Matt Whiting wrote in message ...
C Kingsbury wrote:

I strongly doubt these guys had any intention of pulling their toys
out in flight, but rather simply wanted to prove they had been able to
get them on. Even a reporter couldn't be that stupid.

-cwk.

Don't underestimate reporters. They were stupid enough to put
explosives in a Chevy pickup and blow it up claiming it was a defective
fuel tank design.

That was fraud, not stupidity. They used Estes model rocket engines
IIRC and it worked great. Stupidity would be if they blew themselves
up while wiring it.

The purpose of carrying the weapons was to prove they could get them
on the helicopter. Pulling them out would serve no purpose, unless you
want to suggest that they would in fact hijack the bird "to prove it
could be done" which would be both criminal and insane. I don't think
so. They would go for the ride, see how close they could get to the
arch or some other important building, then ambush the FBO owner with
cameras when they got off and show him the bags full of box cutters.

People with brains don't go into the news reporting business.


It is true that something like 90% of reporters are registered
Democrats, which might lead some to agree with your argument. Lazy,
biased, ill-informed, coffee-stained, foul-smelling, and generally
coprophagous, yes, but stupid, no.

The average journo like most people want to get the maximum bang for
the minimum buck. A cookie-cutter story (small-plane scare) with a
salacious angle (terrorism!) is every newsie's wet dream. Ideally you
sit at your desk, make a few calls, file two hours before deadline,
and head to the bar. Unless someone tells me otherwise, why should I
write this plane crash story up any differently than the last 15? It
just fell out of the sky, narrowly missing a playground at recess
time. That's what happens when the engine stalls.

Back when I worked at the Boston Herald (1999) there was a young
reporter there (Azell Cavaan IIRC) who always talked about wanting to
take flying lessons, but a cub reporter's salary in Boston won't allow
for that. I was even younger and poorer and hadn't even started taking
lessons so I couldn't help.

If you run a flight school, or are an independent CFI, drop a note to
your local news organizations and offer a free lesson/ride or two to
any interested parties. I bet you'll get takers, and do it at least
once a year. They'll get an easy feel-good story out of it they can
use anytime, and you'll go into their rolodex as a source to call when
they're doing an aviation story. Bonus points if you have a female
and/or minority CFI to hook them up with, or can show them students
who aren't 40-year-old white male stockbrokers. Take them for a walk
around the field and introduce them to the mechanic, other operators,
etc, show them how the airport creates economic activity for the
community. Introduce them to a 40yo stockbroker who flies sick kids
and their families in his Bonanza for Angel Flight. Hell, you might
even get a new student out of it.

Most reporters do not investigate, they report. A few positive hours
one afternoon will do a lot more to improve the quality of news than a
stack of angry letters. These days we need all the help we can get.

Best,
-cwk.