Over the weekend, the FAA released the recordings and transcripts of conversations between ATC and the pilots of Flight 188. The gist of the whole conversation(s) can be summed up in one sentence…

“Ah [just] cockpit distraction, that’s all I can say,” is the [pilot’s] response.

Wow. 144 passengers onboard, and an hour and a half with zero ground contact, speeding along at Mach 0.78 35,000 feet over and 150 miles past the Minnesota airport and “we were distracted” was the best they could come up with? And they want their licenses back??

Minnesota ATC did have the pilots confirm through directed maneuvers that they were actually in control of the plane and did allow them to come back and land at the airport without escort though. Personally, I would have made them wait in a holding pattern until they were properly flanked and escorted down by the military on a secure runway and had everyone sifted on a restricted tarmac.

Here’s the link to the CNN article on the pilot’s comments and the FAA and ATC conversations.

Here’s a link to the FAA transcript of ATC trying to contact Flight 188 [NOTE : PDF file].

Here’s the cross-link to my rant and diagrams on how bad Flight 188 was really off.

You know, anyone who willfully jumps into a BEAR PIT has pretty much told the world they’re ready to check out. Seriously.

At the Berne Bear Park in Switzerland this weekend, police were called by park officials when they saw a man had been sitting on the edge of a bear pit for ten minutes. But just as the police arrived, the man jumped into the pit.

So after this idiot jumped in, the bear did what bears do when someone suddenly enters their living area unannounced. He pulled out a folding table and set a pot of tea on the burner and looked for some fresh biscuits. Oh wait, no he didn’t do that… he mauled him.

As the bear was illustrating the “my, what big teeth you have” part of the story, the police moved into the enclosure, eventually shooting the bear once in the chest. The bear spit out the idiot-sized chew toy, and the wall jumper got another chance at life.

In the article on the DailyMail website, it says this fellow was “mentally handicapped” and was “treated in hospital for severe head and leg injuries, and his condition yesterday was said to be comfortable”. So my question is what was a “mentally handicapped” man doing unsupervised at a bear park sitting on the edge of a 20 foot tall wall looking into a bear pit all by himself? For 10 whole minutes? And only jumping as the police were arriving?

This whole incident wasn’t the bear’s doing. The bear was in his home, minding his business, being a bear, and got shot for someone else’s stupidity. And I’m not completely blaming the “mentally handicapped” man on this one.

And as for the poor bear? The “vets… decided not to operate to remove the bullet splinters, treating him with antibiotics”

Great. Now this poor bear has 9mm fragments constantly moving around in his chest. Even for a big brown bear that’s got to suck.

Poor bear

Fortunately “Police and zoo officials say there has been an outpouring of public sympathy – for the bear. Bouquets of flowers and pots of honey have been placed outside his enclosure.”

Here’s the link to the original DAILYMAIL article.

Before getting into this tidbit, I want to talk about the wonderful phrase “food insecurity”. Instead of saying the truth in a clear and understandable manner, the phrases “going hungry”,  “not having enough to eat” and especially that horrible word “starving” have been phased out by people reporting on this horrible situation in favor of a understated, underperforming, and inoffensive phrase…. “food insecurity”.

Now. Having said that, I would like to post this article from Food Business News the mainstream media has completely missed out on.

A recent study by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the United States has had… “the highest food insecurity rate since 1995. Seventeen million U.S. households, or nearly 15%, were food insecure during 2008… The number of families that had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year was up from 13 million households, or 11.1%, in 2007, and was the highest level recorded since food security surveys were initiated in 1995.”

Let’s try that paragraph again. This time, substituting “going hungry” and “starvation” for “food insecure”.

A recent study by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the United States has had… “the highest STARVATION rate since 1995. Seventeen million U.S. households, or nearly 15%, were GOING HUNGRY during 2008…. The number of families that had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year was up from 13 million households, or 11.1%, in 2007, and was the highest level recorded since food security surveys were initiated in 1995.”

See how much more terrible it is when I say it without coddling the truth with that “food insecurity” phrase? Saying it straight and clear kind of makes it more important, dontcha’ think? Maybe a bit more newsworthy. Especially if you crunch the numbers a little more. 15% of 100% literally means 15 out of every 100 people is going without enough food. Reducing that down to a more manageable fraction, you get 3 out of every 20 people are going hungry in the United States.

But running with those numbers in the opposite direction is perhaps more eye opening. If you look at the ballpark current US population of 307,960,000, 15% of that is 46,194,000 people. 46,194,000 people is just slightly less than the combined 2007 populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Louisville-Jefferson County, Washington, Nashville-Davidson, Las Vegas, Portland, Oklahoma City, Tucson, Albuquerque, Long Beach, Atlanta, Fresno, Sacramento, Cleveland, Kansas City, Mesa, Virginia Beach, Omaha, Oakland, Miami, Tulsa, Honolulu, Minneapolis, and Colorado Springs… which all total to 46,240,297.

I think that’s pretty important myself. Important enough to post it early, during the week, and not with the usual “news you missed” pieces I put together on Saturdays.

Here’s the link to the FOOD BUSINESS NEWS article and the link to the official study from the USDA.

As a pilot in training from long, long time ago, I think it’s hilarious the two commercial pilots from Northwest Flight 188 who overshot Minneapolis airport by 150 miles in an Airbus A320 want their licenses back. Just because they were playing on their laptops and overshot an airport by 150 miles doesn’t mean they are bad pilots, right?

Here’s my problem… overshooting an airport by 150 miles doesn’t sound so bad. Until you see it on a map. As a frame of reference, from the Minneapolis airport to Prentice, Wisconsin is about 149.540 miles in a straight line. That’s close enough to the 150 miles they missed the Minneapolis airport, so I’ll use that city as a reference point.

Northwest Flight 188 A

That’s a hell of a search area if you map it out from the airport, assuming they would have slightly altered course once they passed the airport and continued flying in a North-Eastward direction from the airport.

Northwest Flight 188 B

But if you assume worst case, that they diverted anywhere in a 360 degree arc – 150 miles in any direction – from their intended destination? Using the airport as the center and Prentice, Wisconsin as the edge, you get…

Northwest Flight 188 C

That’s a big search area.

But that’s not the best part. The best part is that “ATC (Air Traffic Control) lost radio contact with the Airbus A320 near Denver, Colorado” That was the last time anyone really knew where Northwest Flight 188 was at in the United States and that everything was OK with them. (Map and flight path courtesy FLIGHT AWARE)

Northwest Flight 188 D

So looking at the official flight path with FLIGHT AWARE with Google Maps, passing Denver Colorado heading to Prentice…

Northwest Flight 188 E

And assuming they stayed on Denver’s radar for a while and they maintained a north-north-eastward direction from their last radio contact and continued up to Prentice, Wisconsin as before, and ballparking their last radio contact near Denver, this would be the search area.

Northwest Flight 188 F

But assuming the worst case? Assuming they had maintained radio silence and had altered their course in any direction from their last known contact near Denver?

Northwest Flight 188 G

Wow.

A few questions…

* This missing airplane didn’t count as a “wake the president” kind of emergency?

* You could argue that since they showed up on a few Air Traffic Control radars along the way and since they were heading in the correct general direction nobody thought anything was wrong. Even with complete radio silence, that’s a big stretch, but I might sorta buy that. But nobody at Minneapolis airport thought to sound even the tiniest little alarm bell when Flight 188 roared right on by?

*Norad? FAA? This is your kind of thing here. You know. Airspace. Jets. Planes going off course in complete radio silence. Do you all need an official gold embossed invitation to show up to the party next time?

* And what exactly was on the pilot’s laptops that was so captivating?

I think I need to clarify yesterdays’ post. After re-reading a day later, I don’t think my point was clear.

I’m not opposed to the protection of our country. I’m not opposed to the idea of protecting yourself. What I am opposed to is the absolutism of eternal vigilance.

Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Think of it this way- even though laws are in place, bad guys will ignore them. Laws to me are something like a fence on a farm to keep wolves out. Laws are in place, and they do deter the smaller bad guys, but a serious bad guy will just go right through them.

I think you should be prepared for the worst. You should know how to defend your family and your home. I think you should know how to stand on your own two feet without any help. I think you shouldn’t rely on someone being just around the corner to help you if things go wrong.

But I also think you should hope for the best. You should make plans to live a good and productive life. You should take steps to make your own dreams a reality. You should encourage the work of others who have not traveled as far as you have. You should be patient. You should be strong.

Yes, it would be possible to build a fortress to keep the wolves out. But then it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be a farm. It would be possible to pass enough laws to eventually catch everyone with an evil thought. But then it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be the United States.

Changing the Department of Homeland Security’s Security Advisory System’s color coding to say there will never be an end to terror is a step toward this fortress. Toward a focus on the wolves, and not a focus on the farm.

Don’t be a wolf. But don’t be a sheep either. Think Sheepdog. Cute and cuddly, but with big teeth if necessary.

According to a new article in WIRED, the Department of Homeland Security is trying to change the Terror Alert color coded system. Soon there will no longer be five confusing colors to worry about.

The old chart

Now there will only be three colors! Red! Orange! And…. yellow?

From the same WIRED article…

* Red = High Alert – “Maximum protective measures to protect against an imminent or ongoing terrorist attack.”
* Orange = Elevated  – “Increased protective measures based on specific threat information regarding a known or suspected terrorist plot.”
* Yellow = Guarded  – “A constant state of vigilance to protect against a terrorist attack.”

Waitaminute… no “green”? No “situation normal?” No “off” switch?

If someone is in the military or a member of law enforcement, they are always supposed to be in “condition yellow”. That’s fine. Because that’s the job that person signed up for and was expertly trained on over the course of several years to do. But how is making a florist live in a constant state of vigilance going to make their arrangements any prettier? How is pushing a musician into a constant state of vigilance going to help their music sound better?

I don’t want a government agency to tell every single person in the United States that the world is hostile and unfriendly because they say so. That there is no more “off” switch for anyone. That every single person must be ready for when the wolves arrive.

I refuse to believe it and I refuse to live my life in that way.

Should we be vigilant? Yes, but only to a point. Should we be prepared? Yes, but again, only to a point. There must come a time when this ends. There must be a mile marker that we can anticipate reaching. There must be a final chapter to this terribly long diversion in our nation’s history. We must not forget how to live our lives because of an apparition of fear. We must not allow our own government to dictate to us that this fear, or any fear, can not be overcome in time. To deny a promising hope for ourselves, to avoid taking the path to a good and peaceful future, is a step away from humanity itself.

I’m still waiting on the great change that was coming.

Quite frankly, I’m not seeing it here.