Was $35,000 Too Much to Save Kobe & Friends?

It might not have mattered, but we know it could save lives. It’s called a terrain awareness and warning system, or TAWS, a system that is designed to warn pilots that they are flying dangerously close to the ground. It’s not cheap; average installation cost for this upgrade is about $35,000, and it adds one more element that requires a pilot’s attention. Until 2006, the technology to allow this detection system on helicopters did not exist. It certainly does now. Kobe’s helicopter, flying in very foggy weather on Sunday, January 26^th, might have benefitted from having a TAWS. But it did not have one.

While this seems stupid – to avoid an installation of an obviously important monitoring device – it is a debate that has consumed two federal agencies: one that is concerned with air safety (the National Transportation Safety Board, which inspects all US air crashes) against another that issues regulations for aircraft (the Federal Aviation Administration). As the recent failures at the FAA vis-à-vis the Boeing 737 Max illustrates, it seems that the regulator – consistent with other Trump-appointed regulatory bodies – is way too cozy with the industry it is trying to regulate.

Writing for the January 30^th Los Angeles Times, Adam Elmahrek and Kiera Feldman explain this rift between governmental agencies: “It is not clear that a terrain awareness and warning system, or TAWS, would have prevented the wreck, but National Transportation Safety Board investigators probing the crash’s cause have drawn attention to the chopper’s lack of a warning system.

“‘Certainly, TAWS could have helped to provide information to the pilot on what terrain the pilot was flying in,’ NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Tuesday [1/28].

“The NTSB has argued for a decade and a half that the systems prevent crashes and should be mandatory in helicopters that can accommodate six or more passengers, such as the Sikorsky S-76 that carried Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

“But its efforts have been turned aside by another government agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, which sets rules for aircraft.

“The NTSB began pushing for a TAWS requirement after a 2004 helicopter crash into the Gulf of Mexico that killed 10.

“That crash involved a Sikorsky model very similar to the one in which Bryant and the copter’s other occupants died. According to the board, the two pilots in the 2004 crash were flying on a ‘dark night’ and failed to recognize their descent and correct it, resulting in a ‘controlled flight’ into the ocean.

“During the investigation, the NTSB concluded that TAWS could have alerted the pilots to the water below, giving them time to avoid the fatal plunge and ‘save the lives of all aboard.’

“A subsequent board review of 55 previous helicopter and plane crashes determined that 17 of them might have been prevented by TAWS.

“In 2000, the FAA required airplanes carrying six or more passengers to be outfitted with TAWS. At the time, the technology wasn’t workable on helicopters, but it had improved enough by 2006 to be required on those aircraft as well, the NTSB said.

“Some in the aviation industry balked at requiring TAWS, saying that the technology was mostly unproven.

“In comments submitted to the FAA in response to one proposal, some criticized the system as a ‘distraction in the cockpit’ that ‘doesn’t give the pilot the ability to see/avoid bad weather.’ Cost was also an issue. The systems can run $35,000, with operators losing additional revenue during the installation process.

“The FAA made TAWS mandatory for air ambulances in 2014, but the system remains voluntary in commercial helicopters. The NTSB called the decision ‘unacceptable.’

“The FAA said in a prepared statement that commercial helicopters operate in populated areas ‘relying on a robust network of routes and landing facilities.’”

We seem to have a government that is more concerned with inconvenience and cost for businesses than the safety of its citizens. Dumping toxins in public waterways is OK. Ramping back the dirtiest fossil fuel on earth (coal) as a power generating mainstay is OK. Global warming? So what or it’s a myth. Letting Boeing set the inspection parameters for its own new aircraft is OK. A few massive crashes later. Oh well. And letting commercial helicopter companies save a few bucks, that’s OK too, even if we lose a few people along the way. Get better insurance!

Kobe was an institution, an icon, a force to be reckoned with. By no means perfect, he was a man who tried and tried hard. Those sharing that Sunday flight with him were all engaged in supporting their families. There is honor for all of them. So, in memory of one of the greatest sportsmen who ever lived, may his death and the passing of those with him including three 13-year-old girls not have been in vain. Wake up FAA! For all of us. Mandate the TAWS for all commercial aircraft accordingly.

            I’m Peter Dekom, and sorry for the inconvenience federal regulators, but people actually do matter.