JFK Jr.'s mean ol wife

In article ,
(-*-*-*-) wrote:

"I'm just a zero" wrote:

I don't know *anyone* who has an instrument or night rating that hasn't had
at least one close call due to their own stupidity. Don't think you should
slate a guy simply 'cause he lucked out.

JFK Jr. wasn't yet rated and he didn't have a close call; he died and
took two people with him. The only positive is that his own criminal
negligence killed him as well as his passengers.

Roger. who only fly's VFR these days, and is happier for it

Learn to punctuate and you'll be even happier.


First of all: there is NO such thing as a "night rating" in the US!

Secondly: criminal?

It could happen to ANY of us, under the right circumstances.

JFK Jr's accident follows a classic pattern:

1. Pilot is under a lot of stress.
a) His "George" magazine was failing.
b) He was behind schedule because his pax were late.
c) He was recovering from a leg injury.
d) The visibility wasn't up to par.
f) Night had fallen over the last part of the trip.
e) He was probably tired, after a long day.

2. He flies, not realizing the effect that the stress has placed on his
piloting skills/judgement.

Just read the ASRS reports to see how these conditions can creep up on
an otherwise proficient pilot and take heed!

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"Orval Fairbairn" wrote in message
news
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