I suppose you're right, although I said "it almost seems", not "I think" he was intentionally trying to crash the plane. There have indeed been incidents, and not just terrorism, where pilots have intentionally crashed a plane, so it wouldn't be unprecedented. I personally think the guy was just a poor pilot who panicked. Anyhow, the downvotes are just bizarre and unwarranted.

(Written on 2020年 07月 19日)(Permalink)

What's up with the downvotes??? I merely asked some questions.

(Written on 2020年 07月 18日)(Permalink)

How dare you!

(Written on 2020年 07月 17日)(Permalink)

Pretty soon it'll be off to the gulag with you for comments like that.

(Written on 2020年 07月 17日)(Permalink)

You can't say anything that might offend someone. Welcome to our brave new world.

(Written on 2020年 07月 17日)(Permalink)

Watched the video. The incident is very bizarre. Why would the copilot think they were stalling? Second, why would he then push the throttles to max and push the yoke down so much causing such a steep angle of descent? It almost seems he was intentionally trying to crash the plane.

(Written on 2020年 07月 15日)(Permalink)

I always like to use actual facts to counter the climate change hype and hysteria: there have been fewer tornadoes from 1990s-present than there were from the 1950s-1990s. There have also been roughly the same number of hurricanes from the early 1900s until now. Please stop with the fearmongering.

(Written on 2020年 03月 04日)(Permalink)

I've also advocated for an updated and improved 757. It's such a great aircraft and could be successful IMO. I like the idea of a brand new Middle of the Market aircraft, but perhaps Boeing does not need to reinvent the wheel here and could save a lot of money. Of course, they tried this with the 737 which so far hasn't worked out so well so it would be a risky prospect.

(Written on 2020年 01月 19日)(Permalink)

This whole 737MAX debacle is a real shame. Yes, new planes always have problems that get corrected over time. Unfortunately, this one had an issue that killed people, so now it's under incredible scrutiny. The thing I never liked was that a "Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System" is even needed on this aircraft. I'm no engineer, but this tells me that there is something inherently unstable or just "not quite right" in the aerodynamics of this plane. The company was so desperate to compete with Airbus that they chose a quick and dirty way to get something on the market by forcing an existing model to accept the larger fuel efficient engines, plus stretched the fuselage even more to accommodate more passengers on the -10. Boeing screwed up here, plain and simple. Hopefully Boeing will learn a valuable lesson here and move on to bigger and better things.

(Written on 2020年 01月 19日)(Permalink)

Right on. The FAA reminds me of the "objective" financial ratings agencies during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. I'm guessing that a lot of the FAA upper-level staff are former airline and airplane manufacturer executives, kind of the like the ex-Defense Dept. officers getting hired by the private defense contractors. No conflict of interest at all, nothing to see here. Boeing needs to do something big and amazing in order to regain its tarnished reputation. Right now Airbus is winning big.

(Written on 2019年 12月 17日)(Permalink)