Having done several engineering internships for Boeing, and having grown up in Seattle, I have a particular interest in any airplane news. As many people might have noticed, there have been a rash of crashes in the last two months after a long spell of none.
One incident (not a crash) that most of you probably did not hear about happened last friday. As it turned out, one of my coworkers was on that flight with his two little boys and wife. I haven't spoken to him much about it yet, but it must have been a pretty scary experience.
Being an engineer and having seen the inside of Boeing, I know and appreciate all the details that are considered when designing and building and airplane. Considering how many flights take place each day and how many different planes are in the air, they have amazing records. But when something goes wrong, you don't want to be anywhere near them.
At any rate, happy flying! And just remember, the chances of something actually going wrong on your flight are probably 0.0001%.
Holy moly three posts in two days...what is this world coming to?!
ReplyDeleteI want to hear more about what happened to your friend. My Parents lived in Seattle before I was born, and my Dad was an engineer for Boeing. Then he got layed off... I guess it wasn't meant to be... but he does know a lot of cool things about airplanes.
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested in learning more about the airlines and some of the procedures and other behind-the-scenes information, check out the Ask the Pilot column over at Salon.com. As a newly-minted frequent-flyer, it's been interesting to learn about the operational and aircraft side of the little metal cylinders I spend so much time in.
ReplyDelete(Well, that might be a bit of hyperbole, but I have got enough miles for a free ticket. Yay!)