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Old June 19th 07, 05:24 AM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Mxsmanic
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Posts: 9,169
Default Typical News Reporting on an accident

James Sleeman writes:

I don't think it's fair to blame reporters, probably what was said is
"he flew into the canyon and stalled the aircraft trying to get out"
or something like that, a reporter is not (necessarily) a pilot, stall
in the common man's vocabularly is associated with engines not wings.

When talking to lay-persons, reporters especially, pilots and
associated personell should avoid that S word and spell out the
ramifications instead.

What they should have been told is something like "he flew into the
canyon and in trying to get back out they inadverantly caused the wing
to stop producing lift".


What makes you so certain it was an aerodynamic stall? That type of stall
normally does not cause a crash. The stalling of an engine, however, which is
apparently what the passenger mentioned, could easily cause a crash or make
one more likely.