[psmith2.0]

This is horrible. Front landing gear on a jet is turned 90-degrees, emergency landing attempted in Long Beach, now circling LAX, preparing for a "soft landing" according to the AP.

No need going into more detail...just turn on one of the 24/7 news networks on TV.

I hope it turns out well.

It strikes me as a bit gruesome and tacky, the breathless live coverage. Feels icky and voyeuristic, everyone with cameras trained on this plane. Takes that whole "Faces of Death" thing to a sickening level. But such are the times we live in, I suppose.



I won't be watching, just because it feels wrong. I don't want to see if something horrible happens. But I pray for those on board...I know they're scared as can be.

[DMBand0026]

Ugh...that's not good at all. I'll throw another prayer in there with yours PScates.

I hope all those people will be okay. This makes me cringe too as my ambulance is second in on any calls to O' Hare International Airport (the world's busiest airport).

[atomicbartbeans]

Prayer thirded.

Let's hope that this turns out as well as the incident a few weeks ago...

[NosferaDrew]

Local news has been covering this live for the last hour.

All of the experts that they're been talking to pretty much agree that one of two things will probably happen:
1. On landing, the gear will collapse and the plane will skid to a halt.
2. As the pilot eases the front gear down on the runway, it'll spin into place and the plane will land normally.

I think #2 is unlikely, but this is being called a "manageable" situation, not a crisis.

[Moogs]

I'm with Paul. I won't watch this until it's done. To garner ratings of something like this is pathetic. For all they know the thing will burst into flames and kill half the people aboard, but they don't give a rat's ass. Coverage is Holy Grail. Media Buttheads....

[HOM]

Well, it's down without incident.

Hooray for good pilots.

[DMBand0026]

That's a relief. Glad everyone is okay!

<cynic>
time for the lawsuits to start rolling in!
</cynic>

[atomicbartbeans]

That landing was smooooth.

Thank God everything's okay. Here's to the pilots... they sure knew what they were doing.

[shatteringglass]

I'm glad it didn't turn into a tragedy. Lord knows the last few weeks have been pretty depressing.

[NosferaDrew]

Great landing!

[Moogs]

Good deal...

[Chinney]

Well done.

[Mac+]

That's good news.

[Kickaha]

It was a heck of a landing. The pilot kept it in a nose-up 2-point for nearly 10 seconds, by my count. Nice job. Give the guy a medal.

And a clean pair of shorts.

[psmith2.0]

Glad to see it ended well. I've not had the TV on in a while, so I was kinda scared to find out. I saw the replay...what a smooth job those pilots did. Hats off to them. I'm happy, as are all those people.

[NosferaDrew]

Streaming H.264 if anyone wants a peek.

[Maciej]

Thank god everyone is alright.
Despite that, I think the media made it out to be a little more than it was.

I wonder what happens to the runway, do they repave it now? What's deal?

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Maciej I wonder what happens to the runway, do they repave it now? What's deal?

Probably just inspect it and fill any gouges, but I'm merely speculating.

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by Kickaha It was a heck of a landing. The pilot kept it in a nose-up 2-point for nearly 10 seconds, by my count. Nice job. Give the guy a medal. And a clean pair of shorts.

And a raise and a promotion.

[Gargoyle]

Damn nice flying!

Give that man a cigar. <<--- re-encoded the video on my blog with just the landing and reduced size for the bandwidth impaired (3.4 meg instead of 43).

[sunrain]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb And a raise and a promotion.

No kidding. He's their new poster boy for airline safety.

[Sauvblanc]

Just to recap on this one briefly...

Apparently there were eight-count 'em-eight news copters chasing this plane and filming the entire thing. EIGHT!!! Geez, how overboard can you get? Would have been truly ironic if two of those copters had crashed into each other in the pursuit of journalistic glory...

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Sauvblanc Just to recap on this one briefly... Apparently there were eight-count 'em-eight news copters chasing this plane and filming the entire thing. EIGHT!!! Geez, how overboard can you get? Would have been truly ironic if two of those copters had crashed into each other in the pursuit of journalistic glory...

Eight?!? My word, I'd say two or three would've been enough. If two of the helicopters crashed, maybe it would've finally woken up the news media and made them realize that they're over-covering just about everything now. I swear, somebody's gonna have to die before they figure it out. ($10 says they redouble their efforts because "that's what Bob would've wanted." )

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, that touches on what I brought up a couple of months ago about the increasingly idiotic antics of the "hurricane jockeys" covering these storms for the big news and broadcast networks.



I'm completely convinced that they're not going to pull back until some on-air reporter gets his head sliced off on live TV from debris flying around at 200mph.

Mark my words...something like that will happen (maybe not so dramatic as a partial decapitation, but some sort of serious injury), and when it does it's ALL we'll hear about for weeks. The reporter will be eulogized and praised up the wazoo and it'll take some clown like me to point out that perhaps he shouldn't have been standing under a flapping gas station sign in 125mph winds.

[Meltedbutter421]

Something happend with Jet Blue again like 2 days after that... i forget wat it was i just remember hearing about it... i hope they get their shit together im flying jet blue to LAX this christmas

[Random Hero]

Originally Posted by Meltedbutter421 Something happend with Jet Blue again like 2 days after that... i forget wat it was i just remember hearing about it... i hope they get their shit together im flying jet blue to LAX this christmas

I won't fret. I fly Jetblue whenever I fly and have never had an incident.

Which probably means I'm over due?

[LudwigVan]

Originally Posted by Sauvblanc Apparently there were eight-count 'em-eight news copters chasing this plane and filming the entire thing. EIGHT!!! Geez, how overboard can you get?

Blame part of that on the media environment of LA, in particular. As stated elsewhere in this thread, ratings are king. I bet you'd find 6 copters flying around your typical traffic stop, four to check out Aunt Mable's retirement party, and maybe a couple more to tag behind "Brangelina" wherever they go.

"Max Headroom" anyone?

[drewprops]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Mark my words...something like that will happen (maybe not so dramatic as a partial decapitation, but some sort of serious injury), and when it does it's ALL we'll hear about for weeks. The reporter will be eulogized and praised up the wazoo and it'll take some clown like me to point out that perhaps he shouldn't have been standing under a flapping gas station sign in 125mph winds.

Yet another one of those times when the only thing I have to say about Paul's post is "Amen".

[curiousuburb]

Next question: How smart is it to have the inflight teevee tuned to video of your plane in trouble?

Isn't it a bit surreal to try and control nervous passengers when they can see themselves panicking in the windows and observe the bits falling off their aircraft? Putting aside the reality TV egomaniacs for a moment, and the ambulance chasing gory-detail fans, is it smart crowd control to show the non-pilots the true risks or just incitement?

How long before the first lawsuit for 'undue stress and mental anguish' ?

[scrouds]

they need to stop chasing airplanes and start looking for other important news too. Maybe these are a start. http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2006/index.htm