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John L. Petersen, President
The Arlington Institute
1501 Lee Highway, Suite 204
Arlington, VA 22209
703-812-7900 Fax 703-812-0900
www.arlingtoninstitute.org johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org
Want to learn more about Y2K: Check out
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/rhomer/social.html
> ARROGANCE AND AIRPLANES
> by JD Wetterling.
>
> He was handsome, seemed pleasantly modest on TV and was
considered a
> nice guy by mutual friends, yet young John Kennedy's ego led
to the
> needless death of him and his family. Arrogance plus
airplane minus
> caution equals foregone conclusion. In spite of advances in
safety
and
> avionics, the machine is still mercilessly unforgiving of
foolhardy
> pilots who venture outside the envelope of their own
limitations.
> Shakespeare's dictum, to know thyself, is still literally a
matter of
> life and death in an airplane.
>
> I think I am qualified to speak on this issue. I was a
single seat
jet
> fighter pilot in the USAF and I flew in combat on some of the
inkiest
> nights in Southeast Asia, not knowing up from down aside from
the
visual
> information provided by some dimly glowing instruments. I
have
> hyperventilated with fear and vertigo and multicolored
tracers in my
> face. And I suspect that some of my friends died for the
same reason
> Kennedy did. By the grace of God I did not. But a flight to
Martha's
> Vineyard is not combat and the mission was unessential and
for a
rookie
> pilot the decision should have been a no-brainer.
>
> In my civilian life I have lost count of the wealthy people
I've known
> who bought expensive airplanes because they could and flew
off into
> weather conditions beyond their capabilities, only to crash
and die.
> The same personality that makes a successful businessman can
lead to
> death in an airplane. Or, perhaps more relevant to the
current case,
> people who are treated like gods start believing they are,
throwing
the
> caution of mere mortals to the winds. As we used to say in
my fighter
> squadron, an elite culture not ordinarily given to
humility,"There are
> old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old,
bold
pilots."
>
> It is far from uncommon, when flying in conditions with no
external
> visual references to three dimensions, as on a dark hazy
night, to
have
> the eyes reading the instruments, telling you that the plane
is right
> side up and every other sense telling you the opposite. It's
called
> vertigo. I have flown final approach to land in a fighter in
nasty
> weather conditions feeling like I was hanging upside down in
the
> harness. Only clenched teeth and a cast-iron
self-discipline, born of
> intense training, assured a landing with the wheels on the
bottom
side.
>
> Even civilian student pilots are taught how to recover the
airplane
from
> "unusual attitudes" strictly by use of the airplane
instruments. It's
> training for just such an occurrence as Kennedy probably
experienced.
> As such it's a critical item on the final check ride for a
private
pilot
> license, but there you know it's coming, the senses are
prepared to be
> fooled and you have the instructor to save you from yourself.
Flying
in
> the real, dark night world it sneaks up on you. You can
tumble the
> gyros in your inner ear by simply turning your head abruptly
to talk
to
> someone else in the cockpit, or by looking down in your lap
to read a
> map. With no backup beyond your own capabilities, the stress
factor
can
> overpower the mind.
>
> I knew a prosperous doctor who experienced what John probably
did, but
> he survived a wiser, humbled, truly blessed man. He parked
the plane,
> walked into the airport operations office, threw the keys on
the
counter
> and said with a quavering voice, "Sell it" I suspect that if
John had
> survived he would have done something similar. The terror of
the last
> several seconds of life for the three souls in that cockpit
had to be
> too horrible to contemplate.
>
> My heart bleeds for the families. Untimely death is always
the most
> tragic of catastrophes. Untimely, senseless death,
self-inflicted by a
> foolish decision, is an enormous lifetime burden for friends
and
family
>who survive. To take innocent loved ones with you borders on
> unforgivable.
>
> A nice guy made a ghastly mistake in judgment and paid for it
with his
> life and the lives of his family. Now Kennedy's
beatification by a
> celebrity-crazed press is winding down, but the legal battles
have
most
> likely only begun. Look for lawsuits against the instructor,
the
>airplane manufacturer and maybe even between in-laws. That's
the
> American way of dealing with blame in this Golden Age of
Exoneration.
> And win, lose or draw, one man's failure becomes another
man's
fortune.
> May God have mercy on us all.>>
> >>
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