I thought I was the only one fending off folks like this. Great article.
Being a pilot myself, everyone inevitably contacts me regarding my thoughts. I tell them to wait for the investigation results. Usually followed up by “want to go flying with me today?” The look of horror that I’d actually go up after a “rash” of incidents like this is surprising to me.
Honestly, I let the comments by those "coat tail riders" with a grain of salt of knowledge roll off because the vast majority of those just like to "hear" themselves talk without knowing what they are talking about. Aviation is currently going through a "rut" and this will soon pass, just like the fools that chime in with "Boeing" every time there is an incident, or the "you won't find me in a plane" doomsayer's. I have been following both commercial and business aviation since I was "knee high" to a DC-3, and every aspect of aviation fascinates the hell out of me. I am no expert or pretend to be. I self educate and take the time to understand all the angles. Keep doing what your doing and to hell with the naysayers. I'm done now.
As someone who has seen this sort of thing before, as you know as well, it's the many different types of commercial accidents all happening that is so wild - a midair, then medevac on t/o, then AK, now Toronto on landing. (I'm really trying to let the Scottsdale landing gear go as that was private.) Even the reasoned articles, and most of them on the DC crash in particular have been quite good, are getting people screaming "IT'S A PLOT!!!"
Thank you! Great article. I watched from the sidelines last night one particularly odd duck come at you.
The arguments (if you could call them that) seemed so circular--and I had a truly difficult time attempting to discern what she meant. Seemed like total hogwash--in my opinion. I even posted something to that effect--but then deleted it because I don't need to add to the turbulence (bad pun, sorry). I find myself so quick to anger these days and find I need to pick my battles--or disengage.
That was my point that my son got involved and declared I was dealing with a bot that was designed to inspire others to embrace what "she" was saying. (He said I was being violated by a Russian troll farmer which was one of the more 20-something things I've heard in awhile! ha!) I finally blocked the instigator and then kept blocking. Felt MUCH better when I got them all of out of my mentions!
Thank you. This is my fear of what’s happening right now…yes, things are wild in America right now. But, we’ve got to keep our heads about us. It’s imperative. I’ve seen so many posts of people canceling trips and flights because the skies aren’t safe. Someone posted today a video of a “near miss” in Az of two commercial jets that were within 900 from each other…and everyone was commenting OMG another one, I’m never flying again, but this incident happened before Trump took office. Small plane crashes are tragic, but they do happen…we just typically would glaze over that info of hearing two people died in a crash.
Thank you for this--and for fighting the good fight. A good dose of logic and rationale is a refeshing change. I get that for many people, aviation is a foreign langauge that doesn't easily lend itself to binary thinking and soundbites. It's full of "yes, and..." ideas and the concept of multiple ideas being true at once. For those people, I have plenty of grace.
My contempt is for the grifters that are using this latest rash of incidents for gain. They're cynically playing on people's fears/frustration to score cheap political points. They are pouring white gas on those fires of hysteria, and they need to stop, like, yesterday.
Duffy is a deeply unserious person, as are Trump, Musk, and their legions of minions. But the idea that they somehow collapsed the system in a matter of days assumes a power they simply don't have. The aftershocks of their rash decisions will come soon enough, but not yet.
I spend a certain amount of time trying to explain because yes, aviation is so complex and full of its own jargon. But at the end of the day folks who don't know aviation have to accept that and listen to those who do and right now we are dealing with a bunch of people who see no reason to believe us. It's beyond frustrating.
I read a book on that accident - Flight 232 - and it is unreal when you get deep into what was done in the cockpit to get that plane down. They were inventing the process to save the plane while they were in the air. It's the sort of story that I think transcends aviation - it's truly about not quitting on the problem until you have tried everything.
One of the few things I miss about the old Twitter is following the NTSB account. It gave me an appreciation of their work and how many air and major vehicular crashes there are, the various factors and what can be done to improve and avoid them. Looking at work like that helps undo fatalistic thinking.
I appreciate the rigor. But you do understand how, for people whose only intersection with aviation is occasional travel as a commercial passenger, “plane crash” is virtually synonymous with commercial passenger fatality accident, in the same way that "medical error" is virtually synonymous with iatrogenic death, for people whose only intersection with medicine is as an occasional patient. And so on.
"There were no plane crashes under..."
*headdesk*
Good lord.
I KNOW!
You're sayin' what we're all thinking!
It seems like I'm sighing a lot these days. It's better for my lungs and easier on my head...
😂 Deeep breaths...
I thought I was the only one fending off folks like this. Great article.
Being a pilot myself, everyone inevitably contacts me regarding my thoughts. I tell them to wait for the investigation results. Usually followed up by “want to go flying with me today?” The look of horror that I’d actually go up after a “rash” of incidents like this is surprising to me.
It got really intense last night - my son is convinced a bot was leading an attack that several folks joined in on. So yeah, exhausting.
There are a lot of armchair pilots out there.
Honestly, I let the comments by those "coat tail riders" with a grain of salt of knowledge roll off because the vast majority of those just like to "hear" themselves talk without knowing what they are talking about. Aviation is currently going through a "rut" and this will soon pass, just like the fools that chime in with "Boeing" every time there is an incident, or the "you won't find me in a plane" doomsayer's. I have been following both commercial and business aviation since I was "knee high" to a DC-3, and every aspect of aviation fascinates the hell out of me. I am no expert or pretend to be. I self educate and take the time to understand all the angles. Keep doing what your doing and to hell with the naysayers. I'm done now.
As someone who has seen this sort of thing before, as you know as well, it's the many different types of commercial accidents all happening that is so wild - a midair, then medevac on t/o, then AK, now Toronto on landing. (I'm really trying to let the Scottsdale landing gear go as that was private.) Even the reasoned articles, and most of them on the DC crash in particular have been quite good, are getting people screaming "IT'S A PLOT!!!"
Talk about exhausting....
Thank you! Great article. I watched from the sidelines last night one particularly odd duck come at you.
The arguments (if you could call them that) seemed so circular--and I had a truly difficult time attempting to discern what she meant. Seemed like total hogwash--in my opinion. I even posted something to that effect--but then deleted it because I don't need to add to the turbulence (bad pun, sorry). I find myself so quick to anger these days and find I need to pick my battles--or disengage.
Anyway, thank you for this article. Very helpful!
That was my point that my son got involved and declared I was dealing with a bot that was designed to inspire others to embrace what "she" was saying. (He said I was being violated by a Russian troll farmer which was one of the more 20-something things I've heard in awhile! ha!) I finally blocked the instigator and then kept blocking. Felt MUCH better when I got them all of out of my mentions!
Thank you. This is my fear of what’s happening right now…yes, things are wild in America right now. But, we’ve got to keep our heads about us. It’s imperative. I’ve seen so many posts of people canceling trips and flights because the skies aren’t safe. Someone posted today a video of a “near miss” in Az of two commercial jets that were within 900 from each other…and everyone was commenting OMG another one, I’m never flying again, but this incident happened before Trump took office. Small plane crashes are tragic, but they do happen…we just typically would glaze over that info of hearing two people died in a crash.
Thank you for this--and for fighting the good fight. A good dose of logic and rationale is a refeshing change. I get that for many people, aviation is a foreign langauge that doesn't easily lend itself to binary thinking and soundbites. It's full of "yes, and..." ideas and the concept of multiple ideas being true at once. For those people, I have plenty of grace.
My contempt is for the grifters that are using this latest rash of incidents for gain. They're cynically playing on people's fears/frustration to score cheap political points. They are pouring white gas on those fires of hysteria, and they need to stop, like, yesterday.
Duffy is a deeply unserious person, as are Trump, Musk, and their legions of minions. But the idea that they somehow collapsed the system in a matter of days assumes a power they simply don't have. The aftershocks of their rash decisions will come soon enough, but not yet.
I spend a certain amount of time trying to explain because yes, aviation is so complex and full of its own jargon. But at the end of the day folks who don't know aviation have to accept that and listen to those who do and right now we are dealing with a bunch of people who see no reason to believe us. It's beyond frustrating.
thanks, in particular, for the tip on Dennis Fitch - i don't remember that happening at all, and it is truly an incredible story.
I read a book on that accident - Flight 232 - and it is unreal when you get deep into what was done in the cockpit to get that plane down. They were inventing the process to save the plane while they were in the air. It's the sort of story that I think transcends aviation - it's truly about not quitting on the problem until you have tried everything.
Marvel Crosson remains my favorite.
I just found out a bit more on the mostly non-existent investigation into her accident. I'm going to write it up because it's pretty unbelievable.
One of the few things I miss about the old Twitter is following the NTSB account. It gave me an appreciation of their work and how many air and major vehicular crashes there are, the various factors and what can be done to improve and avoid them. Looking at work like that helps undo fatalistic thinking.
I appreciate the rigor. But you do understand how, for people whose only intersection with aviation is occasional travel as a commercial passenger, “plane crash” is virtually synonymous with commercial passenger fatality accident, in the same way that "medical error" is virtually synonymous with iatrogenic death, for people whose only intersection with medicine is as an occasional patient. And so on.
Thanks Colleen for your diligent work!