Still the safest way to travel

THE most dangerous part of your journey when you’re flying is the trip to and from the airport.

Undeniably, flying is still the safest form of transport by far. This did not happen by chance or on a wing and a prayer, and I’ll address this later.

I’ve been a pilot for 45 years and for the last almost five years, I’ve been flying with AirAsia. It was very heartening to note that AirAsia won the Best Low Cost Carrier (LCC) in the World award again, and that’s nine years in a row now. Yes, a Malaysia-born and bred company is no mere jaguh kampung but world class.

As in the proverbial iceberg model, what is visible is only one-tenth of the whole picture. The amount of work that goes behind the scene to achieve this is phenomenal.

We are very proud that AirAsia is the best LCC in the world but let me tell you there’s nothing cheap about our maintenance, operations or safety.

In order to be world class, you need to have a world class support team. And they are mostly the two, three and four series. Very few are in the five series and fewer still in the six.

If you visit the Training Centre in Sepang, don’t be surprised to bump into someone in their seven series. Years of experience are passed on to the younger pilots.

The safest aircraft is the one in the hangar, defuelled, which no one is allowed to be near because the single biggest reason for aircraft incident and accident is people failure i.e human factor.

The common perception among the public is that the computer flies the plane. It’s like saying the computer generates the annual report.

The computer is an enabler. It’s just a tool. Someone must be trained to use and manage the tool and take over when the chips are down. This is what human factor is all about, the interface of man-machine-procedures-environment-man.

Every year, an AirAsia pilot spends 10 days in training – three days in safety and emergency procedures, three in technical and human factors, and four in the simulator.

They also undergo an annual medical checkup. Pilots above 40 years old have to do this once every six months.

On top of that, everything we say and do in the cockpit is recorded in the black boxes. I don’t think there’s any other profession that is more regulated and stringent than a pilot’s. We embrace this. The safety of our passengers demands this.

It was quite stressful in the beginning. My coping mechanism is simply this: “Take care of number one. If I’m safe, so are my passengers.”

No, we pilots are not daredevils or risk takers who throw caution to the wind. We also want to go back to our loved ones at the end of the day.

One thing we need to develop is our skill in addressing the public. We are very well trained (and I know this for a fact) but we are not good orators. We can handle the emergencies, go through the procedures, complete the checklist under tremendous pressure and all the while being recorded, but alas we fumble sometimes when we speak to our guests. In these days of political correctness and fake news, there’s very little that can be said that would not offend someone.

Take prayers, for example. In my mind, to verbalise this to your guests is leaving it in the hands of God. But God helps those who help themselves. As a pilot, I’ve done all that is within my capabilities (with present communication technology, advice can come from anywhere in the world) and limitations. I’ve done my emergency procedures, isolated the problematic systems, activated the backup and redundancy systems and prepared for the final approach and landing phase. I’ve done my part. I pray that He does His part. And then I give thanks to Him after a successful outcome. I’ve no problem with that. For those who have, you’re entitled to your own thoughts.

Aviation safety in Malaysia is of a very high standard. This is so not by luck or chance. The processes and procedures are meticulously designed and developed by our Department of Civil Aviation in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other Malaysian air operators.

The oversight committees are very robust. Every incident and intrusion is thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately. Safety is a very serious business in aviation in general, and for the pilots in particular as we are most certainly the very first one at the scene of the accident.

How very quickly time flies when you’re having fun. I’ve had a lot of fun doing something I love. I’ve met so many beautiful people along the way. They have touched my heart and hopefully I theirs. Many were the so-called Gen X and Y and I am the baby boomer, the old fart. It is all relative. In the eyes of my parents, I was the Gen X or Y of today. We called it the generation gap.

As I close this chapter in my life, I look forward to other adventures ahead. I believe the 60s is the new 40s. There is no time to stand and stare.

Onwards, by God’s grace.