German Wings A320 crashed

Derg said:
Most of the pilots you see on television aren't necessarily there to spread truthfulness 100% of the time, there is a certain element of "OMG, I'm gonna be on TV!"

There is a pilot that wrote a few books which kind of sounded like "bitter apples" about some internal things happening at the pilots employer that got marked as "an expert" that goes on television and says all sorts of strange things. Then announces, on social media, "Wooo! Getting interviewed by (whatever) ! Tune in tonight! This is awesome!"

Hmm….

Meanwhile, the pilot doesn't have a lick more experience or insight than the average pilot standing in line at the A Terminal Chick Fil A.

Those that know, aren't talking.

Those that REALLY don't know, are whoring themselves out to the media.

Even Bill Waldock, the guy who figuratively was there during the Thomas Selfridge crash, isn't saying a lot beyond "Ahh, interesting…"

Oh, but some random pilot who some news anchor met in a bar years ago that just got off sitting reserve in Denver knows all about it? Puleeeeeeeeeze.
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Remember, it was a pilot who was the technical advisor to Die Hard 2 and the whole "lowering the ILS 200 feet" idea in the movie.
 
As someone pointed out above, this guy doesn't strike me as the dude who was going to be cutting arteries and getting his new shoes all messy. I rather suspect that if there'd been a chihuahua in the other seat he'd have failed to proceed from ideation to injury.

Which is by no means to suggest that putting any old breathing being up front would prevent all such things...in point of fact, all of the other examples I can think of off the top of my head seemed serious as a heart attack and willing to get a bit of gore on their sneakers if necessary.
 
Ok, I'll come clean. On 620 KTAR there was a segment about how much airline pilots made and the host was going on and on about how terrible it is that these pilots, captains making $300/hr were making $12,000 per week on a 40 hour week and how DARE they want a raise.

I took the bait, talked to the call screener about how it really worked, went on the air and started talking about how it wasn't a 40 hour workweek, it was usually about 70 to 80 hrs of work (paid) and 250 hrs to 300 hrs (unpaid) per month and since I didn't fit the narrative, they immediately cut into a diatribe by the host and cut me off for another caller that fit the narrative.

I realized that it wasn't about breaking down barriers and getting the truth out there, it was about using rage ("My tickets are already TOO EXPENSIVE, aren't yours?!") to hold people on the station in between commercial banks and keeping it outrageous and salacious.

Many news organizations do not care what the truth is, even if they know what it is. They're designed to keep you tuned in and keeping your eyes on the commercials so they can sell more ad space.

Cynical? Of course, but it's true.
 
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Derg said:
Ok, I'll come clean. On 620 KTAR there was a segment about how much airline pilots made and the host was going on and on about how terrible it is that these pilots, captains making $300 were making $12,000 per week on a 40 hour week and how DARE they want a raise.

I took the bait, talked to the call screener about how it really worked, went on the air and started talking about how it wasn't a 40 hour workweek, it was usually about 70 to 80 hrs of work (paid) and 250 hrs to 300 hrs (unpaid) per month and since I didn't fit the narrative, they immediately cut into a diatribe by the host and cut me off for another caller that fit the narrative.

I realized that it wasn't about breaking down barriers and getting the truth out there, it was about using rage ("My tickets are already TOO EXPENSIVE, aren't yours?!") to hold people on the station in between commercial banks and keeping it outrageous and salacious.

Many news organizations do not care what the truth is, even if they know what it is. They're designed to keep you tuned in and keeping your eyes on the commercials so they can sell more ad space.

Cynical? Of course, but it's true.
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620 KTAR? The historically boring talk radio station that I used to fly traffic watch for 22 years ago? I would've expected it from 550 KFYI, but wow.......guess 620 has made a turnaround of their boring ways. :D

Boris Badenov said:
As someone pointed out above, this guy doesn't strike me as the dude who was going to be cutting arteries and getting his new shoes all messy. I rather suspect that if there'd been a chihuahua in the other seat he'd have failed to proceed from ideation to injury.

Which is by no means to suggest that putting any old breathing being up front would prevent all such things...in point of fact, all of the other examples I can think of off the top of my head seemed serious as a heart attack and willing to get a bit of gore on their sneakers if necessary.
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This is exactly why I could see this dude as someone who could/would do whatever necessary to ensure the integrity of his plan, including taking out whomever in the cockpit, were someone there.
 
MikeD said:
620 KTAR? The historically boring talk radio station that I used to fly traffic watch for 22 years ago? I would've expected it from 550 KFYI, but wow.......guess 620 has made a turnaround of their boring ways. :D



This is exactly why I could see this dude as someone who could/would do whatever necessary to ensure the integrity of his plan, including taking out whomever in the cockpit, were someone there.
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Crap, now I forget. It was whoever 92.3 is now but back when they were on AM only. KTAR?
 
PhilosopherPilot said:
True. And I've often feared the FA could be a threat when they are up there. Anyone already inside the flight deck could be a serious threat, even if they aren't in immediate control.
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Two totally different threats:
There was the FA who started a fire in a 175 lav, apparently, because he was disgruntled that he had to work thr day.
Then there was the (I think) ExpressJet FA who took the opportunity to try her hand at...modeling.
 
xargos said:
Someone help me out with this one: how can you not forget and forget at the same time? Pilot is not a dolphin and cannot put half of their brain to sleep while the other half does the usual job of flying the plane.
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Hmmmm....I've had some flight students that seemed capable of that! :-)
 
MikeD said:
With the element of surprise, scrawny or young or whatever, wouldn't matter. The person determined to do this would account for this minor issue, and the FA there with him would hardly be expecting it.
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Based on that logic, why would an undersized captain be an impediment?
 
PeanuckleCRJ said:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/opinions/garrison-germanwings-crash/index.html

A Flying Magazine contributor certainly doesn't think so. :(
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I've never figured out what qualifies this guy to write about the topics he writes about. His writing has always been about accident analysis and some pretty serious technical stuff, but if memory serves, his only academic credential is a degree in English or literature or something similar. He's got less flight time than a senior regional FO, has never taken any accident investigation training, is not an engineer, etc. Why is this guy writing about aviation accidents? Shut up, Garrison!
 
This will be my mantra - spot on!

Not only are pilots smarter and better-trained than ordinary people, those stripes and caps say, but they also must be less forgetful than we, less distractible, better rested, not prone to irritability or sadness or smoldering resentments. Like soldiers, they must be just a little bit robotic, efficient, brave and purified of the trash that infests the souls of common humans.
 
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