Time magazine recently published an article about the accident of China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735, which interviewed David Newbery, a Hong Kong-born British pilot who retired from Cathay Pacific.
He described the incident as a "huge shock" and added that "the Chinese are a little paranoid about aviation safety and will no doubt be furious about this incident", a remark that was quickly criticized by some as cold-blooded and cold-blooded. Thin and even contemptuous.
In the follow-up content of the report, Newbury further criticized China's past tendency to blame aviation accidents on a single generation of culprits, rather than focusing on building a "Just Culture" (Just Culture).
He then pointed out that the causes of aviation accidents are very complex, and punishing individuals often hides the underlying "systemic problems", such as pilots' exhaustion or lack of training, poor airframe design, and unfavorable weather conditions for flying. .
Words and deeds should take care of the victims' feelings
Regardless of whether Newbury intends to criticize China's aviation industry and related management departments, he chose to make such remarks shortly after the air crash, which does not seem to have taken good care of the victims' feelings from an objective point of view.
In particular, there are still many grudges between China and Western countries. Newbury's remarks will inevitably touch the nerves of some people, making them feel that the other party is just taking the opportunity to make another accusation against China and Europe and the United States.
Moreover, the Oxford English Dictionary lists the meaning of the word "paranoid", which states that the word usually means "displaying unnecessary or extreme fear, characterized by unreasonable or excessive suspicion of others".
Even if Newbury himself has no intention of criticizing the Chinese people's paranoia about air safety allergies, it is understandable that others may interpret this meaning through the word.
The wreckage of the crash site of the crashed China Eastern Airlines flight was very fragmented and scattered. The picture shows a larger piece of wreckage.
(China News Agency)
Furthermore, if Newbury's remarks above are at best a chance for readers to misunderstand, then his claim that China Eastern Airlines and even the Chinese aviation industry have failed to build a "just culture" is undoubtedly a gap from today's facts.
Newbury believes that the spirit of a "just culture" is to "examine all contributing factors and share responsibility across the organization," but he doesn't think China has done that.
It is generally understood that the practice of achieving a "just culture" is to divide the punishment and attribution according to the risk system, and to separate the accident investigation and the attribution investigation.
The new version of the "Regulations on Investigation of Civil Aircraft Incidents" implemented by the state in April 2020 was revised with reference to Annex 13 of the "Convention on International Civil Aviation", which embodies the spirit of "just culture".
Article 5 stipulates that the purpose of the investigation is limited to “making safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents from happening again.” In December last year, the National Civil Aviation Administration proposed to further amend this article by adding “not for the purpose of apportioning faults or responsibilities...and for the purpose of pursuing accountability.” other investigations were conducted separately," a marked departure from Newbury's statement.
Expert commentary also has a public responsibility
At present, the air accident of flight MU5735 has been investigated in accordance with the country's "Civil Aircraft Incident Investigation Regulations".
Anyone, including industry experts like Newbury, must comment on relevant events in accordance with the latest situation and regulations, rather than stick to old news and prejudice in the past.
Most people should have sympathy for the victims of the tragedy, so they should try their best to pay attention to the wording before making a speech, so as to avoid unintentional harm to others or the suspicion of being cold-blooded and cold-hearted.
Just like the outbreak of a new wave of epidemics in Hong Kong in recent months, some experts may think that their positions represent their professional views, but they forget that they are criticizing and dealing with major events that are closely related to the public interest. Advice that is too aggressive in nature, such as access to medical services.
However, no matter whether these measures are finally implemented or not, such opinions have the opportunity to cause public panic and disgust, which means they have already constituted unprovoked social harm.
Society believes in the knowledge and status of an industry expert in its field, but each event often involves many factors, which are not fully covered by experts.
Heeding expert comments without thinking can easily lead to blind faith in authority.
In the past two years, some people have criticized health experts for not caring about issues such as economic and people's livelihood, but it is true that their expertise is only in preventing and controlling the epidemic. How to balance the needs of social operations is probably not their place, and even some suggestions are too "off the ground". Not feasible.
The public should naturally trust experts more, but experts should also consciously take their public responsibilities, so that the two can have a positive interaction and communication.
Stephen Chow speaks out and criticizes foreign pilots cold-blooded about China Eastern's difficulty in provoking and criticizing foreign pilots' remarks: I am angry with the vaccine pass | Lam Cheng Shou clarifies: there is no plan to extend the China Eastern Airlines MU5735 air crash to public hospitals and clinic patients | Office of the State Council Safety Committee: Immediately carry out hidden dangers to civil aviation safety Check