Virgin Aust. pilot suing for $1m

[Nigel C]

From http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/information-overload-pilot-sues-virgin-australia-over-injury/story-e6freuzi-1226264136062

This could be an interesting test case....


A VIRGIN Australia pilot is suing the budget airline for more than $1 million in lost earnings and medical expenses because he had to carry flight charts instead of having them provided digitally on an iPad.

David Linton Kloster, 57, claimed he injured his back lifting his 18kg flight bag which contained aviation charts and manuals, after catching the work shuttle bus on December 29, 2009.

In documents lodged in the Queensland Supreme Court, Mr Kloster alleged the injury would not have occurred had Virgin Australia stored the information electronically on an iPad, rather than requiring pilots to carry the information.

"The defendant (Virgin Australia) exposed the plaintiff (Mr Kloster) to a risk of injury which could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care," documents said.

"(Virgin Australia) failed to have in place a system of work whereby charts and rules could have been left on board its aircraft or kept electronically on an iPad."



As a result of the lower back injury sustained by Mr Kloster, the first officer was facing a future economic loss of $817,546, medical expenses of $112,182 and special damages of $76,080, said the affidavit. He is also claiming $65,000 in general damages.

Among special expenses are the cost of lawn mowing, car washing, housekeeping and tree lopping, activities he was unable to do because of injury.

He underwent surgery in June 2010 and was suffering a "major depressive disorder" as a result of his injuries which diminished his ability to sleep.

Virgin Australia is yet to formally respond to the lawsuit filed last month and corporate affairs manager Emma Copeman said they were yet to receive notification of the legal action.

"However Virgin Australia takes its obligations with respect to protecting the health and safety of those involved in its operations very seriously," Ms Copeman said.

"Virgin Australia is committed to creating a workplace that is free from accident and injury by diligently promoting healthy and safe management and work practices and by extensive and ongoing training of our people."

A spokesman for Qantas pilots said the airline was planning to introduce the digital storage of maps and aviation charts later this year.

He said most pilots did not consider carrying the material to be "particularly onerous".

[Matt Coughran]

well this is a bit of a failure... because the iPad wasn't released until 2010...

[Andrew Johnson]

18kgs. Is he a 40kgs weakling ?

Is there so sort of minimum weight for a pilot ?

[Dave Dale]

Jeremy,

Sitting in an airplane seat for 13 hours causes back problems! Sorry to be cynical, but this lawsuit is just another indication on how Americanised Australia is. Let's sue for anything. Maybe a harden up pill would suffice...

Dave

[Owen H]

To all those who say "harden up"... have you looked at the way the aircraft are designed with stowages? Cockpits are not designed very well ergonomically speaking, and to get your bags in and out often takes some very interesting twisting and turning.

Back injuries are not uncommon amongst pilots, and they are certainly not helped by having to carry additional heavy documentation unnecessarily.

You might be interested to know that many other airlines manage the chart documentation themselves and provide a flight library on board the aircraft, avoiding the necessity of carrying charts between aircraft. One airline changed only a few years ago from carry your own to a flight library, quite possibly for this very reason.

The point is there are a number of perfectly acceptable ways to have charts available on the aircraft without having pilots lugging them around, especially if there is a significant number of charts carried.

[Andrew Johnson]

What's he going to do sue me ? Good luck.

I used to carry more than that in my school bag everyday.

What a privolous case. Hope it gets thrown out before it starts.

[Dave Dale]

To all those who say "harden up"... .

You could have just addressed this to me, it was me after all!

Secondly, he should harden up.

I don't know how we all got through our days before ipads and the like. Bad backs, bad hearts, cancers, lymphoma, diabetes, the list never ends! If I searched hard enough, I could find a dozen businesses to sue because they never did something to make sure I did not develop any of these illnesses/diseases.

However, as it is his right, go and sue Virgin Australia, get as much as you can from them. They might even delay a payment on a new 737 so he can have his $1 million. :)

Dave

[Owen H]

The money issue is not one I am interested in - however I have learned that, sadly, many big businesses will not change their practices until someone actually takes them to court. You can have OHS committees until the cows come home, but until they are standing in front of a judge, nothing will change.

Whether he gets $1mil or $1 is irrelivant to me. What is relevant is that pilots carrying a few kgs of their own charts around in a major international carrier is lunacy and shouldn't be happening when there are perfectly viable alternatives that are used all around the world, be it iPads or having the charts as part of the flight library.

Its sad people are still of the harden up mentality. Large organisations should be required to give serious consideration to health and safety. While in some office businesses it has been taken far too far, I don't think its too tough to expect an airline to reduce the unnecessary weight a crew have to carry.

[Bernie P]

Afternoon all,

Does anyone happen to know, if used at all, if there are SWMS (Safe Work Method Statements) for this activity, and if there is anything, what would a score be?

I know that at work, the top 10 SWMS are reviewed 6 monthly, whilst the remaining are annual. Each staff member is 'inducted' with the SWMS before doing that specific task.

NOW, had the pilot been inducted into the task, following the SWMS and therefore did everything right in accordance to the SWMS, then fine, there is clearly something wrong with that particular workplace environment, and maybe litigation may be necessary to 'fix' the problem. Alternatively, if he acted outside the SWMS, then the individual themselves are liable for the actions to which may have occurred, and why should the employer be held accountable?

I understand that yes, the front office is a tight area and limited for space, and if there are better ways for the information to be held (onboard, electronically or what ever), then perhaps the carrier(s) should invest in making alternatives available in the near future...

(What’s to say, that a pilot could go out and purchase an iPad (or similar) and acquire the charts for the various airfields at own expense, and either claim on tax in the first year or depreciate over the schedule of say, 5-7 years? I also note the expense involved, but the expense of a back injury is far more... (from personal experience))

[Steve S... 2]

... I reckon he is trying to set himself up for a nice healthy retirement...

[Dave Dale]

That's the culture of the internet, where it is common for people to 'stir things up'.

To Owen and Chris and others like minded,

No I am not sitting here trying to stir things up. What a cop out!

No where have we read that this pilot has tried to influence risk management at Virgin to change this practice, no where have we read that the pilot has taken the matter to task with Virgin, or report it through some chain of command. Has any of this occurred? Has there been engagement of occupational health and safety? Was this a first resort approach to an end result? Virgin obviously had a system in place for flight charts which worked for many years that even themselves would have thought not to be too onerous on the pilot.

We only ever hear one side of the story and in this case, it was from documentation filed with the Supereme Court by the plaintiff. We have not heard the response from Virgin. I stand by my assertion that the pilot should harden up. I anticipate a very good response from Virgin in relation to this matter.

I do not know you, Owen and Chris, but to call me an ínternet stirrer', perhaps I should see you both sitting behind the said pilot, in the gallery of the Supreme Court with your placards, "Poor pilot, how could this have been?''

Dave

[Montague S]

What's he going to do sue me ? Good luck.

I used to carry more than that in my school bag everyday.

What a privolous case. Hope it gets thrown out before it starts.

I helped a mate with a back injury by lifting his 15kg TV, I was out of action for nearly 3 years...your reply is what's frivolous.

[Jakef]

Does Virgin Australia allow electronic devices to be used during landing and takeoff? Their website wasn't very clear - it mention phones and transmitting devices with airplane mode.

If there are policies banning the use of electronic devices during landing or takeoff, then that sort of prevents the use of iPad as an electronic flight bag.

That's irrelevant, the iPad (In flight mode) isn't a transmitting device so it can safely be used, especially by the pilots when it's their choice to use them.

[matthew mcdonald]

I agree with Andrew from the point of veiw that, to get a job doing lifting of any sorts (baggage handler etc) you would have had to have a medical or at least basic training to teach you how to lift a bag of heavy weight the correct way. (Bending down and not using your back completely) In this case the bag wasn't the heaviest bag but it was of a weight that the captain should have adjusted to compensate for the weight. So I dont believe Andrew's post was wrong just wrongly worded.

[Owen H]

Pilots cannot just suddenly start using them - it would need to be approved by the company.

A pilot does not have a choice - if the company requires charts, and insists the pilot provide them, then he must do so. He cannot choose to mitigate this by the use of the iPad or similar device unless they are specifically approved.

The law suit may be frivolous... but it comes as a very big surprise to me that Virgin still insist pilots provide their own charts on the aircraft. Virgin are a major international carrier. That is the big surprise here to me. A back injury suffered by a pilot is no surprise at all.

[Kirk C]

Andrew I suggest you go fill a bag with 18kg's of something and try lugging it around an airport on your shoulder or back - it's not a light as it sounds! Even if it was a wheelie bag, lifting in and out of busses, into cupboards a few times a day could easily cause back problems.

I'd also suggest since this bloke is in the mood for a lawsuit, going onto a public forum and calling him a weakling probably isn't the smartest move.

Hi Jeremy, im 26 years old, and only weigh 70 KG's I dont have a lot of muscle, I dont consider my self strong, however for 2 years I carried two (some times four if there was a cycle change out over night) Jepperson bags on and off JQ A320s, using an Aerobridge Jacobs ladder, in and out of our Van, and up and down our office stairs, I never once sustained an injury nor did I ever think they were two heavy.

[Gareth Forwood]

To bring some law into this, rather than all the "harden up" comments, I have copied the following from the WorkCover (NSW) website:

A primary duty of care is owed by [an employer] when it:

directs or influences work carried out by a worker
engages or causes to engage a worker to carry out work (including through subcontracting)
has management or control of a workplace.


The [employer] must meet its obligations, so far as is reasonably practicable, to provide a safe and healthy workplace for workers or other persons by ensuring:

safe systems of work
a safe work environment
...
adequate information, training, instruction and supervision is given


Basically, this guy has a reasonable case if he can demonstrate that practicable and safer alternatives were available and that he wasn't provided adequate training. Now all the "harden up" people are going to say that you shouldn't need training for lifting a 16kg bag, but the lower back is generally not particularly strong and using the wrong lifting technique can cause damage. Now, if he was given training on the proper way to lift, then it may be more difficult to prove damages.

I would be honestly amazed if he never received any lifting guidance - in this day and age of lawsuits, almost every employer has a compulsory H&S induction, including lifting techniques. I'm an engineer and will likely never lift anything heavier than a pad of paper in my career, but I still had the training.

[Matt Coughran]

I'm an engineer and will likely never lift anything heavier than a pad of paper in my career, but I still had the training.

What do you mean? you don't even lift a pen to go with that pad of paper you bludger!

But Gareth is right, regarding if there is a legal case, But again I dont think there was many large forms of technology that supported electronic books back then, and from my knowledge not CASA approved.

[Mike Scott]

ust fyi..I'm currently out on 30 days disability after helping a older lady get her bag out of the overhead (so we working crew could get past to exit the aircraft ...f/a's were busy with other Pax. Bag must have been full of rocks (weighed a bunch) but i pulled it out the wrong way not expecting the weight and pulled a back muscle....and I have no history of back problems !!! Bottom line is that after filling in a proverbial bag full of paperwork (how why when where etc) and trying to explain how this was/is part of my job description (company say's not) I now have the union involved and now am in the middle of one big mess. Sue ??? Probably not since I'm confident in my union rep...but, interesting thought !!! Regardless of how many ipads/pods/or Iwhatevers they give me they will all go in my flight bag along with all my other crap....been carrying it for almost 40 years...not about to go without it now (for the time when all the other stuff fails...anyway..doing Jepps updates is therapeutic ....goes great with a beer or three...plan B is that it helps pass the time when commuting....and I dont have to recharge it !!!!

Aloha from HNL
MS