the first return they get, regardless of the source, and they are easily manipulated in this manner many times each day.

Prime example: This obvious CGI goes viral because people think it's real



But yes, carry on the way we're going, and it may well be.

I'm wondering what happened to our two lawyers... Boris and Halls120.

Others off the top my head: IFEMaster, Airfoilsguy, Queso, AndesSMF, PA110...

Mark wrote:I'm wondering what happened to our two lawyers... Boris and Halls120.

Others off the top my head: IFEMaster, Airfoilsguy, Queso, AndesSMF, PA110...

Ummm, scroll up.

PA110 just very recently posted a Trip Report.

"You're not imagining it. It's everywhere. And many of the new guys just suck, and they don't care if people get hurt."

Emphasis mine.

There is certainly a lack of pride in one's work that is becoming more and more common. In safety sensitive industries, that spells disaster. I've witnessed quite a few "near misses" in the non-movement area where pilots just aren't fully engaged in aircraft operations. Not just student pilots (of which there are a lot), but experienced pilots of crewed aircraft.

I've met people who are responsible for fueling aircraft that don't feel it's a "big deal" if an aircraft that requires FSII doesn't get it.

Lucas wrote:This leads me to worry that we are not long from having another Tenerife.

I don't know if we're quite there...yet...but certainly we're headed for an increase in stuff like CFIT, Colgan 3407, and the mid-air at APA.

Sorry for the delay in responding. I have most of August/September off, so I've been mostly on SATCOM, other than when I've been climbing mountains to call my dear esposa.

Shyflyer brings up CFIT, and that's important. I'll just say that I am "terrifyingly familiar" with jets ending up thousands of feet below the MVA and seconds away from CFIT during IMC on the missed approach because the pilots had a combination of literally "what mountains?" and not knowing how to fly the missed. Or of jets zipping off the runway and later having pilots admit that they hadn't bothered to look at the airport diagram prior to landing.

The state of controlling has not been much better, and perhaps worse. "Saved by the TCAS" was a funny sticker, but not it's becoming real. I wonder how much stuff avoids making the news, and in the case of some places, is swept under the rug, or simply not reported at all.

Queso, it isn't just AUS, either. And due to a lack of manpower, and a lack of caring, for those who DO care, it's almost impossible to take action to remove "the danger" from the system, if you catch my drift. Incidents happen now that back in 2016 would result in immediate action being taken to decertify people or worse, yet in many areas of the NAS today, those same actions today just result in more paperwork and little else.

Perhaps it's just a comment on where we are as a society.

Mark wrote:I'm wondering what happened to our two lawyers... Boris and Halls120.

Others off the top my head: IFEMaster, Airfoilsguy, Queso, AndesSMF, PA110...

I'm still around, mostly in lurker mode these days. It's been quite a few years since I was working in aviation-adjacent companies so generally have less to say.

miamiair wrote:

Mark wrote:I'm wondering what happened to our two lawyers... Boris and Halls120.

Others off the top my head: IFEMaster, Airfoilsguy, Queso, AndesSMF, PA110...

Ummm, scroll up.

PA110 just very recently posted a Trip Report.

I talk to Alan often . . . . maybe he just think's your a busybody?

There is a crisis of competency. Since diversity is our biggest strength, I think we need more diversity before it gets better.

Last week this was on display at APA. 17L was NOTAM'd closed for maintinance. I'm not sure if the prohibition of pattern work was NOTAM'd or not, but with 17R being used for arrivals & departures, Tower wasn't having it.

You would think that area flight training organizations would have been aware...or at least considered...that APA wasn't the place for training that day, that they would have stayed away. Nope. Controllers were audibly frustrated with the amount of pilots asking for pattern work and acting confused and frustrated when the request was denied. Training outfits based at APA either cancelled lessons that day or took advantage of CFO's nearly empty airspace.

There were more than a few corporate flight crews who realized too late that they'd taken on too much fuel and wouldn't be able to depart from the shorter runway.

One has to be actively disengaged to not "become familiar with all available information concerning that flight." It's so easy to check them.


On a somewhat related note, I learned that once upon a time OPS received a complaint from a pilot. The pilot was upset that the mobile Lighted X Marker was too big. "If someone landed on that runway, they'd clip it with their landing gear."

Hey all, I'm still here. Well, sort of.

My role at my company has changed and I'm now swamped most of the time. I'm gradually morphing into CTO, trying to drag my company out of the technological stone ages, but within absurdly tight budgetary constraints.

I can definitely identify with the topic at hand. We all seem to be under 24/7 digital bombardment, whether it's work emails, SMS, TV, gaming, or social media. I think this is slowly rewiring everyone's brains. For those of us of a (cough) certain age (cough), we remember back before the digital explosion when rotary dial phones were the norm, and you had to write or type actual letters and put a stamp on them. Life in general required more hands-on practical skills with few if any aids.

Further, there were far more clearly defined authoritative sources on most topics. While digital publishing and media has "democratized" access to information, it has done an appalling poor job of qualifying that information. Now anyone and everyone can publish anything, which is already having a terrible effect.

The most recent era of "Do your own research" is ample proof that 100 people will find 100 different sources, each confirming their own inherent biases. This is not good for society.

Sorry, this is starting to sound like a bit of a rant, but there you have it. I'm happy to read anyone else's take on it.

Covid saw a huge increase in older, more experienced pilots, dispatchers, maintainers, and ATC personal retiring either on early outs or aged out. The resulting loss of "tribal knowledge" has greatly affected a lot of operations. It'll be years before it's regained and probably a few tragedies will result from the loss.