Joe Sharkey on Legacy Plane that hit Brazilian Airliner
 

Just read this news story that Joe Sharkey was on the private jet that hit the airliner.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060930/..._plane_missing

What the hell kind of journo survives a midair and doesn't even file.

Wow, bizarre. His NY Times columns are absolutely dreadful, but I'm glad he didn't die...

One who is still trying to recover from a near-death experience?

One who agreed to give content control to a third party before getting on the plane?

Who knows?

I'm glad the guy is unhurt -- as far as we know his drink didn't even get spilled -- but Great Caesar's Ghost, can't you imagine some stereotypical newspaper editor screaming into the phone, steam coming out of both his ears, demanding to know why the reporter hadn't filed yet?

The Embraer landed at a Brazilian air force base. Perhaps he didn't have a way to get a full story out. If his cell phone didn't get a signal, he was limited to using Brazilian military communication channels.

Have the people from that plane been transferred to a civilian location yet?

It would seem that he at least has access to email:

What are the odds that someone qualified to comment on a mid-air accident actually survives it?

Joe Sharkey talks a little about what happened right after hitting the 737 and landing in this post on his blog. He also says he will try to post again tomorrow.

Wow, take a look at the comments that have been made on his blog. Lots of hostility there...

Yep, especially if you read the Portuguese comments on there. (I don't speak Portuguese but speak Spanish fluently, so I can get a pretty good idea of what they're saying.) I think most posters have gone a bit overboard, but I agree that Sharkey could have done a bit more to communicate his condolences to the families of those lost on Flight 1907.

Although this is a very sad situation, my first though when I saw the story was "The larger (Boeing 737) crashed, and not the smaller (Embraer) plane?" There goes the theory of "it's better to take a bigger plane". Looking forward to hearing the news as it comes.

Sharkey files
 

Joe Sharkey has written an article. It can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/bu...ss&oref=slogin

The NYTimes article he wrote is certainly interesting. Gosh, what are the odds that the NYTimes biz travel columnist would be in a small jet over the Amazon that struck a 737? A billion to one? I'm glad he's OK. And, fwiw, imho Sharkey is a much-better-than-average travel writer.

Thanks for posting this, as I surely would not have ran across it on my own. ^

This is such a fascinating account, thank you for posting it.

There's also a video of Joe Sharkey discussing this on the NY Times site.

What an unbelievable story. I just read it at the Times' website and came here to see if there are posts about it. It's a little disappointing to hear comments about how "dreadful" a guy is who just survived a near-death experience. I greatly enjoy Sharkey's column. Maybe I'm biased because he quoted me twice in 2003 and 2004 (I have the columns framed about my desk at work), but I think his column is very good.

It is truly an amazing story to hear about surviving an airplane crash or mid-air collision. I heard about that same story often as a kid because my dad was the sole survivor of a private plane crash that killed five people.

I guess I'd be a little disappointed if people were heaping criticism on my dad just days after he survived something like this.

I found this article to be particularly moving and interesting. I ended up emailing it to about 20 people I know, which is something I very rarely do. It's already the #1 most emailed article on NYTimes.com.

I can't believe how idiotcsome of those Brasilian blogger commenters sounded on hs blog.

I thought the article he wrote on this accident was really fantastic.

Does anyone know if the planes were under Air Traffic Control at the time of the accident?

Also, are the pilots still being held by the Brasilian authorities? I hope they are released soon...

I don't think they'll be back in the US any time soon:

There were probably 3 FTers on the plane as well. :p

I've always enjoyed his columns, and thought this was well-written and sad.

when I heard about this column from someone else, my first thought was also, "what are the chances...?"

I saw an AP story today that apparently the Embraer and the 737 were flying opposite directions between the same two waypoints. The 737 was supposed to be at 37,000ft, but the Embraer apparently was supposed to be at 36,000ft. So it's possible that those pilots who saved Mr. Sharkey's life with their superb responses to the accident may have been at fault.

Probably too soon to pass judgment, however, since it's unclear why the proximity warning systems on the planes didn't work. Both new planes, too.

Extraordinary story, but very sad for the passengers and crew of the 737.

That does seem very strange. I can easily see a human error of being off by a thousand feet, but having two independent crash avoidance systems fail to do their job (if that's what happened) would be so unlikely.

I hope the investigators can quickly find any flaws in the systems.

What a story!
 

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Jeez--give the guy a break. He's a good journo, takes his job seriously and lots of people love his column. (I actually look forward to Tuesdays.)

Now this most incredible amazing story. Tragedy above the Amazon. He survived and make a good report.

Keep on keepin' on, Joe.
--Cyllabus

I wonder if any were on the 738? :-(

I heard a report that the Embrarer was cruising at 37,000 ft while the Boeing was at 35,000, requested FL 390 and was in the process of proceeding to FL 390.

I don't think we'll know the facts until more information is released and the media gets it correct.

Sad to see the outrageous comments on Joe Sharkey's blog. Lots of hatred towards the USA, Joe Sharkey is accused of yellow journalism based on what he wrote in his personal blog, the pilots have been accused as killers, etc. With all this hate, I too am concerned about the pilots fate.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those on the 737, as well as with the survivors on the Embrarer. Regardless of who was at fault, its something the survivors will never forget.

SDF_Traveler

SDF_Traveler, our thoughts are in agreement.

I do wonder though, if perhaps it was the controllers on the ground who made a mistake?

this guy should buy a lotto ticket!

If the larger jet were ascending to a higher flight level from 35K that would certainly explain why they were aware of the embraer first and tried to maneuver around it. The nose of the smaller jet would simply have prevented the pilots from seeing directly below them and they would've been completely unaware (which seems to be the case here).

Regards,
-Bouncer-

Let's hope that's just an online thing and not reflective of wider public opinion in Brazil.

I think it's reasonable to keep the pilots in Brazil during the investigation. It's quite possible they would have decided to leave Brazil and never return. While it's easy for me to say, I can't believe they'd face any prison time for negligence (and, of course, I have no idea if they were negligent).

There's a very interesting thread on this incident at PPRUNE

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=246031

(pointed out by a poster on a thread on this same topic on OMNI)

Depending on how much you believe in conspiracy theories, there may (or may not) be a lot more to this story than meets the eye. Just for starters (and it gets much more weird from here), how do we even know these two aircraft collided?

On a relatively unrelated note, I am very worried that the US pilots are not going to be given a fair shake by the Brazilian government. Not that the US government have a stellar track record for how it treats folks it picks up in foreign countries (!!!), but that's not really the issue here. If you read between the lines in what Sharkey has said, I think he's very concerned too.

But the photos of the plane shows damage to the top portions of the wing and tail,so one might believe that they were lower

For starters, the 737 went down in the same area, shortly after the smaller plane hit something substantial. That's a heck of a start.

But wait -- that's only what they want us to believe....

Those comments weren't there when I posted this on Monday (apparently I found it right after it was posted).


It's an online thing, where one bozo can make a lot of noise.

I raise question of it potentially being reflective of wider public opinion now that it's been announced the pilots are facing potential criminal prosecution for manslaughter (on Fox News this afternoon).

Typically it takes several months, if not longer in many cases to find all the causes of an air disaster. It's been about a week and Brazil is already talking of charging the pilots with manslaughter and bringing about a criminal prosecution.

I think it's reasonable the pilots stick around to assist, but if I were in the pilots shoes (knowing they could be held criminally responsible and face prison time), I would probably have thoughts about leaving the country too.

I also get the impression the Brazilian Authorities are turning this political and trying to find fault, especially since two American pilots were involved and survived. Will they get a fair go in Brazil? When Joe Sharkey made the comment about the pilots fate, I believe he had some real concern reading into the comments.

Anyone know if Boeing or if the NTSB has gotten involved with the investigation to "assist" the Brazilian authorities? I believe Boeing, at the very least would have an interest. It seems in Brazil, like many other nations, pilots can be held criminally responsible.

Several years ago there was a mid-air collision over Germany, IIRC. The aircraft were under control of a Swiss ATC centre where the controller made a mistake. The ATC controller was held criminally responsible for his mistake - but the ATC controller was eventually murdered by a distressed family member.

SDF_Traveler

I believe Sharkey's article said that both Boeing and the NTSB are getting involved. Boeing because the 737 is their product. The NTSB because the 737 is an American design and because the Embraer was registered in the US.

A family friend is one of Boeing's investigators. He is on his way to Brasil later this week. He has mentioned that he is "catch up" with some of his counterparts but wouldn't really say much more.