Here is a copy of my email to Diane Rehms in response to comments she
made about GA last week on her news show. I have not received a reply
as of yet.
I am a long time listener to your show and greatly value your unbiased
opinions and interviews. I would like to make a comment about your News
Roundup on Oct 13 (Friday).
I was greatly disappointed about your commentaries regarding the small
airplane that crashed into an apartment in NY. Considering the
thousands of airplanes that transition through NY, having just one
accident like this in many many years indicates an excellent safety
record. In addition, only the occupants of the vehicle were killed, and
no bystanders were injured. The media unfortunately likes to
sensationalize this incident and draw parallels with the 9/11 attacks.
I am hopeful that you will provide a more educated and objective view.
Small airplanes are no more a threat to this nation than small cars. I
would challenge anyone who says otherwise to prove the existence of
such threats. In order to do that, you would have to become educated
about our national airspace system and the aviation industry.
I am a pilot and flight instructor, and I can tell you with certainty
that the difference between the small airplane that crashed last week
and the 9/11 airplanes is like the difference between a motorcycle and
a 18-wheel fuel tanker. Yet, we allow vehicles loaded with dangerous
material to go through NY and DC. When it comes to airplanes, we seem
to have a phobia, no matter how small that threat may be. Commercial
news outlets are in the business of sensationalizing trivial events,
but I hold NPR to a higher standard. I hope you will retract your
statements about general aviation, and do a future show on the real
status of aviation in this country, and how general aviation has been
victimized by the political climate. I will be happy to put you in
touch with experts on this topic.
To inject some irony into this incident, a car accidentally crashed
into a second story apartment sometime last month, but that did not
make any national news, or call for draconian measures to clamp down on
car driving. Here is the link:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/lo...news-headlines