midlifecrisis

Casablanca

I edited a bit more. Speculation is that the crew sucked off too much speed on approach and before they could correct they hit the seawall. It appears to be crew error at this point but the NTSB will do a complete inspection, including engines. They will interview the crew tomorrow.

NTSB spokeswoman on right now. Flight data recorder showed speed too low and throttles are at idle. Voice recorder showed that 7 seconds before impact the crew calls to increase speed. Also, 1 second before impact the stick shaker went off (vibrates) alerting the pilot that a stall is imminent.

The Maltese Falcon

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Something I heard on CNN this early morning was that a 777 flying into a British airport came up short the same way this aircraft at SFO did. I think the speculation is that perhaps when the pilot wanted extra power the throttle did not respond as it should have. The two fatalities appear to be 16 and 17 year old girls sitting in the rear of the plane.

is Harris Black still around?

An eyewitness account: "I mean we were sure that we had just seen a lot of people die. It was awful," she said. "And it looked like the plane had completely broken apart. There were flames and smoke just billowing." Kate Belding was out jogging just before 11:30 a.m. on a path the water from the airport when she noticed the plane approaching the runway in a way that "just didn't look like it was coming in quite right." "Then all of a sudden I saw what looked like a cloud of dirt puffing up and then there was a big bang and it kind of looked like the plane maybe bounced (as it neared t

The body massage place is only open for one hour hehe.

I have been watching local and national news programs. It is far too early to jump to a conclusion (though my initial thoughts parallel yours MM) but here is what I have been hearing and know first hand from my many experiences flying into SFO 1, approach is over water and you are very low. You feel you could almost jump in 2. the runway is 2 miles long (learned today) 3. there is a relatively low seawall at the end of the runway (learned today) 4. one witness described seeing the tail hit and sparks flying 5. one report says the plane tried to regain altitude and abort the

mm knows this area. Do you recall, mm, any major accidents at SFO prior to this?

They were doing a sailor's, etc, duty of hurrying up and waiting along with never volunteering! Been there and done that.

Am I wrong in thinking that such activity would be down by the pier?

Struther Martin - "Men, what we have here is failure to communicate."

I have lived 30 minutes south of SFO all my life and cannot remember another crash there. Until yesterday it was really hot in the Bay Area with no wind. What keeps us cool is off shore breezes from the ocean and the bay. The winds may have been a factor for a pilot who has little experience flying into SFO. Asian only recently expanded here. They are the number two carrier in South Korea I believe. SFO is one of the safest places to fly into and out of in clear weather and except for fog, other types of weather are comparatively less severe than other places. Amazing that so far t

One of my faves - George Kennedy

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SAN_FRANCISCO_AIRLINER_CRASH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-07-06-15-14-51

Sunset Boulevard

One of the popular surfer beaches (for beginners especially) in Santa Cruz, California has been closed a lot recently because of hypodermic needles on the beach. Among the debris in Pattaya are you seeing such stuff?

We have the new Boing 787 Dreamliner flying from San Jose, Ca to Narita, Japan again after battery problems. Both planes are nice enough looking from the outside. What matters is if it is safe and how individual airlines mess with the cabin in regards to passenger comfort. I would fly either. I can't believe anybody would chose a flight based on the looks of the plane but there are many stranger things in life. But, since I like EVA's arrival time at BKK, I will more than likely go 50 miles north to SFO and fly them - and they are Star Alliance now! They fly 777s and retired (I thi

Von Ryan's Express

Dumb and Dumber

Great photo essay! I can still remember the first time I saw it. Things are changing fast over there.

As you can now fly from San Jose to Narita and then to BKK (but arrival is at night) this post is helpful!

John Goodman