|
I did all I could last night to research this bit on the Internet. Snopes had nothing. This is a message an airplane pilot sent to his colleagues after one particular flight:
|
My lead flight attendant came to me and said, 'We have an H.R. on this flight.' H.R. stands for human remains. 'Are they military?' I asked. 'Yes', she said. 'Is there an escort?' I asked. 'Yes, I already assigned him a seat.' 'Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck. You can board him early', I said.
A short while later, a young Army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us. My soldier is on his way back to Virginia', he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words on his own. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.
We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. 'I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying, is on board', he said. He then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia. The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane. I could hear the desperation in the flight attendant's voice when he asked me if there was anything I could do. 'I'm on it', I said. I told him that I would get back to him.
Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had onboard with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.
Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the dispatcher and this following is the text:
'Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and planeside to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans.
Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks.'
I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, 'You have no idea how much this will mean to them.' Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us.
'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft', we were told. It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the copilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, 'Take your time.'
I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said, 'Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His name is private XXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.'
We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft. When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of 'God Bless You', I'm sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one. Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.
I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our freedom and safety in these United States of America. |
With the type of people we have running this country right now ... people who don't believe that we're at war with Islamic terrorism .. .this sure makes you feel better about the rest of us.
 I heard this morning that the U.S. Navy is sending ships to hunt for the black boxes on the doomed Air France flight. Now ... This is a French airline flying a French-built commercial airliner with Brazilian and French passengers. We're strapped. John Galt is starting to work on his speech. And we're going to spend how much money searching for their black box? Aren't we the world's pariah? When is the last time the French helped us investigate a crash of an American flag carrier?
Just asking.
Here's a picture of Delilah on the way to Miami for her organ transplant thanks to Angel Flight.
Here's an old cover of Auto Pilot. Guess what? I'm not really flying the plane in this photo! PhotoShop is a useful tool, isn't it?
 I thought that me hanging around with a group of private pilots and airplane owners this past weekend would stir some outrage. I really thought that revealing that I spent Saturday in the company of evil, accomplished people who (gasp!) own airplanes would cause a backlash. We are, after all, in the "everybody should have an equal amount of stuff" era. Maybe I can still salvage some outrage here if I tell you that Cessna was there showing off its new Cessna Mustang! This is a small jet twin that can carry a pilot and four passengers and can be had for around $2.8 million! It's not so much a business jet as it is a personal jet! Just think of the carbon footprint you can generate as you fly your friends and family off to a $1000 hamburger and weekend at the beach! You had other private jets on display that you could get for as little as a bill and a half! This is an outrage! How dare these people even think about buying luxuries like this when there are people trying to figure out how they can feed their nine children on food stamps and still have time to try to remember who all the fathers were!
The Washington Times is reporting that the Obama administration is quietly ending the federal firearms program that allows pilots to carry guns if they've completed a federal-safety program.
This past week, the administration apparently diverted $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots. Since Barack Obama was elected, the approval process for pilots to carry guns on planes "slowed significantly." And with this move last week, the process has completely stalled.
The question is, why? As of right now, 12,000 pilots have been approved to carry guns. There are zero cases in which those pilots have improperly brandished or used those guns. Doesn't matter to PrezBO though. The Democrats are in charge, and Democrats don't like for the people they wish to control to be armed. All that simple.
What happens when a plane hits a bird? Check out these pictures! And not while you're eating.
 A few hours after I signed off yesterday, a US Airways jetliner ended up in the Hudson River. If you haven't heard the story by now .. a flock of birds knocked out both engines just after takeoff and the pilot managed to land the sucker safely. Not one casualty.
The pilot is Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger. Here is a quick bio from the Smoking Gun: Some now say that Capt. Sullenberger is the frontrunner for the nomination to succeed Hillary Clinton as New York's Junior Center. Who is this guy, the US Airways pilot who today amazingly crash-landed a US Airways jet in New York's Hudson River without any fatalities? The heroic Sullenberger, 57, has worked for US Airways since 1980, and before that spent more than six years as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. Sullenberger is also the founder of Safety Reliability Methods. The firm describes itself as providing "technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries." Business should soon be booming. Click here to revel in Sullenberger's brilliance and professionalism, as detailed in the veteran pilot's resume. Expect his "executive career highlights" to be updated shortly. Now, how long will it be until we get some activist group out there talking about the dangers of commercial aircraft or the fact that this plane could have landed on people's homes .. we shouldn't have airports near highly populated areas! Oh .. and I fully expect some environmental nut job to wonder why nobody is concerned about the geese. As I've said about these airline pilots before ... this flight crew earned every penny they will be paid in their entire lifetimes in just three minutes on January 15, 2009. God bless them.  By the way ... the plural of Canada Goose is Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese. Just a small point. If one is a Canada Goose, then two are Canada Geese. Now .. to belabor the point. One California Brown Bear is a California Brown Bear. Two would be California Brown Bears, not Californian Brown Bears. Get that? Good.
I think the temperature of the Hudson River yesterday was around 40 degrees. That's cold. If your health club has an ice bath for your aching legs it is probably around 47 degrees or so. That is also the temperature of the Colorado River as it flows through the Grand Canyon ... even in the dead of Summer. On one of my six rafting trips through the Canyon the boatmen, during their initial safety briefing, told us that if we get thrown out of the boat in a rapid the LAST thing we would think about was how cold the water was. They were right. I got tossed out on the first morning. It took them about 10 minutes to get to me and get me back in the boat. During that time I thought about rapids and rocks .. but never how cold the water was. I would be interested in the experiences of some of the people who went into the water after the US Airways ditching yesterday.
Yesterday I was saying that I knew of no other successful ditchings of commercial jet airliners where the aircraft stayed intact and all parties survived. In fact, there has been one. Just one. From AirSafe.com here are the details on the three intentional jet airliner ditching events since 1960. October 1963; Aeroflot Tu124; Leningrad, USSR: According to a report in Flight International Magazine the aircraft was on a flight from Estonia to Moscow when a landing gear problem led to a diversion to Leningrad. While holding prior to landing and about 13 miles (20.8 km) from Leningrad airport, the aircraft ran out of fuel. The crew managed to land the aircraft on the nearby Neva River, where it remained floating on the surface. The aircraft was towed to shore and all 52 occupants survived. 2 May 1970; ALM DC9-33CF; near St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: The aircraft had departed JFK airport in New York for St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. After three missed approaches, the crew diverted to St. Croix. While en route, the aircraft ran out of fuel and the crew ditched the aircraft. While the flight crew made specific preparations for ditching, the imminent ditching was not communicated to the cabin crew. As a result, several occupants were not belted in at the time of the ditching. The aircraft remained afloat for five to six minutes before sinking in waters about one mile (1600 meters) deep. One of the six crew members and 22 of the 57 passengers were killed. The accident was investigated by the NTSB and the details are available in NTSB report NTSB-AAR-71-8 dated 31 March 1971. 23 November 1996; Ethiopian Airlines 767-200ER; near Moroni, Comoros Islands: The aircraft was on a flight from Ethiopia to Kenya when it was hijacked by at least two people. While attempting a landing near Moroni in the Comoros Islands the aircraft ran out of fuel and ditched near a beach. Ten of the 12 crew members and 117 of the 160 passengers were killed. The three hijackers apparently died.
An analysis of a video of the ditching reveals the following information. Speed: The aircraft was traveling in excess of 130 knots (150 mph, 244 km/h) as the aircraft first touched water. Crash Sequence: The aircraft initially dragged the left wing tip in the water, followed by the left engine. The left engine apparently broke up, and the increased drag caused the aircraft to swing to the left. The right wing and engine stayed out of the water as the aircraft continued to swing to the left. The fuselage broke somewhere aft of the wing, causing a number of objects to be ejected forward as the remains of the aircraft came to rest. Flight Control Surfaces: As the aircraft touched down, it did not appear that any of the leading or trailing edge flaps were extended. As the aircraft made its initial water entry, there appeared to be movement of spoiler panels on the left wing and rudder movement as well. The right wing was flexing, but there did not appear to be movement of any flight control surfaces.
Let's get this stupid idea stopped before it picks up any more steam. What stupid idea? Well ... read this story. Someone thinks it might be a good idea to build a new football stadium for the Atlanta Falcons on the site of the now-closed Doraville General Motors Assembly Plant. If you live in Atlanta you might know that this assembly plant is very close to Georgia's 2nd busiest airport, Dekalb-Peachtree (PDK). When I'm landing on runway 20L I'm looking right down on the roof of this assembly plant out my left window --- and I'm not all that high either. Let's call it around 400 to 500 feet.
Are the pilots and businesses that use PDK aware of what's being discussed here? They're talking about building a stadium and various mixed-use developments right in the approach path to PDK's busiest runway. You know what happens next, don't you? Well ... the FAA should step in and prohibit a project like this right off the bat ... but you can't count on that ... so what happens next is that people start screaming for the closure of PDK. After all, you can't have all of this people flying around in their airplanes over a crowded stadium, can you? Golly! They might be terrorists or something? At the very least you will have pressure to close PDK ... or at least the runways that have approach or departure paths over the stadium.
The pilots, staff and business of PDK had better get busy killing this idea right about now. There are many good locations for a new stadium in the Atlanta area ... this isn't one of them.
OK .. now you wealth envy folks can start screaming. After all, anyone with an airplane is rich, right? You don't want to hear that the average value of a privately owned piston aircraft is less than the cost of a bass rig, do you. No. Didn't think so.
The CEO of American Airlines says that any plans for a federal stimulus should include the aviation industry. This includes more spending on runways and air traffic control. The airlines themselves, though, don't seem to be asking for a handout ... yet.
American Airlines CEO Gerald Arpey says, "The airline industry should be certainly at the top of the list of industries that are deserving of economic stimulus as it relates to infrastructure because we have let the infrastructure in aviation deteriorate."
| |
|
Search Boortz.com
