Pilot said 'this is fun' before fatal Blackwater crash (article)

[Didereaux]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/02/blackwater.afghan.crash/index.html

Yet another example of the 'quality' and professional attitue of Balckwaters recruits. Sadly it cost 3 US military their lives.

....

[Atman]

1. That's horrible. And of course, nothing will come of it.

BushCo is impenetrable. Even if anyone is charged with anything, BushCo will absolve them of responsibility.

This is not our country anymore. Iraq and Afghanistan never were.

.

[AX10]

2. Blackwater's goons are terrorists in their own right.

I have no sympathy for anyone who works for Blackwater. Bad enough you have insurgents killings American military, now there is Bush's "rent-a-cops" helping the insurgents. :argh:

[northzax]

3. flying is fun

especially flying in a beautiful place. if these guys didn't like to fly, they wouldn't have become pilots, right? You have never had a moment at work when you just say "wow, this rocks, I love this job?" if not, I am sorry for you.

[Didereaux]

5. I was GA, I doubt you are or were or you would not...

..have said what you said. If you actually read the article the pilot took the plane into a very dangerous situation for nithing more than cheap thrills...and he did it with passengers. With complete disregard for others lives. To do so when alone is damned questionable activity, but to do so and imperil others is the highest degree of negligence. No professional pilot worthy of the title would even consider such a stunt, not for a fraction of a second.

No, I am no longer licensed, mother nature failed me a few years back.

[northzax]

10. from my reading of the article

it is unclear why this route was taken, and that the pilots shouldn't have been making this flight together anyway. Of course Presidential Aviation says 'we don't know why they went that way" but who's going to believe them? Maybe they were ordered to, maybe the senior officer onboard requested it, and they didn't have the chops to say 'no' (both are at least hinted at in the story) They weren't prepared for the flght, which is their responsiblity (like on a boat, the captain is responsible, no matter what, right?) but the negligence may well be shared farther up the chain of command.

My response was to the line "this is fun" being evidence of negligence. They were young turks flying in a war zone on a gorgeous day with incredible scenery. If that isn't 'fun' I don't know what is. you never once, while flying, said to yourself "damn, if someone gave me an airplane, I would do this shit for FREE?" You never joked in a cockpit? please.

[DemoTex]

4. Unbelievable! Mind boggling!

#1. The CASA C-212 is about as exciting to fly as a UPS delivery truck with wings and a pair of small turboprop engines. I flew a CASA C-212 for a magazine article a number of years ago. The only box-hauler worse is the Shorts SC-7 Skyvan.

#2. Low-level in an under-powered transport airplane in mountainous terrain?

#3. An Army Aviation battalion commander on board who did not wave the bullshit flag on that kind of dangerous and reckless operation? An Army CWO (presumably Aviation Branch, too) on board, who did not stop that insanity?

#4. I'd love to see the toxicology report on the Blackwater pilots and the full NTSB report on the accident.



CASA C-212

[RC]

6. The only this to come out of this is to

remove the black boxes from the rest of the fleet.

[nightrider767]

7. Seems Like A Non-Issue To Me

Yepper, the pilot was having a grand old time. Giving the his co-pilot and passengers a real thrill. Happens all the time, they payed with their lives. It's not a Blackwater issue. GA planes crash all the time. Whoopee, check the news.

But don't be too quick to judge. Yes he put himself and his crew into danger, but what kind of flying is he payed to do? Covert flying? Avoiding enemy fire?

Maybe flying into and out of canyons is one of the things they do as part of their mission. Or if not actually part of the mission, then something they wanted to learn,,,, in case the need arose.

ANyways, bad judgment or bad luck, I don't see where this has a connection to Blackwater. Happens to military pilots all the time. Pushing the envelope. You want people flying into enemy territory dropping bombs? These are the types of guys and gals who do that sort of thing.

And if you have any way to screen my previous posts, I doubt you'll find me to be one bit sympathetic to Blackwater.

Just judging it from a pilots point of view.

[Didereaux]

8. read the article, not the comments...okay n/t

[nightrider767]

9. Well Yes I Did Read The Article

I was giving my opinion on the article. The conversation they were having before crashing is exactly what you'd expect to hear just prior to most aviation accidents and is a reflection of people with bad judgment. I fault the pilots here, not the company.

Sure Blackwater might have been hugely at fault. But the evidence was not presented in the article. It's takes more than hiring "green" pilots and not preparing them in the best way for every contingency to find guilt. That's done every day with domestic carriers too.

I'm a MAJOR anti-Blackwater guy. But we lose credibility as a group if we go screaming forward with a weak case. Plenty of legitimate reasons to shut that operation down.

As a side note, what part of my comment indicated that I didn't read the article?

Thanks.