FAA oversight of skydiving (was - Lodi incident)

I don't have any action to take. I'm not disgruntled with the USPA. If I was really disgruntled I would run for BOD, granted I have a masters in public administration which is important for managing non profits and am already on a couple non profit boards. If I were to complain I would make sure I am factual, provide evidence, and explain why my complaint is valid because I know there are people like me that with look at the content of what is being said. I have also never had an issue contacting my regional director. Every time I needed to it was a text or email away with a quick response. One of those was to resolve an issue and the issue was handled quickly.

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landersohn

Registered: Aug 11, 2014
Posts: 3

Oct 23, 2018, 1:51 PM
Post #29 of 31 (593 views)
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Re: [obelixtim] Fatality -- Lodi Oct 14 2018 [In reply to]
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It's kinda entertaining reading posts from people who seem to have VERY little insight into how USPA works, investigates incidents and publishes the results.
Many DZ's are voluntary USPA members and incidents are investigated, any personal information is destroyed and the lessons learned are published.

The question regarding police destroying evidence is another matter and USPA does what it can.

There are a boatload of benefits for a dz of being a USPA group member, focus on safety is one of them and the opinions voiced here that dz's would leave USPA if incidents were investigated is plain wrong. Unlike NZ (to refer to previous posts) we are kinda proud that we do not need a government agency to oversee us

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Ok, this was in Incidents, and a couple of off topic posts followed which were axed. I guessed this was aimed at me, and so responded.


Without going thru it all again, basically I pointed out that having jumped in quite a few different countries, I am quite well aware how USPA and other organisations operate (or not).

The US stands out on its own.


In NZ at least, CAA is not regarded as a scary monster, because as long as you don't draw their attention by repeated acts of stupidity, they will leave us alone. Its not really an adverserel relationship, they are more likely to help find solutions rather than wield the big stick. And they will back off a dispute if you present your points logically.

They prefer skydiving to run its own affairs, and one of the advantages of being a small country is that skydive operators all know each other pretty well, and its pretty easy to get consensus, especially when it comes to operations. Any screw ups reflect on all,so there is strong motivation to keep standards high.

Adventure activities in NZ are pretty important to the economy, so regulations give a fair bit of freedom to operators to do their thing. The attitude is more like "how can we make it happen" rather than "you can't..."

It really helps that there is no culture of suing at the drop of a hat, which as I see it is a huge negative for the US.

And that seems to drive the reluctance to disseminate information which could reduce incidents.

Most other countries seem to do OK. To an outsider, the US system seems broken.

You're not disgruntled? So you don't think there is sufficient evidence to prove that USPA's recent decisions are inconsistent with their stated mission?

Re-read this thread brother. Re-read the one regarding the most recent BOD meeting in Wisconsin. I'd also challenge you to go a step further and sift through the publicly available information from the USPA, FAA, and elsewhere for the facts associated with the discussions we've had here. I'm currently working on my second master's and I have to say there is plenty of factual information out there to write a thesis or even a dissertation on some of these topics.

In regards to your ease of reaching your regional director, all I can say is lucky you. It would also be just as improper to judge the USPA as a whole on the strengths of one person as it would be to do the same on the shortcomings of another, single person. Not all regional directors are created equal.

-JD-

skyfox2007

You're not disgruntled? So you don't think there is sufficient evidence to prove that USPA's recent decisions are inconsistent with their stated mission?

Re-read this thread brother. Re-read the one regarding the most recent BOD meeting in Wisconsin. I'd also challenge you to go a step further and sift through the publicly available information from the USPA, FAA, and elsewhere for the facts associated with the discussions we've had here. I'm currently working on my second master's and I have to say there is plenty of factual information out there to write a thesis or even a dissertation on some of these topics.

In regards to your ease of reaching your regional director, all I can say is lucky you. It would also be just as improper to judge the USPA as a whole on the strengths of one person as it would be to do the same on the shortcomings of another, single person. Not all regional directors are created equal.

-JD-

What decisions, in your opinion have gone against their stated mission?

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USPA’s mission is three-fold:
•to promote safe skydiving through training, licensing and instructor qualification programs
•to ensure skydiving’s rightful place on airports and in the airspace system
•to promote competition and record-setting programs