I ate my words Twice today...

[ameridaddy]

That's true, but it's one thing to train in a simulator and another thing to do it with 150 souls on board.
...

Including the pilot who would be first on the scene of a crash.
Self preservation does come into play. It's not like she parachuted aboard just to be a hero and land the plane. Her life was on the line too, and she had no choice but to make the best of a dangerous situation.
OTOH, I figger a career involving night carrier landings stiffen the spine and hone the concentration.
For the 150 souls, it's good she probably had lots of those before this job, kept her cool, and performed admirably.

 

[ExRanger714]

I like my crow with hot sauce. Try it. It grows on you.

 

[Jessie]

Like mold does

 

[JayFramer]

It's not 1939 anymore, you can actually fly an aircraft and talk on a radio at the same time believe it or not.

Welcome to 2018.

Seriously a pretty scary tragedy. I've sat next to those whirring engines many a time and always wondered if something like this could happen... it can and it did.

 

[pharmer]

One of "the rules" learned later in life.........."When wrong, promptly admit it." I think you pretty much covered it. Joe

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Haven't most of us? I know I sure have!

Ask cajunlawyer.

 

[SC_Mike]

Takes a big man to admit he made a mistake. Even bigger man to admit two in a day...

 

[Alk8944]

I don't want anyone to think I am minimizing anything about the Southwest event yesterday, but some of the comments on the "net" and by radio/TV commentators have been absolutely inane. I have an expression for news people in general, "You can tell when they are talking about a subject about which they know absolutely nothing, their lips are moving!"

Was the pilot a "Hero", I don't believe the description fits! Was she a highly qualified pilot who did what she was expected to, remain calm and continue to fly the airplane to the best of her ability until it made ground contact! Absolutely! This is exactly what is expected of every pilot during every flight. She did her job as expected, nothing more, nothing less!

One commentator was amazed she could remain calm and perform! What did he expect her to do, scream and wave her arms in the air?

A local reporter when viewing the blown fan housing remarked "It's amazing she was able to land the plane that way!" Why, nothing was hanging to interfere with the runway surface!

I do not understand Hawker 800's remark "Well if she was PIC, she wasn't following company SOP's." What is their SOP regarding female pilots as Pilot In Command? Don't they allow this? I can't believe Southwest would take such a sexist position in this day and age, especially with a pilot of her apparent qualifications!

Also from Hawker 800 "The 737 is very capable of dealing with an engine failure, even at gross weight." Absolutely agree! Other than the airframe damage from debris, the nearly instant de-pressurization, and unfortunate fatality, this was no more than a more common than realized engine-out episode. Heavy aircraft are flown to successful engine-out landings quite routinely.

What I am curious about is not why the engine fan or compressor failed, but why the containment ring or housing that is intended to contain fragments in such an engine failure failed so dramatically!!!!

What's my point? Just that let's not make this any more, nor less, than what it was, a highly skilled and trained pilot doing her job successfully! And in reality, she being a she really isn't a factor in this incident, nor should it be!