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Feb
02
2026
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Posted 5 hours ago ago by Admin
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By Michel Masson, EASA Senior Business Partner Safety Promotion, ESPN-R Coordinator
EASA Communication and Safety Promotion Department
Accidents have occurred due to pilots’ failure to resist customer pressure to fly when operational, weather-related, or technical conditions were unsafe. Pilots may feel compelled to meet customer expectations, even when doing so compromises safety. Understanding how to handle such situations safely and effectively is crucial to reducing risk and preventing accidents.
Resisting customer pressure can be particularly challenging, especially when dealing with VIPs, executives, or individuals who manage, own, or contract the company to operate flights on demand. These individuals often have tight schedules and high expectations, which can lead them to place implicit or explicit pressure on the flight crew to make or continue a flight, even in unsuitable conditions.
A strong company safety culture, coupled with clear procedures and pilot assertiveness, is essential to counteract passenger pressure and ensure safety. Pilots must develop the ability to say NO, propose a safer course of action, and justify it with confidence. Resisting pressure and making safety-based decisions is an essential part of their responsibility.
When the risks are unacceptable, the safest decision may be to delay or cancel the flight.
When conditions deteriorate in flight, it may be necessary to return to base, divert, or LAND and live.
This message needs to be consistently reinforced within flight operations, within the framework of the company’s Safety Management System (SMS), to ensure that pilots feel supported in making safety-first decisions.
Video story
The video scenario involves six VIP passengers who expect their return flight to proceed normally. But the weather is deteriorating.
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