On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:05:27 +0800, Mike Ash wrote:

In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

A nice story, but these pilots still need to find a new line of work. If any
one of a great many possible factors had been different, those pilots and
everyone on board their aircraft would be dead. Sorry, but they don't deserve
any slack at all. It's time for a change of career--something in which
flipping to the wrong frequency or chatting over laptops for an hour won't put
lives at risk.

Please elaborate. Offhand, I can't think of any change which would have
killed people here. Resulted in an emergency landing somewhere other
than their intended destination, perhaps, but no deaths. According to
this story, the pilots were awake and aware, and would have eventually
started wondering where they were and why ATC hadn't talked to them yet.
They would have been able to quickly figure out their actual location,
and start talking to the appropriate people once they did. They would
have then been directed to an airport in that area that could handle
their plane. A worse outcome, certainly, but I don't see any risk to
life here.

Mike, you're responding to the Mx-Bloss troll,
it makes you look like an ass. Stop.
--
Mark inventor/artist/pilot/guitarist/scientist/philosopher/
scratch golfer/cat wrangler and observer of the mundane.
And much much more including wealthy beyond anything you can imagine.