The article actually mentions a number of points..
Require medical fitness for duty
I thought that this was already the case. Medicals, cardiograms, stress tests, all sort of doctor stuff...and it happens every 6 months (if you are an old fart).
An issue that does exist is that some airlines don't actually offer sick pay, and pay nothing if you have a cold and can't fly. So, they are already providing incentive to come to work when you shouldn't. As to which airlines, I'm sure you can work it out.
End substance abuse in transportation
Random drug testing already exists. If you want to make it a case of blow in a bag before each flight, I have no issues with that, as long as the clock starts before the testing.
As for drug use...I'd suggest that the use of illegal drugs is minimal. The biggest issue, if it even is one, would be the accidental use of something that is banned. We aren't chemists, and having one headache pill allowed, whilst another isn't, doesn't help. As this actually affects car/truck drivers too, perhaps we could simply change the packaging, to something like cigarettes (and not the whimpy little labels that exist).
Note that the article is selective. I mentions fatal accidents only, without specifying at what level of flying they are talking about. My guess is that most, perhaps even all, of the 23% are flying light aircraft.
NTSB recommends the use of coughpit image recorders—not merely voice and flight data reorders.
Note that it says recorders. I can't think of any accident that remained unsolved without cameras, as long as they had the FDR. Now, to be actually useful, you'd need cameras that are recording all of the panels (and at a readable resolution). They'd need to show the pilots hands at a times, as well as their eyes...so you're looking at 6-8 cameras per coughpit. Intrusive beyond belief, and I very much doubt that it would improve safety at all. Some of the big coughpit issues are already well known, and nothing is being done...this would just be a silly feel good without addressing any real problems.
Strengthen occupant protection
Admirable, but a somewhat loose comment. How far? The law of decreasing returns comes into play here. Look at the SFO 777...it hung together through some incredible motions, which could well have torn lesser designs apart.
NTSB says, “While 99 percent of passengers survived…two of the three fatally injured passengers were ejected from the airplane because they were unrestrained.”
That's what can happen if you don't do up your seat belt.
Reduce fatigue-related accidents
This is the big one, and pretty much nothing is being done about it. It affects the airline and cargo worlds, and has been the root cause of many accidents. Historically a very large proportion of accidents that have been written off to "pilot error" have actually been fatigue related, but it's much easier to blame a dead pilot than the system he worked for.
Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..
