Getting a bit mad

I stumbled on a reference to other problems at the Lexington, KY (LEX) airport that are starting to concern me.

1) July 1991 (NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System #183628) -- Commercial jet has confusion with tower over whether it was cleared for takeoff and what runway it is on. Recommendation in the report is for "better runway markings" to deal with confusion between runways 22 and 26.

2) November 1993. (ASRS #256788) -- Commercial jet was cleared for runway 26 but instead lined up on runway 22. Flight crew was checking weather radar before starting take-off roll when both the tower and the flight crew realized the error and aborted the takeoff. Incident report includes phrase "confusing RWY [runway] INTXN [intersection]" and recommends that a warning page be added similiar to that in place at Houston's Hobby airport. This instuction reads:

"DUE TO COMPLEX RY CONFIGURATION; WHEN TAXIING TO THRS 12L & 12R AND 17 CHECK COMPASS HEADING BEFORE DEPARTING."

3) Last August (2005) (ASRS #668329) -- Commercial jet started takeoff roll without flaps deployed. Incident report included complaint that time on ground was not sufficient and a tired crew contributed to the error.

4) September 2004 (ASRS #630644) -- Local FAA radar operator complained that short staff and funding was seriously affecting maintenance of equipment (radar, radios, air traffic controller terminals) at the airport.

"Those types of poorly thought out decisions can cost lives."

See a pattern.

At least two other commercial airliners have almost crashed in the last 15 years due to poorly marked runways at LEX. The recommendations for even the most simple change (check compass before starting takeoff roll) have been ignored. In the previous cases, the air traffic controllers were able to avert a disaster, but Sunday the luck ran out.

IF LEX has a pattern of making "poorly thought out decisions" and placing money ahead of safety, it is time that something is done about this!

Links:

Aero News.net reporting on 1993 incident.

Airline pilots message board discussing crash

Flight Aware news discussing the 1993 incident.

Finally, a quote from "CalCapt", a "737 Captain" on the Airline Pilot forums:

"Training today at most airlines is referred to as error management. It is recognized that mistakes will be made, and we are trained to recognize, verify, verbalize and back up the other guy to avoid a mistake turning into a tragedy. To suggest that mistakes will not be made by crews is ignorant and shallow thinking. Even the best of the best make mistakes - It's catching them that should be our goal as aviation professionals."

More to come. . .

Thanks for comments on Kelly Heyer

I have gotten many comments and emails on my posts on my cousin Kelly. Thank you very much; this love and support means so much to all of us.

Two updates:

Kelly's Comair memorial service at Grace Fellowship Church in Florence, KY at 10:00 AM (ET) on Friday.

The funeral in Detroit Lakes will be Wednesday at 11:00 AM.

More details to come after the Barb, Dave, Chris, Eric, and their families return from KY.

The family has asked for copies of pictures for a slide show at the funeral. Please contact the family directly or contact me through this blog if you have pictures to share. Please send scans or copies as originals may be difficult to return.

Grace and peace.

Coincidences?

As my bio states, I work for "midwest retailer." As far as this story goes, that means that Paige and I are aproaching our 17th anniversary and before last year, we had never spent Christmas Eve/Day with her parents. Last year, for the first time, I committed to being gone over Christmas. So, I found myself standing in line at the local airport at 5am on December 20th with a sleepy wife and sleepy 3yr old son waiting to get checked in for a flight. To my surprise, standing in front of us in line was my cousin Kelly! He was on his way back to Cincinati after spending the weekend with his parents. He had only be on his current job for about 18 months and had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day. He got his seat changed and sat across the aisle from me. As my family went back into active sleeping (from the passive shuffling they had been doing), Kelly and I talked. It turned out that he was overnighting in Greenville, SC on Christmas eve. That was our destination airport, about 10 miles from Paige's Aunt Helen's and about 35 miles from her parents. We quickly arranged that I would pick him up at the airport on Christmas eve and he would come stay with us.

I met his flight on the 24th, and Kelly and I had a great talk as we drove to Paige's parents. As promised, he kept the secret that I missed the turn and we went 10-15 miles in the wrong direction (towards Charlotte, NC); Paige and her family never found out! We finally got to the house and had a fantastic ham dinner (my secret recipe!!!) and lots of family fun. Kelly got to meet Paige's family, including her brother Ross. Cooper was very excited that "Cousin Kelly" was spending Christmas with us; he talked about it for days. Early the next morning, I got up and drove Kelly to the airport. The time was way to short, but it was great that we happened, by coincidence, to be in the same town and he did not have to spend Christmas alone. A quick hug in the unloading zone and he was off to work and I was driving back up the mountain to be there when Cooper got up to see what Santa Clause brought him.

I saw Kelly again in February, but last Christmas is the time I will remember him most by. It was the only time I saw him in his work uniform, and we talked about how much he loved his job and loved traveling, living in Cincinati, etc.

I don't think I believe in conincidences that much. Rather, I think this was a planned event that we never realized at the time. It ws a last chance to spend time with Kelly before he was gone way to soon.

Cooper doesn't really understand what is going on, but when he get's older, I hope he remembers "Cousin Kelly" as I do, with a smile, eating Chrismas Eve Ham, and having fun with family.

Kelly James Heyer

My morning run has been delayed by CNN coverage of news conferences. My cousin, Kelly James Heyer was a member of the crew of Delta 5191 operated by Comair that crashed immediately after take-off this morning in Lexington KY. At this point, the reports are of only one survivor who is in critical condition.

I am at a loss for many words right now, other than to say that Kelly is a beautiful person and my heart is heavy. This morning I will run with a heavy heart and think about last Christmas; the last time I got a chance to spend any extended time talking to Kelly.

I saw Kelly's parents yesterday, and I can only imagine the grief and concern that they feel. They are leaving for Lexington shortly and my thoughts, prayers, and love go with them.

Batteries

Brad King writes:

"It's an interesting quandary for mobile computing, one that is likely to hamstring the industry for some time."
Link

I am willing to bet significant bucks that I could find this quote in print from every year since 1995 in my archives. . .

Why do we spend time writing about this year after year?

Nashua Telegraph Editorial on Jon Bonet Case

"We like the advice her father gave when the news of Karr’s possible involvement in the crime was first announced. John Ramsey advised: “I feel it is extremely important to not only let the justice system operate to its conclusion in an orderly manner, but also to avoid feeding the type of media speculation that my wife and I were subjected to for so many years.”"

and

"We say, give us the news of any breaking details in the case, but then move on.

Surely, this is a case that has already received saturation coverage and there are plenty of other issues that need coverage.

The endless river of speculation spilling from TV talk shows resolves nothing because the so-called consulting pundits don’t have access to actual evidence on which to base their global pronouncements."

Link

I concurr!!!!!

Another infielder fails to remember the Ventura Rule

If you are going to rush the mound, know what you are going to do when you get there!

"A volatile series finally turned violent when Adam Kennedy charged the mound after being hit by a pitch from Texas' Scott Feldman, triggering a bench-clearing brawl in the Rangers' 9-3 victory over the Angels."

Link

If you have the TV on and this coming up on SportsCenter, please send the kids from the room and look away. It is one of the most embarassing clips from this baseball season. Kennedy is only alive because the pitcher in question (Feldman) had nothing to back up his fastball (all jab, no power punching).

Both teams are playing about .500 ball in both the last 10 games and for the season. Both are 6.5 games back in their division and neither have any chance of the wildcard (ChiSox, Yanks, RedSox, and Twinkies are too good!).

So the only thing left is to puff out their chests and pretend they are "important big leaguers" by playing a warped "Lord of the Flies" version of king of the sandbox. Well, they are big leaguers, but those flailing punches simply proved that "important" has one too many r's in it. . .

Of course, maybe I am missing the big picture. If this results in both Mike Scioscia and Buck Showalter getting ejections and suspensions, then there is a huge silver lining for baseball, if not mankind! :)

Media and family

This mornings Washington Post reports:

:The man, John Mark Karr, 41, said publicly Thursday he was with the 6-year-old when she died and called her death "an accident," the Associated Press reported from Bangkok. "I was with JonBenet when she died," Karr, a former schoolteacher, told reporters in Bangkok, visibly nervous and stuttering as he spoke. "Her death was an accident." Police said Karr admitted to the killing after he was arrested Wednesday at his downtown Bangkok apartment by Thai and American authorities."

And

"Officials said that John and Patsy Ramsey, who were at one point suspected in their daughter's death, had been consulted during the investigation. Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in June but was told before her death that an arrest might be imminent, her husband said.

"Patsy was aware that authorities were close to making an arrest in the case," Ramsey said in a statement, "and had she lived to see this day, would no doubt have been as pleased as I am with today's development almost 10 years after our daughter's murder."

Link

Well: "were at one point suspected in their daughter's death" is accurate and a gross understatement at the same time. There were YEARS when it was impossible to go to the grocery store without seeing 2" headlines proclaiming the Ramsey's and especially Pat accused of comitting the crime.

Reminds me of the movie "Absence of Malice." Wonder how many "journalists", "tabloids", and cable TV News airheads will be stepping up and apologizing now? Oh yea, they're too busy rushing for judgement on the next story. . .

And you think A-Rod's batting average "in-the-clutch" is low? These "news sources" make the weather forecasters look perfect!

Journal as religious experience

From Bismarck Tribune:

"From Emperor Marcus Aurelius to the Apostle Paul to Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards, journal-keeping is an age-old way of paying attention to our spiritual lives, said Carl Koch, program director of the Franciscan Spirituality Center in LaCrosse, Wis., who will lead a journaling retreat Oct. 21-23 at Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton.

There's a kind of dance, he said, between our beliefs and our day-to-day lives. Journaling is one way to work through the conflicts between what we believe and what we do.

It's also a way of discovering things about ourselves, he said.

One of Koch's favorite quotes is from poet Robert Frost: "I write to find out what I didn't know Iknew."

Especially in spontaneous journal writing, Koch said, "we inevitably find we always write over the edge of our consciousness. We generally find out things we didn't know were going to pop out."

In a sense, journal keepers writing in a religious context are writing their own Bible, their own "salvation history, telling the story of our encounters with the divine, the development of our relationship with the holy,"he said.

A really profitable journal needs to have honesty, spontaneity, freedom: That can make people hesitant about doing so.

"The irony is the only way to free ourselves from those fears is to do it," he said.

The profit of journaling is not necessarily the content, but the fact that we are expressing what comes from our soul, giving ourselves a chance to look, reflect and be aware, he said."

I like the ring of that, especially the "honesty, spontaneity, freedom" part. "Expressing what comes from our soul" and "chance to look, reflect, and be aware."

I rarely write to authors on the net, but I just dropped Ms. Herzog a note to thank her for the well written article. It was definately worth reading and I am sure it will prompt thinking from me for days to come.

Worth some thinking time. . .

Jeffrey Swartz, the CEO of the Timberland Co., strode purposefully into a New York office packed with McDonald's executives. Dressed in a blazer, jeans, and Timberland boots, he was there on this mid-August day to convince the fast-food behemoth that it should choose his $1.5 billion shoe and clothing company to provide its new uniforms. The executives waited expectantly for him to unzip a bag and reveal the sleek new prototype.

'We didn't bring any designs,' Swartz said flatly. Eyebrows arched. Instead, he launched into an impassioned speech that had virtually nothing to do with clothes or shoes. What Timberland really had to offer McDonald's, Swartz said, was the benefit to the company--and the world at large--of helping it build a unified, motivated, purposeful workforce. 'Other people can do uniforms,' Swartz said, his Yankee accent asserting itself. 'This is about partnership. We can create a partnership together that will be about value and values.'

As unorthodox as it sounds, what Swartz was pitching was not Timberland's creativity or craftsmanship, but rather its culture, and the ways that culture could rub off on McDonald's. Growing more and more animated, Swartz talked about how Timberland's employees get 40 hours paid leave every year to pursue volunteer projects. He discussed Serv-a-palooza, Timberland's daylong paroxysm of do-goodism that this year would host 170 service projects in 27 countries, covering 45,000 volunteer hours of work. And he talked about City Year, the nonprofit that Timberland has supported for more than a decade, which brings young people into public service for a year. As for McDonald's, it was part of practically every community in the country, Swartz explained, but was it helping every community?

The room was silent. Swartz couldn't tell whether they thought he was a touchy-feely freak or whether what he said had struck a deep chord. (McDonald's won't make a final decision for many months to come, but Marlena Peleo-Lazar, McDonald's chief creative officer, says she appreciated "the passion he had for his brand.") Yet Swartz was elated all the same. "I told my team to find me 10 more places where I can have this conversation," he said. "No one believes in this more than we do, and that is our competitive advantage."

The "this" that gets Swartz, a third-generation CEO whose grandfather founded the company in 1952, so fired up is expressed in Timberland's slogan: "Boots, Brand, Belief." What Swartz is really trying to do--no kidding--is to use the resources, energy, and profits of a publicly traded footwear-and-apparel company to combat social ills, help the environment, and improve conditions for laborers around the globe. And rather than using his company as a charity, he's using the hard financial metrics of profit, return on investment, and, oh yes, shareholder return, to try to prove that doing good and doing well are actually self-reinforcing notions. The idea of helping others, Swartz believes, is a vision around which he is creating a more productive, efficient, loyal, and committed employee base, which in turn helps produce real results.

So far, Swartz has done a more than respectable job of proving the point. Over the past five years, the company, which sells outdoor-themed clothes, shoes, and accessories, has seen sales grow at a compound annual rate of 9.7% and earnings per share of 20%. Its stock price has risen 64% over the same period.



Link

Definately worth watching to see what we can learn and apply. The problem is, when you have what is essentially family owned business, the leader feels a tremendous weight to both keep running what their grandfather or great-grandfather created and the well being of their employees and their employees families. It is tough to "bet the company" on something unproven like this. But these companies alos have an opportunity to prove that there are other models that the big public corporations will never try.

Others with a Moleskine Fetish

"Let me take this time to introduce you to my unnatural fascination with Moleskine notebooks. I love Moleskine notebooks with such a passion, it spills uncontrollably into my artistic consciousness. I love everything about them, from the placeholder ribbon to the smell of the paper; indeed it's very bizarre. And to be absolutely forthright, I have an impulse to purchase the notebooks every time I step foot in a Borders or Barnes and Noble. Just like in the movie Conspiracy Theory, where Mel Gibson has to buy a copy of The Catcher in the Rye every time he steps foot in a bookstore. My love for these notebooks is borderline neurotic and close to psychotic."

Link

I post this with the hope that my wife, family, and friends can understand me better. . .

Net neutrality and Telco Lies

"it's extremely worrisome that the telcos and their friends keep resorting to trotting out lies. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not support the various laws as written, but this constant string of lies certainly suggests that the telcos recognize their position is pretty weak."

Link
and another article

When someone pays that much to lie, wonder what they are afraid of us finding out?