Ba ha ha!

http://keyetv.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_215231718.html

This is a real news story! I can honestly say I've never seen a plane crash story with this type of focus before. *snort*

While I'm talking about news stories, something not quite so funny. There was another story about a girl who landed on a golf course after she ran out of gas in a plane. Now here's what is annoying to me. Folks talked about whether or not she was good looking, and folks talked about how at least she didn't panic at the emergency, and one witness said he'd fly with her any time because she did a good job not hitting anybody on her way down. That's all nice, but any time any other pilot lands because he's out of gas, it's crucifixion time. I never hear a witness say "I'd fly with him any time" after an emergency landing from fuel exhaustion. I rarely hear "at least he kept his cool when he landed" like it was some big surprise that he did. And I certainly don't hear people talking about how attractive the pilot is or is not. Give me a break. The pilot didn't check her fuel before she took off and she ran it out of gas. She messed up in a big way, she got it on the ground safely, and how she looks doesn't matter one darn bit. She didn't panic--goodie, she'd better not, she's a pilot and you should never take the time to panic until you're safe on the ground. The whole thing just felt condescending and annoying. And if physical appearance is the new judge of good or bad piloting skills, I know some folks in a lot of trouble. ;) At least I know that if *I* were to run it out of gas and land on a golf course, no matter what I look like, I would catch a world of hurt from it-and I wouldn't want it any other way!