For the sake of my statement, elderly meant that it was obvious she
was from the WWII generation. But to be fair, anyone over 70 is, in
my book, elderly. This word carries no connotations for me, but
rather identifies someone as being beyond retirement age. I know some
90-year-olds that are flying and are sharp as a tack. I know some 60-
year-olds who make me nervous.
All I was saying that seeing a lady from the Greatest Generation
flying alone in a single-engine plane is a novelty. That took away
from the actual facts of the story. I would have really liked to see
a cool feature on her and her flying career. But once it became the
story of an off-airport landing, he story is the event.
Just my two bits. I hope I'm flying at her age. However if I run out
of gas, whether it be tomorrow or when I'm 90, shame on me (leaking
fuel tank/lines excepted)!
Larry Snyder
N99340
On Apr 24, 2007, at 6:09 PM, ght wrote:
What would your conclusion have been if her gender or
age weren't mentioned? The same, I would hope. The
pilot screwed up.
As I was telling Ed, it will be interesting to see
what the NTSB says in their final report about the
Blue Angel pilot that crashed and died last weekend at
an airshow. I suspect that was pilot error but I don't
want to judge him without knowing all the facts.
Just out of curiousity, how do you define elderly? By
age, physical condition, mental condition, attitude?
Spook
--- Larry Snyder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I saw an example of "reverse discrimination" in
> local reporting on a
> Grumman that landed in a field near the Foristell
> VOR west of St.
> Louis. The pilot was a 78-year-old woman. According
> to the newspaper,
> she thought she was getting low on fuel so she
> decided to put down in
> a field (!) instead of trying to make it to
> Washington, MO, which is
> only about 10 minutes or so from that VOR. The TV
> reporting didn't
> mention that it was a "preemptive" emergency
> landing, but the
> newspaper did, so we'll have to wait for the NTSB
> report (it's not in
> the DB yet).
>
> The local media made her out to be a hero, landing
> her plane in
> distress without getting seriously injured. The nose
> gear on her
> plane DID hit a ditch and folded back, and the prop
> hit the dirt. She
> suffered a bloody nose from the sudden stop, which
> means she probably
> was wearing a lap belt but not a shoulder harness.
>
> My reaction was that she screwed up. First, she
> obviously did not
> manage her fuel correctly, and second, if she really
> did make an
> emergency landing while the engine was still
> running, she showed
> extremely poor judgment.
>
> I understand that it's unusual to find an elderly
> lady flying an
> airplane, but this simply makes me concerned, and a
> bit angry because
> every time someone gets on the news because of
> something stupid like
> running out of gas, we all look worse to the
> non-flying public.
>
> Larry Snyder
> N99340
