What would you do?
"Sometimes we need motivation to wake up...
and other times just to breath...
This is when 'one day at a time'
takes on new meaning."
My friend Joseph sent me the follow message and photos to a tragic event. He wrote...
"The morning of 9th October 2013, will go down as one of my saddest days. 5Y-BWL, a C172 that was quite popular in my school, crashed and killed the two crew on board. The instructor was also my instructor and the student had just enrolled and was less than two months old into flying.
The cause of the accident is yet to be known. Investigations have begun.The accident happened at a place called Nairobi National Park which is at the heart of my countries capital city- Nairobi.
The media was quick to the scene and the story was making headlines in no time.
What a tragic turn of events for us at Skylink Flight Services."
When something like this hits close to home there are so many questions, feelings, and concerns. I wanted to know how Joseph was impacted by this. How he felt. He had some interesting thoughts and questions for us all.
- If something like this happened at your flying school, would you continue to fly? And if so how do you find the courage to go on?
- As a flying school... how would you handle this crisis to prevent students from pulling out?
- Most importantly, as a parent... how do you react following a fatal air accident where your child has perished beneath the rubble. Would you file a lawsuit? How would you move forward?
I want to send my deepest regret and sorrow for the families and friends of all involved. We can't bring your loved ones back, but we might be able to learn from this accident so it never happens again.
Enjoy the Journey
XOX Karlene
You do what aviators have been doing since Tom Selfridge died. You take a day to mourn, then you honor those who have taken their final flight and you strap the airplane back on and continue to fly.
ReplyDeleteHonor them in flight, learn the lessons they left for us and live your life with no regrets.
Rob, Thank you. This is the advice that Joseph needed....
Delete"Honor them in flight, learn the lessons they left for us and live your life with no regrets."
Thank you!!!
That was very sad and may the Almighty God grand their families with piece.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! That's all we can hope for. But that will take a very long time to come. Understandable.
DeleteI agree. Honor them by continuing to fly.
ReplyDeleteThank you David!!! I agree too.
DeleteGodspeed to the victims of this tragic accident.
ReplyDeleteGA Accidents are a constant reminder that safety is paramount. Diligent ADM exists for that reason. Exercise good judgement and common sense.
To answer the question' would you stop flying': if someone close to you were to perish in a car accident, would you stop driving? I think we all know the answer to that.
Adrian den Hartog
Adrian, Thank you for sharing this beautiful message! I agree... we wouldn't stop driving... or flying. And safety is the most important.
DeleteThis has affected Skylink as a family to say, no one is in a rush to fly soon guess till next week, it is painful and very hard for us, but God will get us through it, after viewing my fellow deseased comrades all I tell God is not even my worst enemy deserved so much pain, Viraj was soooo excited about flyng he would always look foward to his flight training. Captain Gathara is someone I admired and looked upto he had a very humble and great personality. it is still hard to deal with the demise but they say time is a healer. but in their memories we will keep on.
ReplyDeleteAnita, I am so deeply sorry. Please try to remember the joy Viraj felt when flying and why you admired Captain Gathara so much, and not the ending. I can only imagine your pain, as just reading the story makes my heart ache and I didn't know them. But I do know those young students so excited and those instructors that we admire. And this could be any of them. I think this brings the reality so close to home. My heart is with you during your challenging time.
DeleteThat's a really difficult question to answer, I think that I would continue to fly though.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't be the person I am today without flight and aviation, it has really shaped myself. There are dangers and challenges that come with it, but that is part of what creates the adventure of it all.
Thanks for the story, so sorry this happened!
-Swayne
Swayne, I hope you would continue to fly. I know you would. We just have to learn why this happened and then try to make sure it won't happen again. Keep studying hard and enjoying every minute.
Deletehttp://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/19/world/europe/belgium-plane-crash/ another crash 11 died in belgium.
ReplyDeletethis one i saw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Al_Flight_1862 like many many others...
When you live close to an airport or work for an airline company you know that crashed can happen. Dealing with it is always difficult. But without airlines the world would be different. And still the safety quote is better than driving. But if a plane comes down..... I cannot imagine what would happen if an A380 goes down... Life goes on as we see. And you have to deal one way or the other with the losses.
These are the things we try not to think about. All we can do is our best to make sure they never happen. Thank you so much for your comment!
DeleteI say continue to fly! Just do it by the book and do not let professional standards drop. If someone dies in a car crash we continue to drive...... hopefully more carefully.
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian!!! Me too!
DeleteThanks for sharing this story Karlene. Tragic indeed, however law suites are not the way to go.
ReplyDeleteHere's how I see it, in the U.S. the natural reflex seems to go straight for suit, but this just hurts everyone, as insurance premiums go up. For me, weather medical, accident, or otherwise, suit should be avoided, and be the absolute last resort. So, say if due to an accident you have huge mounting med. bills and need money to cover medical cost, that makes sense. However money just for money's sake as a way to make up for an awful incident or death will not fix the situation.
Piper Mama, I can not agree with you more!!! And if someone is lost due to an accident doing something they love, I am absolutely positive that they would not want the destruction of what they loved to take place because of a law suit. If we need it for medical bills and was something that was negligence...yes. But otherwise, I'm with you.
DeleteThanks for the comment!
If you stay in aviation long enough, you are bound to know someone who loses their life in an accident. This is even more true for those of us in the military as it is a very small world.
ReplyDeleteThe pain will eventually subside, and we can do our best to honor them by continuing to fly, and to not make the same mistakes.
We fly because we love it. Because it is something inside of us that we refuse to ignore. To let that go because of an accident would be to lose part of who we are, and that would be truly tragic.
Thank you so much for your words of wisdom Dave. Yes... we fly because we love it.
DeleteMy heart goes out to you and ALL concerned. I'm just a VFR Sunday-CAVU PPL/SEL, w/ about 400 hrs in most single Cesssna types, Got my Complex/RG signoff in a Piper Arrow. This is truly a disaster. "Every person's death dimishes us all..". I have NO doubt that the aircraft was fit to fly, if pronounced so by Capt. Gathara as he led his student through preflight. The mechanical failure stats for the 172 (STILL my favorite A/C) might interest you: there is ONE Mechanical Failure fatality for every 5 MILLION hours flown in 172s. Not miles; HOURS at 120 MPH. Yes, I read accident reports like crazy- they might save my A/C someday. Here in Texas many years ago we had a freak-fatality almost like this one. A student in a 150 was going cross-country solo. Had his good ol' EA-6B plotter & Sectionals on the right seat. He was found in much the same manner- no clear reason. His blood was clean. The NTSB found that "light" turbulence had thrown his plotter to the floor, then up into the little bicycle-chain that goes over the yoke shaft's R-side cogwheel and down under-deck- and jammed it. That could ONLY cost him his aileron controls at best: but he must have been TERRIFIED at the "locked yoke" feeling. EVERYBODY on the ramp wondered why I then spent an hour lying half-in-half-out of my favorite rental 172, looking up at that rigging, and figuring out how to free it of such a jam w/o looking, by reaching under the panel. Of such seemingly-insignificant things are these accidents made: and as well all know, things can stack up on you in a hurry. I paid for my 1st year of US grad school as Line Chief of an FBO at a major municipal airport in Texas; you wouldn't BELIEVE the things I've seen. Pilots trying to taxi w/ the tail tiedown still on. NO ONE does thorough preflights except STUDENTS and PROS. Aircraft-grade nuts 'n bolts lying on the ramp as I made a FOD-sweep. (we used hardware-store stuff). I once serviced a pretty new Piper Aztec twin and noticed the nose cargo door wouldn't latch securely. I did EVERYTHING I COULD to steer that pilot to our on-field A&P. I BEGGED HIM! He was having none of it. Sure enough, on T/O his fuselage flexed as weight went wheels-to-airfoils, and it popped open. A bag flew out AND WENT THRU HIS #1 PROP! PRRRAPP! To my UTTER AMAZEMENT, he continued on his way. Tower closed the runway as I went to pick up the neatly sliced debris: he never came back for it. Never... You get my point. COMPLACENCY & get-there-itis CAN KILL! Once, I was waiting in a 150 in a taxi-line: finished my runup into the wind, then tested toe-brakes by pushing hard on them. My seat SHOT BACK until I was lying down! That little seat-adjuster ring-bullet-pin had slipped its all-too-worn groove. By grabbing the parking brake, I was able to stop JUST SHORT of the rudder ahead. Phew! I could continue, but... not here. May God Bless ALL of us!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a powerful comment. I would love for you to write a post about complacency that we could give some front page viewing. Complacency kills. It makes people land at the wrong airport. Email me if you're interested. And than you so much for the great comment!!!
Delete