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Imagine how it goes for military aircraft. If a Boeing military jet crashes, there's no NYTimes coverage, no foreign governments pressure, no dramatic images of
by mtw 8y ago
Imagine how it goes for military aircraft. If a Boeing military jet crashes, there's no NYTimes coverage, no foreign governments pressure, no dramatic images of emergency response team around crash site. Maybe just a single family voice, or one over zealous Pentagon officer asking questions. But if Boeing doesn't even acknowledge risks after a phone call with Trump, I can imagine Boeing always claiming their military jets are the safest aircraft ever.
- duado 8y agoSafety isn’t as high a priority for military aircraft, except in that losing an aircraft is expensive. Military pilots know that they are expected to die for the mission if necessary.
- tialaramex 8y agoSuicide is not part of conventional military doctrine. Pilots are tremendously expensive and take time to train, so they are not expendable. One of the things going badly wrong for Hitler by the time of the Normandy invasion was he was running out of trained pilots. Factories can build ten more planes when you lose ten per night, but your pilot training can't replace ten men overnight regardless of whether those men are dead or in POW camps. The RAF was losing planes too of course, but mostly in friendly territory, so it kept getting the pilots back. Put them in a new plane and you've kept all that valuable real world experience.
- greglindahl 8y agoThis is incorrect: I read about military jet crashes in the NYT on a regular basis, and occasionally the military grounds an entire model of aircraft.
- solarkraft 8y ago> even acknowledge risks after a phone call with Trump Here is how I imagine such a call. "Oh, our planes are safe, Donald. Who's a good boy, Donald? You are! Good Donald!"