Questions Remain After Wellstone's Accident Report [Killed by CIA Gamma Ray]

Liberal Slant ^ | 12/31/03 | Jackson Thereau

[BOBTHENAILER]

"Ming the Republican! I cannot allow you to use the CIA Gamma Ray Weapon on the Wellstone plane!"

You've set the bar a notch higher, ROFLMAO.

[mhking]

Doc Bruce Banner...belted by gamma rays....turned into the Hulk...

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[lorrainer]

OOooooh! I love conspiracies!

....that's a practically unheard of position for a freshman senator with no previous experience.

Kinda like first-term junior Senators from New York getting appointed to the Armed Services Committee?

[lorrainer]

My theory of the crash:

[Conspiracy Guy]

Yes I am honored in a twisted way to have captured the DUhmazzes attention.

[Darksheare]

Yes, I too was vastly amused by their odd fascination.
They seemed to think that pic was of your car.

[Conspiracy Guy]

They left off the caption of course.

[TC Rider]

What pressure was the flight crew under?

According to the NTSB report:

"According to the Senator’s campaign scheduler, the pilot contacted her about 0720 and informed her that they might experience icing conditions during the flight. She stated that the pilot did not indicate that he was thinking of canceling the flight. The campaign scheduler stated that when she asked the pilot what he would do if icing became a problem, he told her that the airplane was equipped with deicing equipment and, if necessary, that he could turn the airplane back toward warmer air to melt the ice or divert to DLH. She stated that the pilot then reassured her that he was an experienced and conservative pilot."

and:

"According to Aviation Charter’s director of charter, sales, and marketing, the pilot called her about 0840 and stated that he had done a weather check with the Senator’s campaign staff and that they still wanted to depart as planned. He indicated that he was getting conflicting guidance from another of the Senator’s staffs and that he did not feel comfortable deciding whether or not to make the flight."

..and:

Aviation Charter’s director of operations stated that he did not speak with the pilot that morning but that the pilot had left him a voice message stating that there was some confusion about whether they should depart. He indicated that the pilot stated on the message that icing conditions might prevent them from returning to STP later that day as planned."

..and:

"The other King Air pilot, who had just arrived at STP from the DLH area, indicated that the accident pilot asked him about the weather conditions he had encountered on his flight and then asked him if he would mind sharing this information with the Senator. The other King Air pilot indicated that he told the Senator that the weather was at minimums, but he was sure the pilots could handle the flight."

Nope, no pressure here.

[Darksheare]

Yeah, they did.
I was rather disappointed.

[Conspiracy Guy]

The caption would have been, "Lieberman's campaign car in the ditch again", or "Kerry arrested for Driving While Stupid". I need a freeper who is registered at DU to work with me as a team to get me the coveted award. "Most Hated Freeper". The freeper accomplice would post CG posts and talk about how much they hate CG. Know anyone?

[Darksheare]

Don't personally know anyone who has the requisite mental armoring and titanium stomach to go over there for such.
Everyone I know that would try such would end up babbling aphasia within minutes of stepping in there.
*chuckle*
Heck, I'm admittedly weird enough as it sits.
Hmm..
We'll find somebody somehow.

[AnAmericanMother]

" . . . he did not feel comfortable deciding whether or not to make the flight."

Problem No. 1. The Pilot In Command is the pilot in command. That's why so many pilots are kind of obnoxious, but there's a reason for it. Passengers shouldn't get their own way just because they're passengers . . .

This guy was an accident looking to happen. Too bad it killed a bunch of other folks too.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I've got to win!

[TC Rider]

This guy was an accident looking to happen. Too bad it killed a bunch of other folks too.

I suspect if the Senator, his family and aids, had the chance to read the backgrounds of the two pilots and understood the weather they would have thought twice before boarding that plane.

[AnAmericanMother]

Ignorance in this case was definitely not bliss. You know, it may be because I'm from an aviation family, but I would NEVER get on a plane with a pilot like this. I would be asking hard questions about the WX too, and I would have scrubbed in a heartbeat.

Of course, I also wouldn't have been pushing the trip like I'm sure the Senator and his staff were doing. I'm so worried about get-home-itis that I have occasionally thrown in the towel when I probably could have made it o.k. I particularly remember sleeping under the horizontal stabilizer of my 150 draped with a tarp, while the interior of the aircraft was occupied by three cases of live bees that I was hauling from Hahira GA to Atlanta.

[Darksheare]

Well, Laz is crazy enough to do that already.
But he's in contention for the most hated Freeper prize himself.
Then there's the Viking Kitties.
The Nasty Little Clique as well.

So the field of competition is pretty hugh.
I don't have a posting ID there myself.

If I did, I'd probably see something that would send me into babbling aphasia complete with foaming mouth and such over there.
Best of wishes, and good luck on winning this coveted (by us) commendation.

[Conspiracy Guy]

I fear registering that somehow my PC may melt.

[Darksheare]

Same here.
Or that they might start employing spyware "just to be sure they haven't been infiltrated by the Hideous Hordes of FReepers."

[Conspiracy Guy]

Probably get covered up with spam, pop-ups, and gay porn.

[Darksheare]

Probably.
Like their links on one of their support websites.