You are injecting oranges into an apples discussing here.
the issue of whether or not crashes are entertaining to the masses is a
whole different issue than the ethics of putting crash video out on the
net for entertainment or to project one's "hobby".

I see them as different sides of the same coin. One begets the other, IMHO.

I would not argue that crash footage isn't "thrilling". I would argue
however, that those who engage in both providing such footage on the net
for general viewing , and viewing such footage for the purpose of the
"thrill" involved, and trying to pass their prurient interest off as
being associated with flight safety are not my kind of people.

If it's hypocrisy you're angry about, I'm with you. But I don't think the
original poster was trying to pass his site off as being associated with
flight safety in any way.

Don't try selling ME this crap as a safety issue. I know better. I stood
at the crash site of a close friend during the Cape May Air Races in 71.
His body was still in the cockpit of his AT6 crushed like a dishrag. I
held his wife in my arms as she tried hysterically to break away and
climb in the cockpit with her husband. I can still feel her shaking and
screaming to this day. I watched as a spectator....one of these
"photographers" we're discussing here....ran over to where we were
standing and took a picture, not of the wreck, but of HER!!!!

Some of the greatest photographs of our time -- many Pulitzer Prize
winners -- have been snapped in just such a fashion.

Not to defend that photographer's actions, or to minimize your friend's
anguish -- personally, I couldn't do such a thing, emotionally or
technically -- but this event would clearly be labeled as "breaking news" by
most journalists, and there are writers and photographers out there whose
main job it is to cover these types of events.

Somewhere on this planet, a complete stranger, a person with a camera
who didn't know her, and could have cared less about her, has a picture
he took without her permission, at the most horrible and personal moment
of her life,that allows him to share that moment in time with her.
I hope he chokes on it!

I understand your emotion, but I think it's misplaced. Flying airplanes in
an air race, wing-tip to wing-tip, is INCREDIBLY dangerous. The odds of an
accident or incident are high, the odds of violent death are not good. Your
friend knew the risks, and knowingly took them.

He also knew -- as did you -- that the race course was ringed with
spectators and journalists with cameras. To expect photographers to turn
away from a spectacular airplane crash is pretty unreasonable. To expect a
photographer NOT to snap a picture of someone trying to run toward a plane
wreck is unrealistic.

To expect these same photographs to be destroyed, or never published, is
even less realistic. The internet is just the newest form of publishing, a
natural progression from Guttenberg until today. This guy's website is
just an electronic book -- photos printed with electrons instead of ink.

Although I understand your distaste, Dudley, you are railing against human
nature. A darker side of it, for sure -- but it's human nature nonetheless.
You're not going to change it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"