Virgin Aust. pilot suing for $1m

[Nigel C]

From http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-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]

Originally Posted by Owen H

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...