Will it make you feel better about yourself
and your piloting skills to
know that somebody *else* made a mistake?

It seems that some pilots have a perverse feeling of
satisfaction when they find out another pilot's
operational misfortunes. Why is it necessary to
dig it in?

Are you on a moral highground because you have never
had an operational mistake or violation? There are
thousands of ways to run afoul of the FARs.

Does it comfort you to know that one of the fathers of
Silicon Valley, Steve Wozniak, was at the controls of
an aircraft for which he was not rated, when the
aircraft rotated prematurely and crashed on takeoff,
critically injuring himself and his three passengers?

Why does it seem that some in the general aviation
community have such a "good old boy" mentality?
I am sure that those people who are the loudest and
most outspoken about "violators" probably have quite
a few skeletons in their closet to hide from public
view.

It seems to me, after reading an excellent book by
Keith Bumsted titled "Please Call the Tower," that
if the FAA is determined to ground somebody, there
is nothing to stop them. They can ground you for
any reason -- look at the Bob Hoover example.
Even student pilots who inadvertently
deviate from the FARs very early in their careers
can be subject to vigorous enforcement actions by
the FAA. For example, a misunderstanding between
the pilot and the tower at an unfamiliar airport
could result in severe sanctions for improper
taxi violations. Who has never been lost at a big
airfield? Let him cast the first stone.

Even someone as experienced as General Chuck Yeager
can make mistakes. He recently had a fender-bender
in one of the vintage aircraft he was flying.

--Ted

"TheShootingSports" james-No wrote in message .com...
Hi all,

I had once heard that John Travolta once ditched an aircraft. I have
never heard this, but to settle a "discussion" could someone tell me if
he did in fact successfully ditch an aircraft ever in his years of
flying?

Supposedly, he was all alone when this occurred.

Your help is appreciated!

-- Jim

PS - reply to james-No (remove -No spa*M
and ^ )
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