Originally Posted by
TimJ
Very thought out and sane post. However, I do not think this will never happen within the AMA. Such a program would hold the AMA more accountable of it's actions and "Safety Guidelines".
Thank you.
I agree. I fear that nothing will change until after there's a major accident / injury -- then I fear it will be too late.
The regulators and litigators will start digging through AMA documents, deposing AMA officials, the Contest Director, etc. and asking questions about what formal training have they had in safety, what formal training or experience in aircraft structural design & test, in aerodynamics, in policy making and implementation, etc. Then later those people will be called to testify in court, where they'll have to admit that they don't have much in the way of formal training, and that they really don't see themselves as being responsible for enforcement of their own "guidelines." Contrast that with what will appear for the other side, a parade of people with formal training in safety program management, formal training in aviation safety, and a virtual parade of witnesses placing AMA officials at events where they knew or should have known their own guidelines were not being followed -- and they did nothing. It'll be abundantly clear the "programming" they sold to FAA and legislators isn't much more than paper.
At that point the legislators will get involved, and there'll be a quick update to section 336. Meanwhile, back at AMA, they'll be selling off assets to try and pay the settlement costs.
Doom and gloom, perhaps. But in today's mass media / litigious society, can we afford to rely on luck?