Ian Foster

FAA proposed a rule with the aim to enhance safety of flight. What comments has this proposal drawn? Most of the comments were submitted by or on behalf of airlines flying freight into Afghanistan. These airlines do not care about flight safety, they care about all the money they are making flying there. Management personnel of these airlines is not risking anything by flying into Afghanistan - they are never on those flights - they are safe in their US offices. If one of their aircraft is lost - the insurance will pay for it. They are charging customers a lot of money for those flights - since everyone knows how hazardous they are. So they have a vested interest in this SFAR being defeated. The people who risk their lives by operating these flights - the pilots, mechanics, and loadmasters - don't have any choice. They applied for jobs with civilian US based airlines, being told that they will carry freight worldwide. They were not told nor they expected to have to work in the middle of a war zone. Now they are told that they have a choice between flying into Afghanistan or being fired. During their flights into Afghanistan they have seen rocket attacks, mortar attacks, small arms fire, bombs exploding. They do not want to be there and risk their lives to enhance the bottom lines of their employers - they know flying there is unsafe, they know civilian operators are not prepared or equipped for it, and they mostly support this SFAR.