Another Plane Missing

I can walk. I can swim. I cannot fly. NEVER--EVER--EVER-- will I fly again. My imagination concerning plunging into the ground at 650 per--

is just too vivid. I will not be harmed by an airplane unless it falls out of the sky and crashes on my cranium. Same as Moonglow as far as

my experiences







I do have to say that I'm extremely sorry for ANYONE that had go through (However short!)this most horrendous way to die. Nose down--people piling up in the front--screaming---and KNOWING! Oh no. Uh-uh.

 

Flying with a commercial airplane is still more save than cruising on a busy highway. Maybe check the company to eliminate some possible risk but overall lots more people die in car accidents.

Well, Malaysia for example is not that underdeveloped either. I think with bad luck any country or company can still lose a plane. I thought you said so yourself earlier in this thread. But I disagree with staying away from 3rd world countries' airports just like that. A lot are save enough to just make use of them and some are (often temporarily) worthy to avoid indeed.

 

I know, but I've found it pointless to try and convince people who don't already feel that way. Some people feel safer on the ground, and they go with their gut feelings instead of numbers.

It's not so much the available technology as it is what people do with it. So many different things come into play.

 

I'm the first to tell you that you're safer in a boeing than a chevy.

But you have to be fucking nuts to fly an airline based out of malasia. Or any third world country.

 

Nobody would have said that before that first plane crashed, so I feel that is an exaggerated statement, roorshack. It is just as useful as calling Malaysia a 3rd world country

 

The positive and useful thing about RS's perspective on this is that it's based on data, not speculation. There are now three recent, major, fatal incidents associated with the way aviation is conducted in that specific part of the world. It is reasonable for people to take note of this and let it color their thinking. Otherwise, we're on the same page as people who assume cars have to be safer because they don't leave the ground.

 

I often find roorschack reasonable but I don't see any point in labeling Malaysia a 3rd world country because some planes of an airline from there have crashed (for different reasons). To say you have to be fucking nuts to fly with an malaysian airplane may seem understandable after recent events but it does not seem that reasonable, logical or the inevitable right conclusion to me at all. It is not completely based on data I think, it is more so based on unverified assumption(s).

 

Okay, I'll give you that point.

Three events involving multiple fatalities. That's a lot, by modern standards, no matter what the reasons might be.

 

Yes, it is too much by modern standards, sure. But the reasons do matter (of course I would almost add). If one of those planes got shot down by pro-russian ukranians how does that makes malaysian airlines look more bad than other airline companies (that also continued to fly above Ukraine)?

 

Two crashes... also a lot by current standards.

Some airlines chose to fly around Ukraine. I would trust them more.

 

Me too, but I would not completely convict the airlines who did continue to fly above that country a no go just like that. Almost nobody did anyway, until one plane got hit.

 

Isn't it great that we've reached a point where even one crash is a huge deal? I think that's wonderful.

 

I just now asked my husband if he could explain to me, in non-technical terms, what all the First World countries (US, Canada, EU, Australia) do that prevents big airplanes from getting lost. Let’s see how much of it I can remember.

First, the pilot has to file a detailed flight plan with the FAA (or whatever it’s called in that country) that tells them about the airplane, the pilot, what’s onboard, where they want to go, and what route they prefer. The air traffic controller (ATC) can change the route, if needed.

Shortly before takeoff, the ATC gives the pilot a 4-digit number that the pilot punches in. That code number will be sent out continuously by the airplane, allowing any ATC in the country to identify the plane on their radar screen, and call up all the flight plan information instantly on their computer. If the plane stops sending out that code number, the ATC sees an alarm on his screen, and assumes an emergency is in progress unless notified otherwise. The blip will be tracked very carefully on radar, and the images will be digitally recorded for future study. Also, any departure from the approved route will trigger an alarm.

If a crash is believed to have taken place, all available information will be sent to the Air National Guard and/or Coast Guard. They will promptly send out a C-130; a very old, ruggedly build military plane that can easily handle hurricane weather conditions; anything short of a tornado. It’s loaded with state of the art electronics to help it find anything that can be found on the land or water. They will send back detailed information within an hour. Helicopters or boats or whatever will be sent to assist any survivors.

For a normal international flight, all the information in the computer will be sent electronically to the next country, if it’s a country that is able to receive and process it.

All these computer systems were beefed up considerably after 9-11.

I’ve tagged along a few times when my husband and his buddy went flying in a little Cessna or Piper; the tiny planes that are barely more than two wings and an engine. I rode in the back seat. Those flights are handled very casually. What I described above is all about what they do at the big airports that handle commercial jets.

 

They stress the integrity of the aircrafts in ways our skilled "military trained/air force graduate pilots would never do...

 

Makes me recall my Civil Air Patrol days..

 

Hubby just looked over all the weather information for the time and location of that flight, and says the plane was allowed to get too close to a thunderstorm. The ATC handled the situation in a way that doesn't conform to US safety standards and regulations.

He says the US rules were changed many years ago, after a major fatal crash in Charlotte, NC. That was right around the time that all the US airports and larger jets were getting weather radar installed for the first time. Since those changes, we haven't had another crash like that one. I remember exactly where it came down, just off the north end of the third runway, barely missing a church filled with people. The spot of the crash was easy to see for many years afterward, because of damage to trees.

 

Before the first crashed, I don't think I would have flown malasia airlines, even if I was going to malasia....

I wouldn't have expected what has happened, true - but I would have the same expectations that I do now about shoddy maintainence, poorly trained pilots, incorrect or overly worn or poor quality parts, incorrect (or falsified) maintenance intervals, etc.

I mean, we've seen it before, like with korean pilots - and korea has made it as a country, compared to malasia.

It's not even that they're that bad - in terms of odds, they're probably still not - it's that US pilots, certification and training, maintenance, records, and the like, are quite excellent by comparison.

Like yeah, maybe the autopilot is really good and the plane just about flies itself and pretty much knows what's going on - but when it stops flying itself, you want a hardcore military pilot flying a plane in the best possible upkeep.

*edit* I don't think I'd want to fly in any piston aircraft that even fueled in malasia - I would fly a US jet that did, because jets can burn just about anything, octane be damned.

 

Morning news announcing they have located a debris field and bodies but they have not confirmed it was the plane.

 

Thanks for the update, Specs.

 

" 'Based on the navy radio, it has been reported that the warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing,' Manahan Simorangkir said.
" 'They are very busy, now.'
"An Indonesian air force plane spotted items resembling an emergency slide, plane door and other objects in the search for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 today."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/30/373949312/airasia-crash-rescue-crews-pull-bodies-spot-wreckage-in-java-sea

The plane was in the Java Sea.