Another plane crashed, but in Canada this time
- By pucker
- The Bear Pit
- 164 Replies
I hear your sentiment, but not sure it's much different than other life-determining professions. I'd argue nobody gives the old "oh well, he tried" to a brain or heart surgeon that screws up and lacerates an artery and kills their family member. Imagine if he killed dozens or hundreds at a time (like a pilot can). That perfection bar is there for that reason...and the compensation is there for the same reason.My airline had a wing strike this past summer in pretty heavy winds and reported moderate to severe turbulence. Did a go around for wind shear. Crew legit had no clue they did it until they did the walk around. When the data was pulled they had a 14 degree down wing angle when they struck the lower scimitar winglet on a 737. I saw the pictures...the paint was scraped off and MAYBE a layer of carbon, but it wasnt honestly that bad...surprising honestly.
2 airlines ago a crew had a double wing strike in wind shear on a go around. They said they thought they hit one but didnt realize they hit both.
Last airline had a pod strike in LAX... including pictures!!! It has had more pod strikes since then, its not uncommon on the 747.
(Updated) A Polar Air Cargo 747-8F suffered a podstrike at LAX
A Polar Air Cargo 747-8F, registration N858GT performing flight PO916 from Cincinnati to Los Angeles, has suffered a podstrike on landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The aircraft re…theworldofaviationblog.wordpress.com
Shit happens out there that zero people ever know about.
My current airline we have been doing a class the past few months and one thing they discuss is there are people out there that do nothing but track every fucking flight and as soon as anything happens they data mine everything, link up ATC audio, etc... and blast it out there "for the views" and to monetize anything and everything about it whether they understand what happened or not. They literally will go park at airports, top floors of parking garages, etc... and use high power cameras and what not to record everything. People pay them for this footage. They dont care about anybody's lives, careers, legit investigations, etc... I'm not saying we as airline pilots shouldnt be held to high standards, but some of it gets a bit morbid.
My dad said it correctly a few years ago when he told me "our profession is literally the only one in the world where perfection is demanded 100% of the time, no fuck ups ever. There is no other profession in the world were that is the expectation, not even doctors.".... He isnt wrong. I'll let you in on a little secret: we dont achieve perfection EVER. Our industry is probably the most studied and copied in a lot of areas because we have developed things over the years to help us achieve that "perfection".
Learning to land safely 80% of the time would be so easy, most anyone could do it. And that profession wouldn't pay like the one that expects 100% safe landings, nor would it have any of the prestige. We can't have it both ways. I actually see your Dad's sentiment as a point of pride, vice an 'it just isn't fair' one.
Pilots (good ones) know no flight is ever perfect...but the amount of imperfect cannot pass the 'broken parts and injured/dead people' level without consequences.
