Comments for Plane Talking

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Ed

Ed — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:25:34 +0000

I’d find your argument compelling if I couldn’t help but detect genuine disgust for Pel-Air. To me it seems as though you’re taking a good outcome from a bad situation a little too personally. It would be refreshing to hear someone comment on aviation related topics without feeling the need to personally attack a perfectly good operator. There is nothing wrong with seeking the truth from an incident such as this. At the end of the day it was a successful ditching and from what I can tell the first for the operator. If Pel-Air is so horrifically negligent as you describe them to be, I’m surprised that their safety record and performance to date has been so successful. I guess it must be luck as apparently you seem to be the expert on the short comings of this particular operator. I have a question though… If this incident occurred with the Careflight being operated by another company would you be so venomous in stating your views?

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Jack Robertson

Jack Robertson — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:54:13 +0000

“I see the only heroes here as the crew on the vessel that endangered their own lives in going out to rescue that crew.”

Amen to that. Seriously brilliant seamanship, by the sounds of it.

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Tweets that mention Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching – Plane Talking -- Topsy.com

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:33:53 +0000

...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stilgherrian, Desertgirl. Desertgirl said: RT @stilgherrian: Pel-Air implicates itself deeper over ditching http://bit.ly/86KiNB compare with MSM "hero" news http://bit.ly/4qlPLF [...

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by E.Tops

E.Tops — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:04:21 +0000

Thank goodness there are others out there who see this ridiculous reporting. The Captain is being “Hailed a hero”: as a professional Pilot that is great news! No matter how bad my decisions are I can come out a hero!

Seriously, the real unsung heroes are the thousands of Pilots that land their aircraft safely every day. How dare anyone compare this avoidable incident to the unavoidable Hudson river accident.

Please push the truth out there Ben, by the time ATSB and CASA release anything the story will be ancient history.

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Ron

Ron — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:46:26 +0000

Hi Ben, I couldn’t believe all media hype about this unbelievable and totally unnecessary ditch into the open sea near Norfolk. Nor the high praise for the pilot who chose this death-defying solution to an ill planned medivac. First what happened to the Mayday….Mayday….Mayday before ditching? In fact what happened to the Securité….Securité….Securité earlier when there was even a remote possibility of running low on fuel.
I am an experience sailer even having circumnavigated Australia and Tasmania for the Mathew Flinders Bicentenary and fished proffesionally around Norfolk years ago. I have had a close association with Norfolk for over 40 years. Let me tell you a little more about Norfolk:
Norfolk is renowned for often having thick fog in November. Decades ago the Norfolk Islanders would often have to delay their commercial bean seed harvest due to the moisture of November fogs. Many dozens, maybe over 100, Australia/Norfolk flights have had to divert to their alternative landing strip in New Zealand over the last 50 years. On a November day in the early 60’s I flew on a DC4 from Sydney to Norfolk (5 ¾ hours) we circled Norfolk for around 2 ½ hours, attempting to land, before flying on to Auckland for the weekend as the alternative.

Sea rescue cannot be seen as an expectation around the Island. There are no boats on moorings or at anchor. It is so rough there are not even any boat ramps. To take one of the small boats out the vessel is towed under a derrick on the wharf. Their skipper gets into the boat and his mate uses their 4WD or ute as the motive means to lift the boat and swing it out over the turbulent water. When the skipper sees a brief opportunity the boat is quickly lowered into the water, the skipper unhooks and powers away from the crashing waves. He later swings by the wharf, when he sees a lull, and his other crew jump in. Then the vessel has to go out often through breaking seas, past a niggerhead, and through a treacherous narrow reef passage. All in the dark and there are no navigational aids on or around Norfolk. Now start looking for a small ditched aircraft on a dark night in rough seas in an area of about 8 x 4 kilometres. I see the only heroes here as the crew on the vessel that endangered their own lives in going out to rescue that crew. And I understand the location was only found because a farmer spotted the feeble light from a torch that the pilots relied on as their means of rescue. I only see foolhardiness on the part of the airline and its crew. Ron

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Ken Borough

Ken Borough — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:42:16 +0000

“Isn’t a full review of the fitness of Pel-Air to hold its AOC a matter of some urgency from a public safety perspective if nothing else?”

Yes, but will the lobbying be too intense? Apart from a CASA review, I would think and hope that CareFlight would be conducting its own review as to Pel_Air’s fitness to do the job with the safety and compliance that we expect..

Comment on Let’s get real about the Norfolk Island ditching by Ken Borough

Ken Borough — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:38:01 +0000

Ben,

Even the high cost of fuel at Tontouta is a bargain when compared with the cost of a hull sitting on the bed of the Pacific Ocean!

Cheers, Ken

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching – Plane … | You Have the Right to Breathe Clean Air

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:28:28 +0000

...] the rest here: Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching – Plane … Posted in Air Condition News | Tags: aoc, been-granted, Casa, ertificate-or-aoc, [...

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Keith is not my real name

Keith is not my real name — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:16:57 +0000

Incredible, astonishing and deplorable.

Comment on Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching by Liquid Len

Liquid Len — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:05:11 +0000

Where were the EPIRBs?