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Old July 5th 03, 10:46 PM
Jonathan Birge
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"Orval Fairbairn" wrote in message
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It could happen to ANY of us, under the right circumstances.


There are very few accidents for which I don't feel that way, but I have to
say JFK's was one of them. When I read about some guy doing barrel rolls 10
feet over the runway (Jeffco, Colorado a few years ago right as I was
taxiing to take off) I don't really think there's much I can learn from it
that I don't already know. Similarly, when a guy takes a single engine
airplane VFR over miles and miles of ocean at night I can't really say it
could've happened to any of us. I don't think I'd attempt to make his flight
during the DAY let alone at night. If you're going to go to Martha's
Vineyard in a single engine, you do it where you're going to be over water
for three miles, not ten or twenty (whatever his farthest shore distance was
going to work out to be).

The man didn't deserve to die, especially not in such a terrible way, but
what he did was really careless and more an example for Kennedys to learn
from (they tend to think they are invincible) than the rest of us to learn
from. It wasn't a flight where things slowly got out of hand. They got out
of hand the second he decided to fly direct instead of staying along land.

My personal wild guess is that he was acutely depressed and probably not
worrying about his safety the way most of us would. I don't actually think
he's actually as stupid as the accident would suggest. I just think he no
longer cared so much and wasn't thinking very rationally or clearly.

-Jonathan