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Posted for "Curtis Wray" <Curtis.Wray@dynetics.com>:
Brent,
OK Curtis, who then is responsible for the safety of a stick of dynamite?
The manufacturer, to one degree or another, along with the consumer. For
example, if the manufacturer represents the dynamite as safe for storage
below 20C and while storing it at 15C it detonates, the manufacturer is
responsible. On the other hand, if I use it to stir the coals in my campfire
and it denotes, well...the responsibility is all mine.
or a hand grenade?
The manufacturer and the consumer.
If you pick up a gun and I tell you that it is loaded and, if you put it
to your head and pull the trigger you will die and you do put it to your
head and pull the trigger am I in any way responsible?
No
Back when I could tolerate having employees, I used to ask potential
employment candidates the following: You (the candidate) take an egg and
place it in the middle of a busy road. A car runs over the egg. Who is
responsible for the destruction of the egg, you or the driver of the car? I
would only hire those that accepted the responsibility for the destruction
of the egg as it was reasonable for them to anticipate the eggs fate.
Don't really see how this relates. The egg was not manufactured and sold for
profit by your company. Try this...if your egg, placed by your company
employee, causes my family car to skid, overturn and kill everyone, is your
company responsible in any way?
Has Lancair, in any way, misrepresented their products?
Let's talk on this one offlist.
Has ANYONE told you that the IV stalls like a C172 or that you can fly
through a thunderstorm or icing with no problem, or the plane will fly for
another 100 miles after it has run out of fuel, or that all that maintenance
stuff is not needed, or it is OK to use aluminum oil fittings on turbo hot
sections?
No
Lancair is only responsible to the extent that they gave you the
opportunity to put yourself in harms way. Would you blame your parents for
giving you life?
Yes, if they were not responsible parents and properly prepared (e.g. they
let me starve in a back alley somewhere). You would agree that they ARE
responsible for my safety, to one degree or another wouldn't you?
From a safe pilot's perspective, your statement quoted above is completely
wrong thinking and unsafe.
Obviously I disagree with you on this. I in no way relinquished the pilot
from responsibility for safety of those things in his control.
As part of your recovery I would recommend that you repeat the phrase "As
pilot in command I have the sole responsibility for the safe operation of my
aircraft." followed by the Naval Aviators' saying "Everyone is trying to
kill me." until you truly believe both of them.
I do this every time I fly (well...not the naval aviator thing, I am a USAF
guy!). By the way, if the pilot has SOLE responsibility why then are
manufacturers held responsible for safety defects, or air traffic
controllers for operational safety blunders, etc.
Should you fail to accept this responsibility and, say, allow a controller
to vector you into a thunderstorm, your surviving family members may be able
to convince a jury of non aviators that Lancair is somehow responsible for
your stupidity, but it won't do YOU a damn bit of good.
I agree with you 110%.
It is hard for me to believe that you have that much heartburn with my
comments. I in no way blamed Lancair for this most recent crash or slandered
the company in anyway. If I felt it was Lancair's fault I would be talking
directly with Joe Bartels and if appropriate safety changes were not
implemented I would no longer be a LIVPT builder. I made it perfectly clear
that the builder/pilot must accept responsibility where appropriate. My SOLE
point was that Lancair cannot be completely absolved of responsibility for
safety of a design and manufactured kit from which they profit. If I had
done the design engineering and the manufacturing of my kit, which I then
constructed and flew, I would be 100% responsible. That is not the case,
however.
Brent, if your wing spar were to fail, well within load limits, and it was
discovered this was due to an internal manufacturing defect (which you could
not possibly assess, inspect or otherwise be aware of) who would be
responsible?
I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I will
stop this thread from my end to prevent boring the rest of the list, or
otherwise infuriating members due to a misunderstanding. If you would like
to carry the discussion further I would be happy to do so off list.
Curtis
LIVPT
[ offlist this goes... Curtis, pls consider a certifyed
plane. http://lp.org/ -Rob ]
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