Page 24 - Texas811 Magazine 2017 Issue 1
P. 24

ave you ever flown in an federal agency—tl1e U.S. Department of trom a plane several thousand teet
airplane? At this point in Transportation. in the air has to be more spectacular
history, it you are reading . than inspecting the pipeline from the
this, the odds are you Whe“ 5°‘“e”“."3 bf“. h'”‘l"l’e“S “’ 3“ ground.
. airplane, the pilot is literally always

probably have. Are you atraid ot . . . . . . .
flying? If so why? If not why now The considered a possible cause. when A lot or the training for pipelines is
omwhelmgng majority '0‘ People who aomething bad happens £10 a pipeline, similar tohthztraininf reguired otf

fly reach their destination sately. ln tact, 9 l’.‘l” ‘"9 °l’e.”‘ °' '5 3 W375 P”? E '.” ". 995"’ “‘ '.°Pe.” 9

one mum at 9 that mm Manon considered a primary suspect. and maintain airplanes. situational

d f E: . . ‘fl’ . . . awareness is a critical tactor in both.

to an rom t e airport is ar more One big difference; when an airplane . . V

dangerous than ilying itself (no I crashes the pilot is ALWAYS the iirst to I‘ ‘S ‘“‘l’°‘”"“ ‘° ‘am’ ‘°°"’“" ‘Hm
have not researched the ' t ' ahead) ’’run with your head up!” PAY
statistics). A remarkable ATTENTION To
thing about airplanes is WHAT YOU ARE
thattoday'sairplanes Doinaigg-;;°;sn’t
amazingly reliable. what S:e‘“t‘.‘lg ' ‘“ It
happens when there is a ?‘ °“ ‘hS°“‘:h“}"°';'
problem while an airplane :5 ‘;‘“‘ E“ 9 d“
is in the air? Pilots are °. :9“ 9 gm“.
trained to deal with 3'5 ¥“’fhY"“. ‘”fh‘e ".‘
problems. some problems 9:?‘ 3“ ‘“ 9 3"
are worse than others. “"5 ‘"3 Y"“ We“ °“
Most are minor. some ‘he 3“’““d'

require heroic action. There is no need to be
can you say "Miracle on afraid of flying and
the Hudson”? captain there is no need to be
sullenberger will tell you afraid of pipeline. But
he does not consider himselt a hero. the scene of the crash! I know — I am a both demand respect.

He was well trained and used his skills pilot and the pilot sits at the front of the . . .

to identity the best option. Lives that airplane. That is not always true with U““t1h“e>“‘, “me ’ “"9 Shes “d be 53“
could have easily been lost were not pipeline operators. °‘“ 9”" I

because of the decisions sullenberger S H fl _ _ h f

d d th h . 1 d omeone once sai ying is ours o
$2; ;‘:‘mi0:‘:"§‘{‘a‘fe‘r‘:,‘tP§:e':'|e{‘}f: boredom punctuated by moments ot .

- _ - g - - » Sheer mm (Thaw my Story and I am /olm retlred from PHMSA and IS clmerltly
movie Starring Tom Hanks yet, butl . ki . 1 Id 5 d Vice I’resllierltafI’1pellne system CompIl—
understand it is fairly realistic X‘;  3):;  t;'m1a;°"'°e)' mute and Opemllorls Services for G2 pm
why are we talking about airplanes getting your license to learn wears ort, "mt “'3 E”'"”’ 70""-/“”’"@X2"'5-‘°”‘
when this is supposed to be about a lot of flying IS (at least to me) boring.
pipeline safety? Think about the As boring as it may be, you still have to
similarities. Both technologies started stay vigilant. Things can go from boring
about the same time (the early 1900’-s). to terriiying quickly! The same holds
Both airplanes and pipelines are true tor operating a pipeline. There may flflflfl
extremely reliable. when either one be some pipeline personnel who get a Hanan
has a failure, it has the potential to thrill out or staring at a pipeline control an
'5f.°;:::‘;:§i‘:i:'.¥l;”;.?;:;“;32:3; $::::::y‘:‘;':2f::‘:t:::.‘;::“:;1:‘°‘ : . nnna
could be injured or killed. Airplanes not the same as flying an airplane. ‘ §  Eflfll
incrediblycomplexand Pipelinesintl1eground.Yes,tl1ey at a llflflfl
pipelines. Pilots and pipeline operators have to be patrolled at specific intervals  ” flnflnfl
are gpfially very v:;e'lJl trtfiined. Both dhependmg on the pipeline but it is not “nan
are ig y regu ate y e same t e same as taking off, navigating, and

finding a safe place to land. The view MM
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