Plane stolen, crashes near SeaTac Airport

One of my close friends is an air traffic controller. Kind of a strange profession. The pressure mounts up so much that nobody works long stretches. They’ll work for a bit, 30 minutes or maybe an hour or two, during the day, decide they need a break and go hang out and watch TV or play XBox for an hour or so and then go manage some more planes.

He works in a regional office vectoring planes through a part of the country rather than lining them up to land and takeoff.

 

At least the mechanic was the only one on the plane.

 

Friend of mine wanted badly to become an ATC, did all kinds of training and testing, got hired as a candidate for the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, but didn't make it through.

 

Does anybody know how the entire airline industry— and the entire economy, for that matter — kept on humming after Reagan whacked the unionized controllers in 1981? I can only guess that relatively few ATCs were unionized.

 

“Well, that was one memorable two weeks notice.”

Quoted from Jade, not sure where they got it.

I’m looking forward to the black box analysis of the plane’s maneuvers. Some of them might have exceeded design specs, but it wasn’t loaded like the FedEx plane was years ago - and if you want to hear a scary voice recorder tape, go look that incident up.

 

Pushing Tin with John Cusack is a pretty good movie if you're into ATCs. And Paul Greengrass's United 93 (one of the 9/11 films) is also highly recommended.

 

I'm not sure about this particular aircraft, but you'd be amazed how maneuverable some of these big passenger planes are. Especially if they're not loaded down with passengers, cargo and fuel. They've done barrel rolls and other stunts with things as big as 777s at various air shows. I've heard most of what prevents pilots from doing those things, other than common sense, is that it'd be uncomfortable for the passengers. Has nothing to do with what the aircraft itself can handle.

 

Why would he/she want to deal with the evil American FAA? Why not become an ATC in Mother Russia?

 

I think I'd rather do one of those police "shoot/don't shoot" simulators before I tried an ATC simulator. I get freaked out enough when space invaders speeds up.

 

Your chances of passing academy courses is slightly higher when you take them in a language you can understand. Or so I hear.

 

Flying back from Tampa from Super Bowl XXV, I was on a 757, the ultimate cattle truck. It was a one-hopper, stopping in La Guardia before going on to Logan. Plane was full in Tampa, of course, but everyone but five people got off at LaGuardia. It's like 9:30 at night. Pilot took off straight up. The 10,000 foot beeper went on while we were over the GW Bridge. Elapsed time to wheels down at Logan was less than 20 minutes. Best airplane ride EVER.

 

This incident?

Federal Express Flight 705 - Wikipedia

Haven’t heard the tape, but the description is stunning.