Originally Posted by
acregal
Airplane crashes and serious incidents are so rare that any accident is a statistical anomaly. Because of this, any sort of data analysis is quite weak. Most crashes either seem to be from a single (or series of) poor decisions or a catastrophic mechanical fault, but because crashes are so rare even one outlier can have a large impact.
You seem to approach this from a narrow statistical, or mathematical, viewpoint. In fact, the aviation safely field is very lively and there are tons of research and analysis. You boil it down to two major causes is very simplistic. Almost all accidents have multiple contributing factors/causes and it is hard to divorce them from one another. Do a search for the NTSB report on an accident that you are familiar with and you will see what I mean. Notwithstanding the ability (or lack thereof) to mathematically analyze the data, there are lessons to be learned and fixes/improvements to be made as a result of all accidents. Compare the actions of the Colgan crew that crashed in Buffalo with the actions of the USAir crew that ditched in the Hudson. The Colgan plane was mechanically sound, yet everyone died. The USAir plane was powerless, yet everyone survived. Some parts of each scenario were probably statistical anomalies, but that doesn't mean the data analysis is weak. This is a very complicated field and is constantly evolving with new technologies and new human factors issues.
Originally Posted by
Axey
I agree (once again entirely). Dark secret: I went to one of those aviation schools and spent the $40k over a decade ago. I lived that life for a little while. After sharing a 3 bedroom apartment with 5 other pilots and hearing about the glory of working for a regional, I chose not to continue my once illustrious goal and instead use my expensive new skills flying privately. So in a way, I embody the point you're making and know what you mean.
Bottom line: I'm all for pilots getting all the coin they can get. They deserve the best contract they can get. My original (first) point, however, still stands: Don't take it out on passengers when things don't go your way.
Thanks for sharing that dark secret
it helps me understand the context of our discussion better! ^ My first airline job was with UAL...I was flying for the Air National Guard and got hired by UAL on my first interview. If I had to endure what you described above, I don't think I could've stayed either.
Don't take it out on passengers when things don't go your way
On this point I agree with you completely!!!