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Thursday 10 October 2013
HOW KOREA PUT A STOP TO THEIR PLANE CRASHES by Martin Udogie
On the face of it, it had no business crashing… It was a Boeing 747, the model known in the aviation world as the “Classic”. The aircraft was in perfect working condition. It had once been the Korean Presidential plane.
In 1977, 20 years before this very crash (of Flight 801), a Boeing 707 had wandered off into Russian airspace. It was promptly shot down.
You just couldn’t do that then; otherwise, they’ll shoot first, and apologise later.
In 1979, a 747 crashed in Seoul, capital city. Two incidents in two years is not a good sign in aviation. It is alarming.
Three years later, (1982), another 747 crashed; followed by a 707 in 1987, then two more crashes in 1989, and another in 1994.
To put all this in context, crash rate for an airline like the American carrier, United Airline in the 10-year period 1988 to 1998 was 0.27 per million departures, which means a crash rate of about once in every 4 million flights. Yes, 1 crash every 4 million flights.
By contrast, the Korean rate was 4.79 crashes per one million departures – more than 17 times higher than United Airline safety record.
At one time, even the South Korean President, Kim Dae-Jung felt compelled to speak up, saying:
[..“The issue of Korean Air is not a matter of an individual company but a matter of the whole country,” he said. “Our country’s credibility is at stake.”..]
But then a small miracle happened. Korean Air turned itself around. Its safety record since 1999 is spotless. Aviation experts now cite is as safe as any airline in the world. So what happened?
Really small stuff. But the kind that the so called “experts” overlook.
According to the book, Outlier, by Malcolm Gladwell, the typical accidents involve 7 consecutive human errors.
In the case of South Korea, it was a problem of too much RESPECT. The Koreans are known for being excessively respectful and differential to their elders. Which is a good thing, but not necessarily when you’re 30,000 feet above sea level.
The American consultant who came to review the national dilemma, after all the hard, intensive studies, spotted something strange.
That when airborne, the junior flight crew (flight officers, etc) don’t dare talk directly, let alone challenge, the flight captains, even when they are doing things wrong. Or misinterpreting flight signals; or information on weather, etc.
Instead they will be HINTING. A case was where the Flight Officer was saying “Captain the weather radar has helped us a lot”….in response to the Captain failing to follow routine weather checks that led to a crash.
The Simple Solution? The Consultant asked all crew members to be more assertive when they are air-borne. And for all air crew to now use FIRST NAME only.
And that directive, for crew members to start using first-name only in flight, thereby reducing the fear of rank and hierarchy, turned Korea’s air-safety record around.
Sometimes, all it takes to solve a huge problem, is common sense….but as we also know, common sense is not always common.
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Martin Udogie, Publisher, Trainer and Programme Host for the Radio Nigeria Network, wrote in from Lagos.
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