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Continental Crash

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by ferrari77, Feb 12, 2009.

  1. cwebbster

    cwebbster Member

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    Wow....and just wow! What are the odds of this? Seems like 9/11 widows/family members are cursed. Such a sad event! Hope everyone involved stays strong!
     
  2. Lady_Di

    Lady_Di Member

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  3. AGBee

    AGBee Member

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    I'd still say the odds are much higher of dying in a car accident, but that never stops anybody from driving ;)
     
  4. Two Sandwiches

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    I am more than likely going to fly Continental in April. They just put a graphic up on CNN:

    Chances of dying in a car accident: 1 in 6,500.

    Chances of dying in a plane accident: 1 in 500,000.

    You just hear more about plane crashes because they just don't ever happen.


    I would venture to say that they'll discover ice is probably the primary cause of this thing. It was very icy in the area last night (Glare ice over the roads), and I can't imagine how bad it was 2,300 feet off the ground.
     
  5. weslinder

    weslinder Member

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    Why do Airline accidents always seem to happen in groups? We had quite a few years with very few airline accidents in the news. Now we're having a bunch. We had a bunch in the late 90's, too.
     
  6. slcrocket

    slcrocket Member

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    Agreed. Those are fine airplanes, just a fluke accident.

    After having worked with the airlines, I can tell you: turboprops have some of the best safety ratings and history in the whole industry. Hell, the EMB-120 Brasilias only seat like 28-30 people, and even though it's a loud ride, they're one of the safest commuter planes you can take.

    Heart goes out to the families involved. Helps you realize that a lot of us really don't have any big problems in our lives.
     
  7. Surfguy

    Surfguy Member

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    True. There was also that passenger plane that flew in another plane's jet wash (or wake) and the plane broke apart because the pilot was doing something wrong (pilot error) shortly after 9/11 happened. Remember, that was the one that fell to pieces out of the sky into a heavily populated area. On that plane was also a relative or widow of a 9/11 victim. These people can't get a break I guess. Or, there is just an awful lot of them meaning if something bad is happening in the vicinity of New York...then a family member of a 9/11 victim was likely involved. I would say to hell with flying if I'm a 9/11 victim's family member.
     
  8. Surfguy

    Surfguy Member

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    Chances of plane flying into, out of, or near New York, the plane crashes, the passengers die, and at least one passenger is a relative/widow of 9/11 victim: 2 in 3. :eek:
     
    #28 Surfguy, Feb 13, 2009
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2009
  9. TheBigAristotle

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    Geez. That's awful :(
     
  10. G3t R3d

    G3t R3d Member

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    The P.E teacher at me school had a friend on the plane, and today he just stayed in his office all day long.. pretty sad stuff.
     
  11. AstroMechPLZ

    AstroMechPLZ Member

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    I hope that's per lifetime and not per trip...
     
  12. Uprising

    Uprising Member

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  13. Two Sandwiches

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    The off-duty pilot was from my town.

    We'll see if anyone else on the plane was from here...

    A co-worker of mine's brother was at the airport, ready to board the return flight on the plane that crashed. At first, they said that his flight was delayed, and then it was cancelled, and right after it was cancelled, everyone started running around the airport, and he said he thought there was an emergency on the runway or something.

    +
     
  14. mozart123

    mozart123 Rookie

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    like other ppl have said

    Driving is far more dangerous, but Plane crashes are more "spectacular" in the sense that they garner more attention and are rarer and things that are rare that cause such harm are noticed more than the usual car accidents.
     
  15. across110thstreet

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    Buffalo is 400 miles upstate from New York City.

    Also, I have read the chances of dying in a plane crash are much lower than 1 in 500,000.

    I have seen 1 in 9 million or 1 in 11 million on some sites that show these kind of statistics...
     
  16. Two Sandwiches

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    I wonder if the 1 in 500,000 is over a lifetime, and the others are per ride. I doubt there's anyway to compute an accurate stat.
     
  17. krosfyah

    krosfyah Member

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    If you buy some peanut butter crackers from Target and your kid dies of salmonella poisoning, do you blame Target? Or do you blame the manufacturer of the cracker?

    If you blame Target, you have to prove Target knowingly distributed tainted food or is otherwise negligent in some way ...which would be hard to prove. You'd be much more successful in a lawsuit if you went after the manufacturer that was directly responsible for distributing tainted products, right? Target is just a middle man.

    The plane in question is owned, maintained and operated by Colgan. I'm fairly certain Continental has all sorts of legal waivers with their contract agreements with Colgan to assume all liability for their own flights. I'm sure Continental lawyers are busy reviewing paperwork for fine print right now .

    That said, the "perception" is obviously that it's a Continental flight so there is a huge PR issue. I also know that Continental dispatched their emergency response teams to assist in the investigation and assist families.

    The formal statements by the airline in a press conference that I saw was given by the CEO of Colgan Air. I have not seen Continental publicly comment besides offer a few condolences via quotes in the paper. Maybe I missed it, though.

    Anyway, very very sad.
     
  18. esteban

    esteban Member

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    My wife was in Ithica this week(she's currentlty in the Cornell Queens EMBA program) , she was supposed to fly back to Houston Thursday night, when she called me and said they cancelled her flight due to bad weather, I told her to pray and be patient, before I went to bed, the news broke about the crash.

    I will be doing more praying from now on!
     
  19. Franchise3

    Franchise3 Member

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    I guess a girl from my school was on that plane...I didn't know her though. Very sad, though.
     
  20. Two Sandwiches

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    The off-duty pilot apparently lived a couple blocks around the corner from me. His house is on my way home. I just drove by it, and there's a big red ribbon tied around his front porch.
     

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