Aircraft Engineers International deplores both the current media circus and the criminal investigation surrounding the Spanair tragedy.

AEI wishes to implicitly state that there is absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing by the maintenance engineers involved in this accident. A position supported by the preliminary accident report. The engineers actions at all times were in full compliance with all company procedural manuals and European regulations.

The media and the public should also understand that there is an established process in place allowing aircraft to continue flying with minor defects. This is a completely normal situation and used globally on a daily basis, literally hundreds of times by all airlines. As long as the approved procedures are followed, as in this case, there is absolutely no cause for concern.

Furthermore any allowable technical limitations proposed by engineers would have been thoroughly discussed with the Captain who ultimately must decide whether to accept or decline the proposal. This again is completely normal and highlights the close co-operation and teamwork involved between pilots and engineers.

The AEI Executive Board fully supports ASETMA during these difficult times and will do all that it can in defence of its members. However this and other incidents does once again highlight just how important it is for the regulators to ensure the prompt implementation of  “SMS” (Safety Management System).
SMS an ICAO legal requirement for all airlines and maintenance organisations from January 2009 should ensure that a “just” culture prevails within the airline industry rather than a “blame” culture.

A “just” culture will uncover the root cause of such tragedies, preventing a reoccurrence whilst at the same time apportioning blame where appropriate.
A “blame” culture however tends to accuse the weakest link in the chain rather than those responsible and only rarely prevents a reoccurrence. 

Of course we would all have preferred that this accident had not occurred and the relatives of the victims have a right to find out exactly what happened on that fateful day. However a rush to justice or a trial by media will not provide any long term comfort and in fact will probably only prolong the suffering.

Therefore AEI calls on the Spanish authorities to be thorough in their investigations but patient as to apportioning blame.
The prime goal at the moment must be to investigate and uncover exactly what happened and why. As such the Spanish legal infrastructure should do all it can to ensure that criminal proceedings do not interfere with that investigation.

Robert Alway
AEI PR Committee Chairman