Grim (pilots engaged in horseplay b/f Blackwater crash)

[Nev]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/02/ ... index.html

"You're an X-wing fighter Star Wars man," an NTSB report quoted the plane's co-pilot, Loren Hammer, saying during the flight -- a reference to the dizzying battle in the 1977 film."

""You're [expletive] right. This is fun," the pilot, Noel English, responded. About eight minutes later, the plane slammed into the wall of the canyon, which was flanked by ridgelines that rose nearly a mile above surrounding terrain."

"Passengers on the flight included Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, the commander of a Hawaii-based Army aviation battalion; and two members of his unit, Chief Warrant Officer Travis Grogan, and Spc. Harley Miller." (as well as flight mechanic Melvin Rowe)

"Prince said investigators concluded the crash in Afghanistan was not due to corporate error, but pilot error. He rejected Waxman's contention that the pilots "acted like cowboys.""

[SineSwiper]

That's okay. At least Darwin did his job.

[Nev]

To me, that's a bit discompassionate. I know plenty of silly kids/young adults who would gleefully get themselves into a situation like this without any "real" adult supervision, which I guess is not surprising in its absence here.

Yes, they're dead, and they may have "deserved" it, but they took three soldiers and a mechanic with them who presumably did not, or at least should be given the benefit of the doubt...

[Julius Seeker]

I wonder how many people on the Internet have any clue as to what Darwin's arguments actually are?

[Andrew, Killer Bee]

That's okay. At least Darwin did his job.

You can be a real idiot, Sine.

[SineSwiper]

Ahhh, you're right. Automatic disqualification due to outside casualties.

They should really train these people better, mainly how easy it is to crash these things. It's a plane, not an X-Wing fighter. Heck, even X-Wing fighters fall apart when you smash it into a Battlecruiser, shields or no shields.

[bovine]

are we talking mon calamari or like a star destroyer?

[Nev]

To avoid veering too much into, you know, *the movies*, I think the operative principle is "things with jet engines get explodey when they run into other things".

I don't care if these guys' last words were "divert all power to the forward shields" or "oh my god aaaaaaaaahhhh why oh why please cruel lord forgive us". They're dead, they're not coming back, and they took three soldiers and a mechanic with them. Somebody made the choice to let these foolios behind the yoke of a fairly decently sized plane, in a U.S. military context, and *that* is the guy I'm mad at.