Is not flying safe?

"kontiki" wrote in message
...
Flying is not any more unsafe than lots of other activities people
engage in during their 'leisure' time. It's just less forgiving if
you are a moron.

One of my flight students went up to a major jumping get-together up
in West Virginia last week (he is also a parachute jumper). One
guy died, and two others were injured during the "event". I asked
him tonight about it and he seemed fairly matter-of-fact about it.



I have a friend who is a jump master, actually he was my first passenger
after I got my private as well, he has seen a few jumpers bite it but he
understands the risks and enjoys the hell out of it. He told me, if you're
going to be stupid you have to be tough! Indeed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
DW

Steve Foley wrote:
"Jose" wrote in message
et...
The particular way you go is
irrelevant.

Oh, I don't know about that. I don't mind dying, I just don't want to be
there when it happens.

Apologies to Woody Allen.

Jose

I wanna go to heaven, but I don't wanna die!

An old preacher once told me:

Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever...
and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.

"kontiki" wrote in message
...
Flying is not any more unsafe than lots of other activities people engage
in during their 'leisure' time. It's just less forgiving if you are a
moron.

One of my flight students went up to a major jumping get-together up in
West Virginia last week (he is also a parachute jumper). One guy died, and
two others were injured during the "event". I asked him tonight about it
and he seemed fairly matter-of-fact about it.

This was a B.A.S.E. jumping event, was it not?

Personally, I'd want a lot more altitude than one gets just jumping off a
bridge.

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
Chandler, AZ

"Jay Beckman" wrote in message
...
This was a B.A.S.E. jumping event, was it not?

Personally, I'd want a lot more altitude than one gets just jumping off a
bridge.

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
Chandler, AZ

Well, Jay...not every bridge is like those over the Salt River. :~)

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Terrible story that basically boils down to the fact that if his wife
hadn't bitched and let him learn to fly he would probably be alive today.

Any number of things, including having shown up at the airport that day
just a little earlier or a little later, would likely have changed the
outcome.

However, I know lots of people who *are* pilots who still do stuff like
standing around watching *other* pilots fly. I see no reason to suggest
that this guy lost his life *because* he wasn't a pilot. That's just
absurd. He could just as easily have been standing where he was whether
or not he was a pilot.

Pete



Hence the modifier "probably." And if he had have died anyway he would have
at least done it after he had spent many, many hours doing something that he
obviously dreamed about doing.

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

"Jay Beckman" wrote in message
...
This was a B.A.S.E. jumping event, was it not?

Personally, I'd want a lot more altitude than one gets just jumping off a
bridge.

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
Chandler, AZ

Well, Jay...not every bridge is like those over the Salt River. :~)

For BASE jumping from anything over the Salt River, I'd hope to get more
"Aqua-tude" as well as altitude...

"It's true, there wasn't enough room for his chute to open... BUT! It's a
dry failure...!"

;O)

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL (And Now, High Performance Endorsee In Training)
Chandler, AZ

"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Hence the modifier "probably." And if he had have died anyway he would
have at least done it after he had spent many, many hours doing something
that he obviously dreamed about doing.

Well, IMHO "probably" doesn't even come close to the true likelihood (except
inasmuch as even a trivial modification to his life might have cause a
completely different outcome...in that respect, "being a pilot" is no
different than "dropping his toothbrush").

As far as "doing something that he obviously dreamed about doing",
well...not accomplishing that is a problem for anyone who dreams about being
a pilot but doesn't ever become one, even if they die at a ripe old age.

I think it's awful that anyone would die in such a way, but it seems even
more awful to try to make a case that simply being a pilot would somehow
confer immunity to such events.

But then...the new Peter says I should lighten up. Maybe the fact that I
just don't see the point of the comment "he would probably be alive today"
just has to do with the "heaviness" I apparently carry around with me.

Pete

Jay Beckman wrote:
"kontiki" wrote in message
One of my flight students went up to a major jumping get-together up in
West Virginia last week (he is also a parachute jumper). One guy died,
and two others were injured during the "event". I asked him tonight
about it and he seemed fairly matter-of-fact about it.

This was a B.A.S.E. jumping event, was it not?

Yes. "Bridge Day" at the New River Gorge bridge, held approximately on
the anniversary of the completion of the bridge. For six hours, once a
year, it's legal to BASE jump from that bridge. It's kind of a community
festival as well; the BASE jumping is not the only thing going on.

To give some idea of the numbers involved (in the US), there are about
30,000 skydivers, and for the past several years, there have been about
30 fatalities annually. I am not sure how many BASE jumpers there are;
if you have made one BASE jump from each type of object (anywhere in the
world) you can apply for a BASE number and those are up to a bit over
1000 now. Since 1981, there have been 104 known BASE fatalities
worldwide.

Personally, I'd want a lot more altitude than one gets just jumping
off a bridge.

In my admittedly limited experience, many pilots think it's a little nuts
to jump out of a working airplane. Many skydivers think that jumping out
of a working airplane is just fine but that it's a little nuts to BASE
jump. I don't know what activity BASE jumpers consider to be a little
nuts.

Matt Roberds

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote in message
...
Hence the modifier "probably." And if he had have died anyway he would
have at least done it after he had spent many, many hours doing
something
that he obviously dreamed about doing.

Well, IMHO "probably" doesn't even come close to the true likelihood
(except
inasmuch as even a trivial modification to his life might have cause a
completely different outcome...in that respect, "being a pilot" is no
different than "dropping his toothbrush").

As far as "doing something that he obviously dreamed about doing",
well...not accomplishing that is a problem for anyone who dreams about
being
a pilot but doesn't ever become one, even if they die at a ripe old age.

I think it's awful that anyone would die in such a way, but it seems even
more awful to try to make a case that simply being a pilot would somehow
confer immunity to such events.

But then...the new Peter says I should lighten up. Maybe the fact that I
just don't see the point of the comment "he would probably be alive today"
just has to do with the "heaviness" I apparently carry around with me.

Pete


I'm sorry, Pete,

I really don't know just what posts I might have momentarily combined;
because upon rereading the thread, yours is the one that I agree with.

Perhaps I need to lighten up.

Peter

It was an off duty Air Force pilot who lost control of his car and killed
Mark... For those of us survivors who happened to be googling our friend
and found this thread, I think those of you with the decency not to insult
his widow.

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