Comments on: Dangerous Go Arounds Earn the AP the Cranky Jackass Award

By: The Cranky Flier » Ryanair Jet Did Not “Plunge” 26,000 Feet

The Cranky Flier » Ryanair Jet Did Not “Plunge” 26,000 Feet — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:08:04 +0000

[...] stuff flying around the media right now. Once again, it’s my favorite whipping boy, the AP. This time, the title of the report is “Mid-air panic as plane plunges 26,000 feet.” [...]

By: Tracker

Tracker — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:12:41 +0000

Yo wrote: “…then they call in Mary Schiavo to spread even more bilge.”

OMG, I was drinking a soda right when I read that and almost choked! You are so right. They go on and on and on about a single plane crash, and yet WAY more people are killed on our nations highways every year and that’s not news, unless it involves some cute blonde girl, then it gets 24-7 coverage until something else happens (i.e. Britney in rehab again).

By: Yo

Yo — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:20:44 +0000

Oh “J” you are being hyperbolic.

Whenever there is a crash, the networks fill time with endless uninformed speculation, graphics of planes that are usually very wrong, and then they call in Mary Schiavo to spread even more bilge.

You sound like a borderline conspiracy theorist.

By: Tracker

Tracker — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:34:53 +0000

j, perhaps you haven’t watched most of the news networks in the US lately. Their top story is like “Brittney Spears in Rehab again”. So come off it.

Most of them are too scared (that they’ll lose their jobs) to mention any REAL issues (because the giant media corporations that own them don’t like them to point out anything that might muck up the status quo), and so they have to divert to scare tactics about things that aren’t true, or don’t really matter, to keep their audience attentive. When it’s not scare tactics, it’s cheap paparazzi crap about what or who so-and-so in Hollywood is doing. It seems to be one or the other.

BTW, we’re ripping the AP for not INVESTIGATING the story to find the TRUTH of the matter. They didn’t bother to do their homework. And your average joe-schmoe-know-nothing citizen will believe everything they see on TV, because it must be true. For a lie to become “truth”, all one must do is keep repeating it.

By: j

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:59:42 +0000

That’s right, “Yo,” the media should never investigate anything. We should just always trust government officials and big companies who employ us and sell us stuff. They know best, right? right!? Rip the AP for blowing this issue out of proportion, but let’s cool it with all the sanctimonious pot shots on how superficial and dumb the media is.

By: David SF east bay

David SF east bay — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:01:58 +0000

The Associated Press and any station that runs this video should be ashamed of themselves. Aren’t most go arounds due to bad weather? They act like a go around is something new. Guess these idiots aren’t smart enough to know go arounds have been happening since the beginning of flight when a pilot didn’t think they could land the first time they tried.

By: pbz

pbz — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:51:54 +0000

CF you are right. Better oversight AT the AP, not better oversight *OF* the AP. My misreading I’m sure. Thanks & keep up the good work,
/pbz

By: Marvin Schuldiner

Marvin Schuldiner — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:39:12 +0000

They do deserve the jackass award.

When I was a student pilot at LGB (Long Beach), I was ordered on a go-around but I was doing it without the controller having to say so. LGB is laid out like a tic-tac-toe board with a 10,000′ runway bisecting it diagonally. I was (cleared by ATC and) landing on the usual 25L and looked to my left at the head of the long intersecting runway to see a corporate jet landing at the same time. We would have been at the intersection at the same time. I opted to do a go around on my own. As I was over the other plane, ATC feverishly called me up ordering me to go around and not bother responding.

Now, LGB is (or was) a training airport for ATC and I had good relationships with the controllers on conversations in the pattern doing touch and go’s each week. But as my ground instructor said, it’s high time we stop calling them controllers. They control practically nothing. They are air traffic coordinators.

I guess AP thought I should just blindly follow ATC into the other plane to my death??

By: TR

TR — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:06:59 +0000

I flew TWA to Milan from NYC in 1988 or so. The plane was a 747-200 and I was sitting in a window seat towards the back. Upon arrival at Milan, we had to circle the airport for 1-2 hours due to heavy fog (prior to instrument landing?) or else relocate for another airport according to the pilot. After quite a long time, the pilot announced that he was going to try to land. We descended in no-visibility clouds, FA’s were told to strap in, one of them crossed herself a couple of times which made the people in my section a little nervous. Suddenly we broke out of the clouds and we were right over the runway, but coming down really fast. It looked like a few hundred feet and you could tell that the plane was coming down too teep and fast. There was kind of a muffled cry, mumbling from people in the back, and in a few seconds all four engines went to full throttle, you could hear them screaming and we were pressed way back into our seats as the pilot went for the go-round. You could not lean forward as it accelerated up, and we shot right out of the clouds. People were nervous now. The pilot said he was going to try again, and he landed it the second time. Have to admit I was scared when I saw the ground on the first approach.

By: CF

CF — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:02:43 +0000

pbz – We’re on the same page here. I said there should be “stronger oversight at the AP.” There most certainly should not be oversight OF the AP. I was talking about oversight by the AP of the articles that they approve to see the light of day. More freedom of the press is absolutely the write answer, but I wish the established media organizations would be more responsible on their own.