Comments on: Counting Up, Counting Down

By: Brad

Brad — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 05:50:40 +0000

As a longtime reader who values your data-driven approach to safety, I’ve been thinking about your point on how “training, technology, and regulation” changed the industry. Do you think this push for federal oversight we see in aviation is effectively translating to other high-stakes digital sectors, like the newly regulated Brazilian betting market? I was reading about the licensing standards for 2026 at https://GuiadeKTObrasil.com and noticed they emphasize strict Ministry of Finance (SPA/MF) compliance to prevent “fly-by-night” operators. From your perspective as a pilot who has seen the benefits of rigorous FAA/NTSB standards, do you believe these types of localized regulatory frameworks are enough to build public trust in digital platforms, or is “luck” still a bigger factor than we care to admit?

By: Steggy

Steggy — Fri, 16 May 2025 02:33:37 +0000

“My point being: a huge portion of citizens have no real memory of commercial aviation prior to the early 2000s.”

I have a long memory of commercial aviation, going back to early 1956 and my first trip by air to Phoenix to visit relatives. A Super Connie got me there and a DC-7 brought me back.

In a fantastic bit of irony, 1956, for those who weren’t around then, was the year the deadliest aviation mishap in history up to that time occurred. That was the collision of a TWA Connie and a United DC-7 over the Grand Canyon, resulting in 128 deaths. The cause was ultimately blamed on the incredibly primitive state of air traffic control at the time, it being basically what we had in the 1930s, just with better radios. Despite the catastrophic loss of life, our politicians dragged their feet in appropriating funds to modernize ATC—there was but one working ATC radar set in the entire USA back then. Meanwhile, planes continued to run into each other with alarming regularity.

So, yes, things have gotten much better. However, political indifference and complacency continue to be a problem. Not helping any is over-reliance on cockpit automation. And, as the recent DCA accident shows, human failure continues to be the number one cause of aerial mishaps. I am hoping recent changes at the federal level will return aviation to being a meritocracy by retaining the best and retiring those who can’t cut it.

We don’t need to make more work for the NTSB.

By: BH

BH — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 16:38:21 +0000

Speaking of aircraft safety. I am fed-up with the ever cuter safety videos shown at the start of the flight. It is time to start speaking of inflight safety issues with a clear and stern voice. An announcement that needs be delivered by the cabin attendant who has the best “over the air” presentation. Speak to the importance if there is an evacuation to leave ALL of your bags and belongings and move out! Re-emphasize the importance of the seat belting at all times. I am frightened about some of the overweigh, barely moving folks that are allowed to populate the exit rows. It is important to talk about passenger misbehavior in that presentation. Not to mention If misbehavior. A nation law is required. One that if passenger behavior should result in police are involved, they no be allowed to fly on ANY and all US airlines ever again! Or at least for a meaningful time frame such as 5 or 10 years.

By: Carlos Si

Carlos Si — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 03:48:09 +0000

It’s probably a good thing that the worst people worry about is a few doors busting or close calls as opposed to actual accidents. These aren’t to be minimized but imagine just how these would pale in comparison to hull losses and crashes.

We’ve taken perfect safety for granted when flying in the US. Safe to take our kids and trust it (albeit better than driving always, no doubt). It’s going to suck when it happens again, imagining the odds were finally against one.

By: Zach

Zach — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 07:08:26 +0000

I wanted to ask about that crash….wasn’t that the one where they took off five miles behind another plane, got caught in the wake, the First Office over compensated with the stabilizer, until it snapped off and the plane went into a dive?

What was the right way to handle it? More distance? Don’t manipulate the stabilizer? Or just don’t move it that dramatically?

I ask because it seems common to get caught in someone else’s wake during takeoff…

By: David Bunin

David Bunin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 13:13:51 +0000

Patrick,

The door plug separation on the MAX9 came frighteningly close to ending the streak.

When the plug left the fuselage, it apparently pivoted down on the bottom hinges and separated cleanly in a downward direction. Had it not separated cleanly, had it pivoted for a moment and become an airfoil and flew up just a bit … the structure of the plug is more-solid than the structure of the horizontal stabilizer. The plug could have potentially cut off the left side stabilizer which would have rendered the aircraft uncontrollable.

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 01:47:08 +0000

The next crash, which no doubt will happen sooner or later, will indeed be a media frenzy. It will likely have a swift and severe impact on the airline and/or airframe manufacturer.

I do hope that the media checks in with you, Patrick, to calmly guide us through what is known, and what is not to set things into context.

By: MWnyc

MWnyc — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 02:11:09 +0000

AA 587 didn’t get as much coverage as it should have because it was only two months after 9/11, which was still dominating the news, especially in New York City. (The fires at Ground Zero were still burning; they weren’t fully extinguished until January, iirc.)

The feeling at the time was almost “Oh, greeeeeat, another disaster; we’ll just add another 260 to the death tally.”

By: Rod

Rod — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 22:16:34 +0000

My father, who grew up in the ’30s, once told me that a major lynching in the South back then might rate a paragraph or two on page 87. Familiarity breeds contempt.
But yes, the media these days (at least the Western media) is a sort of funhouse mirror for reality. It magnifies the frivolous & understates the grave. More & more.

By: Evan

Evan — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 20:37:40 +0000

Patrick, if you haven’t read “The Crash of Delta Flight 723” by Paul Houle, I highly recommend it. We have come a long way since then in aviation safety, both in the cockpit and at the airport.