Plane takes off.
No one hurt.
No damage to anything.
Not even a close call.
Mind your own business.
We have more important problems than this nothingburger.
We need to reset the sensitivity of the average American mind to something more reasonable.
The old saw that
what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger could be adapted to apply to aviation as
what doesn't kill ya makes ya wiser. Unfortunately, not always.
I'm a survivor...of my own stupidity. It didn't have to be that way. There are entries in my first logbook that reflect some really bad decision-making and foolish risk-taking. Sometimes I look back and actually shudder. Fortunately I was lucky--lucky that those flights did not end badly, and lucky to have learned from them (and lucky that smartphones, with their video recording capability, did not exist). Another good thing, and the one that applies here, is that in each of those daring escapades I was the only person at risk--had I made the evening news, mine would have been the only name mentioned by the grim-faced reporter standing in a field next to a smoldering wad of charred metal. Then the news feed would cut to a feel-good story about dogs catching Frisbees in the park while someone sighed, "at least he died doing what he loved." Yes I loved flying, but I didn't love being stupid.
But I believe strongly in individual liberty, including the right of each person to assume risk on their own behalf as they engage in their pursuits of happiness. I do not, however, believe that individuals possess a right to put others at risk unless those others are made fully aware of that risk and willingly accept it. We don't know if there were passengers on that plane who were not aware of their risk exposure, however there were people and vehicles on at least one of the bridges, people whose safety was compromised by that pilot's decisions but who were not afforded an opportunity to opt-out. Portland can be dangerous enough without people having to worry about being mowed-down by an errant turboprop while they enjoy a pleasant stroll across a bridge, and the happy fact that this particular incident did not result in a crash is irrelevant.
I'm content to mind my own business while you engage in heroic demonstrations of aviation derring-do, right up until the moment that you put others at risk. Then the equation changes and your actions become everyone's business, whether you like it or not.
nypost.com
Wow.
