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     I reported on Saturday, 22^nd August 1987, for my first revenue flight at SIA Dispatch, Changi Airport.  I was scheduled for a nine-day trip to the following: Maldives, Bahrain, Zürich, Brussels, Paris and Dubai. 

     Wow, dear reader, verily a “stroll” around the international block - excluding Paris - an expedition to all new territories for me.

Changi International Airport

  

     For the 15-minute commute to the airport, I had sat up front with the hotel’s van driver, so I’d enjoy an unrestricted view of the five-lane ECP (East Coast Parkway Expressway).  

     Discovering the ECP lived up to its name; it was as if we were driving in an immaculately landscaped park; sans electrical poles, nasty industrial parks or crappy motels.  

     Alternatively, it was lined on both sides with trees (Angsanas, Yellow Flames, Rain Trees, etc.), while the roadway’s center divider was filled with all manner of palms and shrubs; apart from one very straight portion with planters bearing tons of multi-colored bougainvilleas.  The driver informed me these planters could be removed inside an hour – revealing an emergency runway for fighters – in case of a national emergency.

The Bridges at Changi.

     Approaching the airport’s boundary, we passed under two enormous bridges – one bearing a taxiing 747 – this was how an aircraft got from one side of the airport to the other.  As for the rest of the airport and its terminal, it was also immaculately landscaped both inside and out.

     Was it any wonder, dear reader, why Changi Airport consistently nailed the top position for being the world’s most beautiful international airport?  It was a pure visual pleasure going to and from work.     

     All of my airline background, up to this point, had been conducted under the American FAA system.  This meant I had always dealt with an FAA trained and licensed flight dispatcher; a gentleman who possessed the same authority as the captain, in determining whether or not a flight can be safely executed (the joint responsibility dispatch system).   

     Under the FAA system, the dispatcher was required to give the flight crew a detailed briefing on the following: weather, computerized flight plans, routes avoiding war zones or typhoons - requiring extra fuel to be carried - and NOTAMS; alerting crews to taxiways, runways, and instrument landing aids that are out of commission.  Needless to say aircrews greatly relied on the FAA Flight Dispatcher, to quickly and thoroughly brief them on this mountain of paperwork.

SIA's Maintenance Hangars at Changi.

     A favorite airline saying, dear reader: “When the paperwork equals the weight of the aircraft you may takeoff.” 

     Unfortunately, under Singapore’s CAAS system, the flight dispatcher is neither trained nor licensed.  He’s viewed as a paper shuffling clerk, with no authority whatsoever regarding flight safety.  He merely compiles the paperwork, along with the flight release, shoves it into a fat file, and lays it on the counter for the captain to find.  The full weight, of whether or not this flight can be safely performed, is dumped solely in the captain’s lap – while the Singaporean flight dispatcher/clerk retreats quietly to the safety of a backroom.

SIA dispatcher/clerk unloading the paperwork on the captain; before slipping away. 

     From the get go, I recognized this serious flaw in SIA’s flight dispatching system, requiring me to always reach dispatch extra early – long before the captain showed up.  After familiarizing myself with all the particulars, I’d usually be the one to brief the captain and flight engineer, after they wandered into Flight Ops late as usual.  Apparently the locals felt this was the “cool” thing to do – show up at the last minute and rush through everything – missing very important items.

     Over the ensuing five years, I’d occasionally catch these flight dispatcher/clerks routing us through typhoons and war zones, or short-changing us on fuel.  Pointing this out to the captain, he’d order the necessary adjustments.

     The other flaw I discovered was SIA’s manner of dispensing the necessary Jeppesen Enroute and Approach Charts.  Rather than issuing an entire set of these charts to their pilots, to save money, they placed a “Ship’s Library” at the back of all the cockpits, containing two complete sets of Jeppesen Charts covering SIA’s entire route system.

The bulky, heavy Jeppesen Flight Manuals.

Jeppesen Approach Charts (Plates) for Singapore Changi Airport.

     To be truthful, dear reader, I was happy to no longer be required to put up with updating weekly the massive Jeppesen revisions.  I had experienced enough of this chore with SAUDIA.  Conversely, SIA had a department, nicknamed “The Library,” that kept the “Ship’s Library” up to date.

     Unfortunately, for me “time” proved to be an enemy of this system.  After I dealt with dispatch, got to the cockpit, completed all my preflight checks and paperwork, then loaded the three INS’s, I never had the chance to study the correct Jeppesen charts for taxiway and runway layout, or the instrument departure.  Resulting in mistakes being made when taxiing to the correct runway, or flying these complicated instrument departures.     

SIA's Library.

     To correct this flaw in SIA’s system, before every trip - on my days off - I’d visit “The Library,” collecting a specific set of “obsolete charts” for the destination airports on my next trip.  This allowed me the luxury of sitting quietly in a hotel room studying each required chart, uncovering the traps lying in wait for me, before reporting to work for my flight.  Other pilots weren’t doing this, and when they screwed up taxiing out, or an instrument departure, or approach, I found myself jumping in and saving their bacon.

     I knew in my heart, dear reader, that SIA was setting themselves up for a major accident.  Their piss-poor method of dispatching, coupled with the pilots showing up late at dispatch preventing an adequate briefing, and not having access to their own set of Jeppesen charts to study, was leading them down the garden path. 

     SIA’s day of reckoning did come.  A 747-412 (SIA Flt #006) was unnecessarily demolished on 31 October 2000, at Taipei – killing 83 passengers.  Due to an inadequate preflight briefing, the flight crew attempted to takeoff on a closed runway, and hit construction equipment.  Fortunately for me, SIA and I had already parted company.

SIA Flt #006 at Taipei.

Note the Jeppesen Flight Manual blown out of the cockpit.

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