Duty of care

Taking responsiblility

Duty of care – we hear a lot about it these days. Yet another catchphrase in the ever-growing dictionary of catchphrases. However, in aviation, duty of care does have some relevance. And that relevance excess on several levels.

In the immediate context, a pilot has a duty of care to their crew, their passengers and even oneself. And while manuals may outline the boundaries and definitions, the real duty of care is a more obscure concept. When those defined boundaries are obvious duty of care is also relatively straight forward, however, when other elements come into play the waters can be muddied. Concepts such as fatigue, weather, engineering issues and commercial pressure can all weigh on flight crew, but the safety of one’s aircraft, crew and passengers must always remain paramount.