Dear Members,
We have recently received several anonymous incident reports made through the Incident/Accident Report form. The SAHPA committee has considered each of these, and we find that these do not qualify as incidents.
In December, we received an anonymous report that stated “It has come to my attention that apparently [pilot] had an accident, flying a passenger into a [obstacle], at [location] sometime in Decemer, and that [pilot] was unable to fly for a period afterwards, meaning [pilot]’s medical would have been invalidated as well, as [pilot] was hospitalised. You might want to look into that. Injuries: Apparently hospitalisation, but unsure.“. This is gossip based on hearsay, not a witness report.
In the most recent case, a person anonymously reported an instructor for doing a tandem training flight with a Sports-rated pilot, stating “Tandem training from a sports license site is strictly forbidden. However, [instructor] seems to flout the rules. Have a look at [pilot]’s facebook page, it is clearly shown and stated there.“
The committee has deliberated this complaint and cannot find any rule or regulation which has been broken. Unfortunately, as the submission was anonymous, the SAHPA committee cannot obtain further information from the complainant.
Anonymous Incident Reports
We want to encourage and develop a culture which is open, transparent and fair.
One of the principles of fairness, is that the complainee has the right to face the complainant. Unfortunately, anonymous complaints do not allow this, resulting in unresolvable conflict and discord.
For this reason, the SAHPA committee has decided to disable anonymous witness reports on the SAHPA website. Witness reports are a necessary part of the safety process and will still remain confidential.
regards
The SAHPA Committee