Originally Posted by
NineGturn
CBREEZY, you are forgetting the context of the article. It was published in the NY Post, a rag whose mission is to scare people with irresponsible half truths....very much like your job in these forums.
Actually, this article was far closer to the truth than what you typically read in this tabloid.
Again, the context of the rag it was published in...besides, I'm sure he didn't write it and was probably severely misquoted by those who did.
For the most part the facts are pretty accurate in this case, it's just the way the story is presented that makes it dramatic.
I'm guessing Bedford forgot to pay his monthly "pilot shortage" Press Release payment to the NYPost and this is their response.
Keep in mind, however, sometimes you need a little sensationalism when going up against the massive PR campaigns by guys who literally claim that increasing the minimum flight time requirements for airlines reduces safety because pilots spend too much time flying airplanes and forgetting what they learned in college before going to an airline...yes....this was said out loud by a regional airline CEO.
And in fact the crew of that Colgan Air flight was not highly experienced even though they had over 1500 hours each. The fact remains they crashed a perfectly good airplane on a routine flight due to a severe brain fart....a typical low time private pilot type of mistake.
The article was written by him. It says so in 3 different places.
The Colgan crash was tragic and has lead to leaps and bounds in regulation in favor of pilots. To say, however, that this is a regional airline problem is ignorant. What do you say about the Southwest flight that collapsed the nose gear when the Captain tried to force a landing? That's a private pilot mistake. What about the UPS airplane that flew a visual into a mountain? Or perhaps the Southwest flight that landed at the wrong airport? They were lucky that the runway wasn't shorter. Did the Colgan crew act poorly under the circumstances? Absolutely. Are there major airline crews that have made similar "rookie" mistakes and got lucky it didn't end in a fireball? Absolutely.
I know what Bedford said. I watched his testimony. How many people were incensed by what he said because it was ludacris? So, your reaction is, "well, we should say all of America's lives are in danger because we have inexperienced idiots flying their airplanes?" The only real problem brought up in the article that also was accompanied with a solution was pilot pay. So, flying a regional airline is still dangerous but if you pay themmore you should feel better about it and MAYBE that'll recruit better pilots? That's equally as ridiculous as "getting more experience makes you a worse pilot."