I flew this 777 while qualifying the 787
Recently things have not been so good for the world, with tragedies in Arizona, Canada, Nigeria and of course the Asiana 777 crash in San Francisco. I flew that 777 route from Seoul to San Francisco a few times and considered Asiana vastly superior to any US carrier, at least in terms of amenities, food and service. And the Boeing 777 has an incredible safety record. It is, to date, my favorite aircraft to fly (I have yet to fly a 7
87).
Just about everyone got out alive, which is truly remarkable. I’m saddened that the two victims, Ye Mengyuan and Wang Linjia, where so, so young. Their families have to be asking why them, of hundreds of others – an unfortunate seat assignment?
I was very impressed with the National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman. She took command of a chaotic news conference and was incredibly concise with regard to the multitude of details under investigation. It’s reassuring that not all of the Bush appointees were clueless cronies. The world needs more women like her in leadership positions.
The news media is again in a frenzy. The fact is that air travel is safer than ever, and much safer than driving. Think back to the 1960’s, ‘70’s and ’80’s and these accidents seemed to have happened on a yearly basis, with a much higher death toll.
So these events leave me mildly depressed as I prepare to end my brief sabbatical. One simply has to appreciate every moment of one’s life. We see tragedies happening to other people far away from us. Yet likely all these victims thought no differently than us.
