4 ms·
"A crew of engineers from Winnipeg airport clambered into a van and headed for Gimli to assess the damage. During transit, however, their vehicle unexpectedly r
by elchief 3y ago
"A crew of engineers from Winnipeg airport clambered into a van and headed for Gimli to assess the damage. During transit, however, their vehicle unexpectedly ran out of fuel, nearly ripping a hole in the delicate space-irony continuum."
- nottheengineer 3y agoIt's been a while since an article managed to make me laugh out loud. It's some great writing.
- giantrobot 3y agoSame. It was gripping in its description but then breaks the tension with genuinely hilarious turns of phrase.
- ignoramous 3y agoYou'll like this article if you haven't read it already: When you browse Instagram and find Tony Abbott's passport number, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24488224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24488224 (2020).
- giantrobot 3y agoAlso a good read thanks!
- scintill76 3y ago"the indicator panel lit up like a Christmas tree decorated with bad news" was an exellent twist on the cliché.
- GoofballJones 3y agoLoved how it was written too, even the dialog had a Canadian accent.
- mbostleman 3y agoAnother good one: “Many of the crew members were keenly aware that jumbo jets such as theirs were not designed for dead-stick flight — let alone dead-stick landings. In all probability, their inevitable confrontation with the Earth would not be an improvement on their current situation.”
- cf100clunk 3y agoThat's a variant of a venerable old aviation joke: ''When flying, it is best to avoid the ground.''
- m463 3y ago"The Guide says that there is an art to flying,” said Ford, “or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” He smiled weakly. He pointed at the knees of his trousers and held his arms up to show the elbows. They were all torn and worn through. “I haven’t done very well so far,” he said." - Douglas Adams, HHGTTG
- jgwil2 3y agoAlso, "First Officer Quintal caught sight of the fleeing families, but it was far too late to revise their landing plans, so he opted not to distract the captain with the unsettling discovery."
- kposehn 3y agoAnd "Some grizzled old pilots swear that sometimes, when the wind is just right on a quiet night, you can just about make out the double-engine-failure BONG! as the old girl is flying by; and if you’re very lucky, you might catch the faint odor of damp pilots in the air."
- dmix 3y agoNice to find an author with quality writing on a blog. Although this is long form so it doesn't get the usual "blog" connotations. Apparently it was written by the sites creator.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jonplackett 3y agoWas going to post this too. What a very nicely written article. Often I find long reads a bit of a labour to get going with - lots of words just for the sake of it. But this was just marvellous.
- cottsak 3y agothe writing here is first class