Epilogue

As you will appreciate, this Seven Year retrospective is a mere glimpse into some of our more publicized work and specifically deals with the work related to Swissair 111. Through our website, our network of contacts and the many people that contact us on a daily basis from all over the world, we have also lent our assistance in other areas of aviation safety; cabin air quality, bird strike hazards and uncommanded rudder issues to name but three.

We have also been called upon as an organization to speak on television and for print media interviews. Sometimes these interviews have been as a result of developments arising from Swissair 111, however, we are often contacted by the media when other aviation disasters occur. We invite you to take a stroll through the "IASA In The News" section at our website for more information.

One very significant step taken by Mrs. Romano, only months after her husband was killed in the crash of Swissair Flight 111, was to establish the Raymond M. Romano Scholarship Fund through Pace University. Ray was completely dedicated to young adults as well as a staunch supporter of higher education. He volunteered through Junior Achievement where he taught accounting classes at the middle school level. It was Lyn's way of carrying his passion towards education forward. To date, there have been many recipients of the Raymond M. Romano Scholarship award, something we all know he must be very proud of.

Putting a human face to aviation safety has made us realize that as an organization we need to take under our wings other deserving causes. Heavenly Brickks is our way doing just that. Whether it is the Community Care Network Society, Support Connection or the Richmond Children’s Foundation (to name but a few), IASA is there to lend whatever assistance we can to these more than deserving causes. Having been at the cutting edge, we can relate to the difficulties they face in garnering support and in our own small way we like to think that we are helping them fight the good fight. Please take the time to visit a special section at our site dedicated to this aspect of our work. Go to www.iasa-intl.com and hit the link on the left hand menu named Heavenly Brickks. From there you can see some of what we have done for these organizations and at the same time be able to link to them directly if you so desire.

We welcome your feedback on any aspect of this report and thank you for taking the time to read this far.

The fundamental problem is government people – pointy-headed bureaucrats – telling people what to do. There is an environment in this city of people unwilling to admit their mistakes and move ahead. The attitude toward rule-making has been so curtailed that common sense recommendations now take years and years.

James Hall, NTSB, 1996

The high level of safety achieved in scheduled airline operations lately should not obscure the fact that most of the accidents that occurred could have been prevented. This suggest that in many instances, the safety measures already in place may have been inadequate, circumvented or ignored.

International Civil Aviation Organization, 'Accident Prevention Manual, 1984.

Complacency or a false sense of security should not be allowed to develop as a result of long periods without an accident or serious incident. An organization with a good safety record is not necessarily a safe organization.

International Civil Aviation Organization, 'Accident Prevention Manual, 1984.

I am a history major. I believe that the past is prologue. The archives bear that out. Most major aircraft accidents are not acts of God. In our recommendations we try to take what we have learned and correct situations so it shouldn't happen again.

James Hall, NTSB, 1996

The airlines spell $afety with a dollar sign and the FAA practices regulation by death.

Patricia Robertson Miller, 'Chicago Sun-Times,' 1 August 1979.

In both incidents the official verdict was 'pilot error,' but since their passengers, who were innocent of the controls, also failed to survive, it seemed that fate was the hunter. As it had been and would be.

Ernest K. Gann, 'Fate is the Hunter'.