The RJ 200

I understand your fear. I really do...but for pete's sake, don't blame the plane!

It's a very safe vehicle. Excellent safety record. It was human error that caused the RJ 200 (which is what I work on) to crash yesterday.

I have no idea why they didn't notice that they were on the wrong runway. Hmmm, it looks a little dark this morning...wonder why?

I will be interested to find out how much rest they had the night before.

I will refrain from speculation.

What ticks me off are the dumb media questions. Here's one I saw on the news last night that they wanted viewers to call in and answer:
"Would you avoid taking a commuter flight at all costs?"

Luckily most people recognized how ridiculous the question was and said no. However they did manage to record one ignorant woman who said "yes, she will never fly on that plane again."

This crash hit close to home for us. We fly the exact same plane. The paint job is even the same, except our plane says "SkyWest" instead of "Comair".

I was supposed to start a jet trip on the 1st, but I swapped it for a Brasilia trip instead. This was NOT because I was afraid to fly the jet. Certainly I'm not. But the other trip worked better for my schedule. Infact, I am kinda sad to be giving up that trip. I have been flying the Brasilia all month and would enjoy the change.

I understand how passengers must be a little nervous in light of the crash...especially the ones with over active imaginations like mine, but planes are still safer than cars and always will be.

Yet...I can't help but wonder who was on that plane? The people are what keeps me channel surfing...looking for reports on the victims. I want to know what they looked like, what they did in their life and how special I know they must have been. That is the true loss.

People are special. I feel that the airline industry (as a whole) doesn't treat passengers very well. We charge them a fortune, we search and stripe them down like criminals, we stereotype and take away their possessions, we lose their bags (and don't act like we care), sometimes it's just flat out true...we don't care. Like any other job...we get tired.

But look closer. Some do care. Many of us do. Passengers are the only reason we have jobs. We need to care more. We need to for the safety of everyone.

Smile...it's healthy!