Air Disaster: Ten Years and Counting
Nov 12, 2011, 3:20 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Boston
Posts: 467
Air Disaster: Ten Years and Counting
Well we made it. As of today, November 12th, it has been ten full years since the last large-scale crash of a US jetliner -- the last being the AA 587 disaster outside JFK. That's a record.
I left a post about this a few days ago, hoping I wouldn't jinx anybody. Now, an expanded version of my comments (with some badly needed corrections) was published today as an ASK THE PILOT feature on Salon. Here's a link...
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/12/10_y...ing/singleton/
And a few excerpts...
"....I was flying back from Europe that afternoon, and my plane was one of the first to land after JFK reopened to traffic. Smoke was still rising from the crash scene. Only a few miles beyond the gray plume I could see the vacant chunk of sky that had been occupied by the World Trade Center...
.....Absence of a headline tragedy does not indicate an absence of problems, of course, and about the worst thing we could do is rest on our laurels.. Yet our legacy carriers, despite the fiscal devastation they've endured over the past decade (five bankruptcies and counting), have nonetheless managed to maintain an impeccable safety record. .This is particularly interesting in light of the seething contempt most people have for these companies. Imagine this same level of dissatisfaction combined with some of the accident records seen in the 1970s or 1980s....
...Yes we've been lucky too.. But mostly we've been good...
...It remains to be seen how the media will note this anniversary, if at all.. And when finally this streak comes to an end -- and let's be realistic; it has to end at some point -- what then? The worst thing about this inevitable crash will be the loss of life. The * second * worst thing will be overreaction and a lack of context. Ten years forgotten. Because plane crashes, not a lack of them, are the big news...."
FULL article here:
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/12/10_y...ing/singleton/
Has anybody seen any reportage on this elsewhere -- in the papers or on the Web? I heard The Atlantic did something about it, but I can't seem to locate the story.
Patrick Smith
I left a post about this a few days ago, hoping I wouldn't jinx anybody. Now, an expanded version of my comments (with some badly needed corrections) was published today as an ASK THE PILOT feature on Salon. Here's a link...
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/12/10_y...ing/singleton/
And a few excerpts...
"....I was flying back from Europe that afternoon, and my plane was one of the first to land after JFK reopened to traffic. Smoke was still rising from the crash scene. Only a few miles beyond the gray plume I could see the vacant chunk of sky that had been occupied by the World Trade Center...
.....Absence of a headline tragedy does not indicate an absence of problems, of course, and about the worst thing we could do is rest on our laurels.. Yet our legacy carriers, despite the fiscal devastation they've endured over the past decade (five bankruptcies and counting), have nonetheless managed to maintain an impeccable safety record. .This is particularly interesting in light of the seething contempt most people have for these companies. Imagine this same level of dissatisfaction combined with some of the accident records seen in the 1970s or 1980s....
...Yes we've been lucky too.. But mostly we've been good...
...It remains to be seen how the media will note this anniversary, if at all.. And when finally this streak comes to an end -- and let's be realistic; it has to end at some point -- what then? The worst thing about this inevitable crash will be the loss of life. The * second * worst thing will be overreaction and a lack of context. Ten years forgotten. Because plane crashes, not a lack of them, are the big news...."
FULL article here:
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/12/10_y...ing/singleton/
Has anybody seen any reportage on this elsewhere -- in the papers or on the Web? I heard The Atlantic did something about it, but I can't seem to locate the story.
Patrick Smith
Nov 12, 2011, 3:27 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Here is the link to The Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...-crash/248313/
I am as thrilled as you are over this impressive feat, and hope, but do not expect, we can accomplish a similar success in the regional industry.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...-crash/248313/
I am as thrilled as you are over this impressive feat, and hope, but do not expect, we can accomplish a similar success in the regional industry.
Nov 12, 2011, 4:29 pm
#4
Moderator Hilton Honors, Travel News, West, The Suggestion Box, Smoking Lounge & DiningBuzz
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Let's follow the discussion (since there are more responses) there, thanks.
cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News.
cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News.