Old Weird Ward
Unless otherwise noted, that which is posted here is opinion, which is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. If you don't like my opinions, go somewhere else. Nobody is forcing you to actually read this drivel.
The presumption exists that you can read at all.
That may be a large assumption.
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Saturday, December 28, 2002
- - - - - Post-Christmas Rant - - - - -
Man gets a ticket for asking an airline pilot if he's been drinking. Story at this location: http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/dec02/105834.asp
While at roughly the same time, a Delta Airlines co-pilot gets busted for being "under the influence", story at this location: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/news/breaking_news/4819093.htm
Now then, it seems to me that asking the pilots whether or not they've been drinking is a fair thing to do. When I buy a ticket for a ride on an airplane, I'm contracting with the airplane operator to get me from point A to point B in one piece. An inebriated pilot is the last thing I want to see. And given the recent record of pilots hitting the sauce (there's been a few others in the last few months), well, I fail to see how asking can possibly be considered a crime. Yet the airlines, the local cops, and the feds all seem to think that questioning the sobriety of a pilot is somehow "interfering with the flight crew", even though the airplane in question has not pushed back from the gate, and is therefore NOT in the control of the flight crew, but is in the control of the ground crew. Since it's my butt that's sitting in that lousy economy-class seat, at the mercy of the flight crew, I think that I'm entitled to ask any number of questions:
1. Is the flight crew sober?
2. Any pieces fallen off of this airplane recently?
3. Checked the contol surfaces today? (I have in mind the Alaska Airlines MD-80 that fell out of the sky when the jackscrew that controls the elevators failed.)
The list could go on and on. All of them just might be construed as "making terrorist threats" or "interfering with the flight crew". It's MY opinion that these are fair and valid questions.
Feedback is solicited and welcome. I'll even answer, if the volume isn't too heavy!
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