Okay, so that title isn't very insightful. But it's true! Perhaps you might be wondering what my inspiration at the moment for such a title happens to be? Don't worry, I won't keep you in suspense very long. I know, there's an awful lot of examples to choose from nowadays.
So what is it that's on my mind at the moment? No, not the idiots (a.k.a. the Heene "family") that decided to pretend that their child was floating away in a balloon, although they certainly qualify. As a matter of fact, I am referring to the two commercial jet pilots who during a recent flight, uh... forgot to land/respond to radio inquiries/fly the plane/think/etc...
So initially, there was speculation that they might have been asleep in the cockpit, simultaneously. That would be pretty stupid, but from what I understand, this isn't entirely uncommon. While that is at least moderately shocking, let's put it aside for a moment, because that isn't what happened, at least according to the pilots' testimony.
There was an initial report that a "heated discussion" was the source of distraction, but that was dispelled by one of the pilots, stating that "wasn't even an issue," rather emphatically, I might add... almost as if the true story would be a source of vindication.
No, jackass. You really shouldn't have even spoken on camera. In fact, it seems you probably shouldn't even speak, let alone pilot an aircraft full of people.
So it turns out that the pilots missed their mark by 150 miles because they were... *drumroll* ... using their laptops. This led them to completely lose "situational awareness".
Yes, using their laptops, at the same time, with such intensity that they missed numerous communication attempts from numerous air traffic control centers, via numerous forms of communication. Apparently, they were looking up some scheduling conflict nonsense due to an airline merger. I'm sure the issue was very near and dear to their hearts, but for crying out loud, you morons, you are the PILOTS on a plane FULL OF PEOPLE.
Now, I'll admit, I frequently find myself distracted by my laptop while on the job. In fact, my laptop is quite compelling, and if it weren't for the fact that nearly 100% of my job DEPENDS on my laptop, the fact that I'm constantly using it on the job might be a problem!
But alas, I am not flying a plane at work, but rather writing code, or messing with a database, or building a report, or writing an email, typically... again, not.. flying.. a PLANE.
In this day and age, we tend to worry more about say, a plane getting hijacked, or hell-- geese flying into an engine while we are flying. Never did it occur to me that we would also have to legitimately fear getting on a plane with Beavis and Butthead ravenously playing World of Warcraft in the cockpit in addition to these concerns.
Luckily, in this case, nothing all that bad happened as a result of these stupid people. Nobody was hurt, and evidently, the passengers were never in danger. Of course, had a dangerous situation arose, the passengers would most certainly have been in danger, because, well, fuck... there's two crash test dummies at the controls. Curses.
It seems likely that these two "pilots" will lose their jobs, thankfully. If you ask me, their pilot licenses, driver's licenses, and World of Warcraft accounts (OHNOES!) should go as well. Their collective dignity is already, of course, nowhere to be found. I'm thinking it might be back in the cockpit flying the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday the Northwest Airlines pilots had violated numerous regulations, including failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly.
The pilots — first officer Richard Cole and captain Timothy Cheney — told investigators they lost track of time and place while working on their laptop computers.
FAA revokes licenses of wayward pilots [MSNBC via AP]
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