tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post5316860615486531567..comments2024-02-10T10:20:12.925+01:00Comments on The Road to the Horizon: Italians, the Art of Flying and the Laws of ProbabilityPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05877671849645884790noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-60142479655822895502010-07-20T01:22:38.034+01:002010-07-20T01:22:38.034+01:00In August/September 1999, I was one of the pilots ...In August/September 1999, I was one of the pilots on the 'Kosovo 3275' service. We were mostly military crew, flying a South African registered CASA 235 aircraft, a Spanish built military equivalent to the ATR 42 that subsequently crashed.<br /><br />It was a great contract job flying all over the Balkans during the day and then being back in Rome every night for dinner.<br /><br />One of the most profound aspects of the contract was how upset the Italian authorities were about South African's being awarded this job on Italian own turf. <br /><br />The Italian airport management and airport police/ security went out of their way to make things difficult and unpleasant for us to work there. <br /><br />Finally at the end of September, and bowing to political pressure, the job was pulled from the South Africans and granted to an Italian charter company.<br /><br />Only weeks later the accident happen'd, the investigative results thereof are well documented on the internet. <br /><br />My own opinion is that the Italian crew were dropped into the 'deep end'. <br /><br />We had been flying through out the entire European summer and were well versed with the conditions and procedures into Pristina airport by then.<br /><br />The Italian guys had to take this job over, going into the European winter and the associated dangerously bad Balkan weather, without the benefit of having become familiar with the approach into Pristina during the fine weather summer months.<br /><br />Additionally, the situation in Kosovo at the time was volatile and we regularly had problems with comms and ground based equipment failures including the Pristina ground based ILS being driven over by a Russian tank, thereby rendering the Instrument approach system unservicable for weeks.<br /><br />I think someone made a bad and ill thought out decision to switch the operation going into winter weather flying conditions.<br /><br />Possibly things would have been different.<br /><br />Just my humble opinion though....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-22468055564483438222009-11-28T21:17:10.157+01:002009-11-28T21:17:10.157+01:00What do you mean with that final "Italians......What do you mean with that final "Italians...."?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629351372307923.post-39416992903012599932007-03-08T14:11:00.000+01:002007-03-08T14:11:00.000+01:00I took part in the search for the crashsite. Good ...I took part in the search for the crashsite. Good writing!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13145481258559185866noreply@blogger.com