Attention Mods - A Minor Suggestion

Half Fast

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Half Fast
Often when an accident occurs, especially a fatality, there follows on POA a spirited discussion and a considerable amount of speculation. The accident pilot often receives blistering criticism, perhaps warranted or perhaps not.

Personally, I have no problem with this. I think that frank, and largely unbridled, discussion is a good thing. I do not want to choke off any discussion at all.

However,....

As the forum works today, these threads can be viewed by anyone, including family members and friends of the pilot, attorneys, the press, and so on. I'm sure we all recall the Dan Bernath / Bonita Springs crash last year when some POA material appeared in the local news. Beyond that, I'm sure none of us want to cause more pain to friends or family members of the deceased who are looking for answers and might stumble across our speculations.

So,....

I'd like to suggest we have a separate subforum for accident discussions. Viewing of that subforum would be limited to POA members, and would require that they have been members for some minimum period of time (30 days? 60 days?) to minimize the chances of someone joining just to see such a thread.

Thoughts?
 
If you don't want to cause pain or expose yourself to liability, you might consider not saying anything. Nothing is truly private once you inject it into the internet even with the illusory protections that the forum software my offer.
 
If you don't want to cause pain or expose yourself to liability, you might consider not saying anything. Nothing is truly private once you inject it into the internet even with the illusory protections that the forum software my offer.
I thought it was a good idea. Don't let perfection be the enemy of good.
You can be on your perfect behavior, and I can be on mine too, but you know that someone will not be. What would be the downside of Half Fast's suggestion?
 
It'd be a better idea to hide the entire forum from public view (like almost every other one is). Lots of riff-raff have come and gone over the years because of the way it's set up. I gotta believe that it causes a significant amount of additional work for the mods too and they already have their hands full with d*ckheads like me hanging around.

But...

Their forum, their rules.
 
Often when an accident occurs, especially a fatality, there follows on POA a spirited discussion and a considerable amount of speculation. The accident pilot often receives blistering criticism, perhaps warranted or perhaps not.

Personally, I have no problem with this. I think that frank, and largely unbridled, discussion is a good thing. I do not want to choke off any discussion at all.

However,....

As the forum works today, these threads can be viewed by anyone, including family members and friends of the pilot, attorneys, the press, and so on. I'm sure we all recall the Dan Bernath / Bonita Springs crash last year when some POA material appeared in the local news. Beyond that, I'm sure none of us want to cause more pain to friends or family members of the deceased who are looking for answers and might stumble across our speculations.

So,....

I'd like to suggest we have a separate subforum for accident discussions. Viewing of that subforum would be limited to POA members, and would require that they have been members for some minimum period of time (30 days? 60 days?) to minimize the chances of someone joining just to see such a thread.

Thoughts?

6 months minimum membership would go a long way toward rooting out the unwanted viewers. Might seem like a long time to some, but it would at least help prevent family members to the harsh reality that 90% of the time the (preventable) accident is the fault of the PIC.
 
A much better policy would be to not allow accident discussions until the final report is published.
 
A much better policy would be to not allow accident discussions until the final report is published.
I don't think that would be better. Its too authoritarian. @Half Fast 's suggestion is easy to implement and easy to enforce and would at least make the described situation a little better than it is now.
 
It'd be a better idea to hide the entire forum from public view (like almost every other one is). Lots of riff-raff have come and gone over the years because of the way it's set up. I gotta believe that it causes a significant amount of additional work for the mods too and they already have their hands full with d*ckheads like me hanging around.

But...

Their forum, their rules.
Agree!
 
Often when an accident occurs, especially a fatality, there follows on POA a spirited discussion and a considerable amount of speculation. The accident pilot often receives blistering criticism, perhaps warranted or perhaps not.

Personally, I have no problem with this. I think that frank, and largely unbridled, discussion is a good thing. I do not want to choke off any discussion at all.

However,....

As the forum works today, these threads can be viewed by anyone, including family members and friends of the pilot, attorneys, the press, and so on. I'm sure we all recall the Dan Bernath / Bonita Springs crash last year when some POA material appeared in the local news. Beyond that, I'm sure none of us want to cause more pain to friends or family members of the deceased who are looking for answers and might stumble across our speculations.

So,....

I'd like to suggest we have a separate subforum for accident discussions. Viewing of that subforum would be limited to POA members, and would require that they have been members for some minimum period of time (30 days? 60 days?) to minimize the chances of someone joining just to see such a thread.

Thoughts?

Not a bad idea.
 
I'm not sure I would have ever discovered POA if it was hidden from public view.

Several of you may think that would have been a good thing though ...haha

Unless I am misunderstanding what is meant by hide from public view.
I stumbled on POA when I started training and was searching the internet. It's been a wonderful source of information and insight. At least to me.
Would we also be able to hide it from any searches?
And would that even be a good idea?
 
I'm not sure I would have ever discovered POA if it was hidden from public view.

Several of you may think that would have been a good thing though ...haha

Unless I am misunderstanding what is meant by hide from public view.
I stumbled on POA when I started training and was searching the internet. It's been a wonderful source of information and insight. At least to me.
Would we also be able to hide it from any searches?
And would that even be a good idea?
This is the reason it's not hidden. We want to encourage new members and casual viewers to join, not keep it a clique for old members. There are other boards that do that.
 
A much better policy would be to not allow accident discussions until the final report is published.

I don't know about that. Much can be learned from the speculations and discussions. What someone may speculate the cause may have been might be completely wrong, but the discussions about it can be valuable. There have been ones in the past that led me to getting some training with a CFI because I found I was lacking in something I hadn't thought much about before.
 
@jason can comment, but to begin with I don't believe this is a "Minor suggestion" to implement, even for the hefty salary he receives for running the board.

Secondly, the internet is public, to give a false sense to the members that their posts are hidden can only cause more problems than the potential good that will come from it. And lastly:

If you don't want to cause pain or expose yourself to liability, you might consider not saying anything. Nothing is truly private once you inject it into the internet even with the illusory protections that the forum software my offer.

:yeahthat:

If you believe that posts are hurting family members then just do your best not to make those posts and refrain from engaging with those that do.

As moderators our job is to keep the board civil(ish) and within the guidelines of the RoC and forum rules. It is not our decision what is moral and what is not and I believe implementing this change would cross that line.
 
I'm not sure I would have ever discovered POA if it was hidden from public view.

Several of you may think that would have been a good thing though ...haha

Unless I am misunderstanding what is meant by hide from public view.
I stumbled on POA when I started training and was searching the internet. It's been a wonderful source of information and insight. At least to me.
Would we also be able to hide it from any searches?
And would that even be a good idea?

Same here. I googled something and a POA post showed up. A good one that answered my question and had me ROTFLMAO.
 
Some of the responses seem to imply that the OP wanted all of POA hidden from public view. This is not the case. His suggestion was just to do so for the accidents sub forum. I don't think anyone wants to hide the entire site.
 
This policy suggestion is not warranted. If not discussed on this site it will be on other sites.
 
It'd be a better idea to hide the entire forum from public view (like almost every other one is). Lots of riff-raff have come and gone over the years because of the way it's set up. I gotta believe that it causes a significant amount of additional work for the mods too and they already have their hands full with d*ckheads like me hanging around.

But...

Their forum, their rules.

Yeah. No new members. We could do one of them Last Man Standing toasts the others things. Or we could all put up a hundred bucks or so and the last man standing gets the jackpot.
 
Some of the responses seem to imply that the OP wanted all of POA hidden from public view. This is not the case. His suggestion was just to do so for the accidents sub forum. I don't think anyone wants to hide the entire site.

Exactly. Just the new sub forum would be restricted.
 
This is the reason it's not hidden. We want to encourage new members and casual viewers to join, not keep it a clique for old members. There are other boards that do that.


The intent would be to limit viewing of only the accident sub forum, not the entire site. Certainly we want to attract new members.
 
While we're rewriting the rules, how about sub forms to discuss politics and religion? It could be called the Sxxx Zxxx.

[Ravioli runs away from la computadora]
 
A much better policy would be to not allow accident discussions until the final report is published.
I couldn't disagree more! The accident threads serve a very important function. those who are certain they know the cause of the accident within 24 hours display a personality type that I likely never want to meet, much less fly with.

It's a great format for the blowhard know-it-alls to expose their ass.
 
I couldn't disagree more! The accident threads serve a very important function. those who are certain they know the cause of the accident within 24 hours display a personality type that I likely never want to meet, much less fly with.

It's a great format for the blowhard know-it-alls to expose their ass.
The airplane crashed because it hit the ground. Case closed, next!
 
It would **** the friends of the deceased more to find out that we specifically hide our comments (appropriate or otherwise) from them. In fact, it makes us look devious.

Either you ban the discussion of such things ENTIRELY or you leave them as the are. This solution is dangerous in my opinion.
 
It would **** the friends of the deceased more to find out that we specifically hide our comments (appropriate or otherwise) from them. In fact, it makes us look devious.

Either you ban the discussion of such things ENTIRELY or you leave them as the are. This solution is dangerous in my opinion.


I disagree, but I would like to understand what you think is “dangerous” and why.
 
just stop having accidents. boom, el problem-o el solved-o.
 
If you don't want to cause pain or expose yourself to liability, you might consider not saying anything. Nothing is truly private once you inject it into the internet even with the illusory protections that the forum software my offer.

Liability? When did opinions become a trigger for liability? Given that MSN, Fox, CNN, and a thousand others are still in the opinion business, I'd think...
 
It would **** the friends of the deceased more to find out that we specifically hide our comments (appropriate or otherwise) from them. In fact, it makes us look devious.

Either you ban the discussion of such things ENTIRELY or you leave them as the are. This solution is dangerous in my opinion.
I disagree, but it is obviously an arguable topic. So in the interest of toning down the argument factor, I will switch sides and say it isn't worth doing.
 
The intent would be to limit viewing of only the accident sub forum, not the entire site. Certainly we want to attract new members.
Who are we trying to protect? What would be the purpose? Personally, I don't think it's worth it.
 
I, for one, would LOVE to see some lawyer dredge up a Henning post and trot into a court room to use it as 'evidence.'

"Here, your honor, is direct evidence from a [former] Pilot of America..."

There's just not enough popcorn in the world for a show like that!
 
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