Neil Armstrong transitioned from being a pilot and engineer to become a historical figure of real note when he became the first pilot to manually land a vehicle on a foreign body in space. He stepped outside his craft into an environment that possessed no atmosphere. He climbed down a short ladder before walking cautiously across the surface of the moon.
The word “momentous” is the best we’ve got to describe that extraordinary event. Yet, it doesn’t really capture the weight of the moment. I’m not sure any word can do that feat justice.
Armstrong will be remembered far better than the thousands upon thousands of men and women who innovated, labored, and sweated the small stuff to make his feat possible. Their accomplishments were every bit as valuable as those of Armstrong and his crew. There is a difference in their achievements, however.
Armstrong was there. He and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin were suited up and committed. If the plan was bad, they would suffer the fate of mistakes made by others. If they performed poorly under pressure, death was a real possibility. Should their best efforts be thwarted by unforeseen circumstances, they would pay the price.
The engineers, technicians, administrators, and politicians left behind on Earth would feel terrible, certainly. But their risk was relatively minor in comparison to the hazards Armstrong, Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins were facing.
Of course, with success, everyone with even the slightest proximity to the project finds a way to take a share of the credit. And perhaps they should. But when something goes wrong, when things don’t go to plan, finger pointing, blame shifting, and the search for plausible excuses becomes an all too common reaction from far too many of us.
“You’ve got to expect things are going to go wrong,” said Armstrong about flying in general and the space program he was such a major contributor to. “And we always need to prepare ourselves for handling the unexpected.”
This past week an Amazon freighter went off the end of a runway in Miami. People died. Others were injured. Within minutes of the aircraft coming to rest, armchair analysts were taking to social media to philosophize freely with their take on the cause of the crash.
Emergency crews arrived at the scene within 30 seconds of getting the call. Bad things happen, but pros stay in the game when things get ugly. That part of the story has received little attention while theories of why the accident happened abound — many of which have been put forward by people with limited, if, any aeronautical knowledge or experience.
Just days earlier a Lancair departing the Gulf Coast of Florida went down roughly a minute after departure, taking a local doctor and nurse practitioner with it. Neither survived.
News reports were quickly issued stating the pilot did not have an FAA medical. The actual headline read, “Pilot who died in Tampa Executive Airport crash flew without FAA medical clearance” — a claim that is entirely false, tremendously hurtful, and borders on journalistic malpractice for suggesting the individual was careless or derelict in his responsibilities as a pilot.
The pilot was actually flying under BasicMed, as the FAA allows. As I have done in the past. As more than 10% of the general aviation pilot population is doing right now. As any reporter with a computer and access to the FAA Airman’s Registry could have discovered in a matter of minutes.
A week prior to these accidents a Piper SuperCub towing a banner went down off the beach in Florida after suffering some malady that made a ditching necessary. The local news took the opportunity to interview beachgoers to get their opinion on the situation.
One said, “I don’t think anybody really expected anything like this today.” Another chimed in, “It was just unusual, you don’t expect to see something like that while you’re out here at the beach trying to enjoy the sun.”
With scintillating commentary like this, is an investigation even necessary?
Certainly, the pilot wasn’t expecting to go swimming that day either. I take nothing away from the beachgoers who were the unwilling witnesses to such an event. Their reaction is genuine. But I take issue with professional news organizations publishing random comments from people who have only a cursory understanding of the event they just witnessed.
We are all at risk every time we climb out of bed to go about our day. Few of us leave the house with the conscious intent of doing shoddy work, taking unnecessary risk, or damaging equipment in our care.
In each of these cases and so many more, the fascination with the spectacle causes people who are ostensibly professionals in their field to do just that. They publish half-truths, or misunderstandings, or factually incorrect material in their rush to get the word out.
Aviation has always suffered this fate. From the earliest days, our actions and intentions have been questioned and second-guessed, often by those who do not understand flight at all. We cannot stop the wider population from supposing we’re foolish, risk tolerant, or indifferent to our duties. Yet we can stand watch on ourselves.
We can reach out to correct these false or rash reports that play fast and loose with the reality of the situation. We can support our own community with an admonition to simply report what is actually known and leave out the conjecture and supposition that damages the reputation of pilots and crews while tarnishing the integrity of those holding a microphone or firing up printing presses.
If we won’t represent ourselves accurately and with honor, who will?
The truly sad, and irritating, part is that many of the individuals rushing to post statements, videos, etc….before the rescue crews are finished with their task, are themselves pilots. Whether retired airline types, fired airline types, or professional pilot wannabes, these folks should know better.
Referring to Neil Armstrong’s step onto the Moon, imagining the rush of mixed emotions he felt…awe, exhilaration, wonder, fear, etc… who knows? Only he knew… but I still tried to imagine myself in that situation when I was a child in grammar school, a teenager in high school, and then with the perspective as an adult. Neil, Buzz, and Mike. I also wondered if they wished to go back. In 2010, attending NAA’s Fall Awards, when Gene Kranz received the Elder Statesman Award, I met his friend Neil Armstrong. We chatted a short while, and then I came out with, “ I can’t imagine what you feel when you look up at the Moon.” Switching from small talk, he looked contemplative and answered, “That was a long time ago but I am still learning.” It stuck in my mind, and only then I began to realize what he, Buzz, and Mike went through listening to and reading how the Moon landing was a fake. I am sure they rose above it, because they didn’t have to prove themselves to anyone, but from there on sensationalism took off too, and the internet, including YouTube, became the cesspool of misinformation gospel truth, to the point where some sickos injure innocent animals, to show people they are “rescuing” them, and the comments reflect the majority of the viewers are duped. With aviation accidents with serious or fatal injuries, people and their families at times get the double whammy-the accidents AND the knee jerk public comments, which may not be accurate, but you can’t erase a false remark totally, once it is out.
We all should consciously refuse to accept tabloid style reporting, fake news. We want just the facts, not the person’s opinion in reporting news.
Great article Jamie, but I think you are being mighty generous calling the lame stream media “professional news organizations.” They only want the WOW factor then quickly move on. Fact gathering takes too much time.
Risk –William Arthur Ward
—–
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.
/
But risks must be taken because
the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave
who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
—–
Thanks for share this great quote from our great American friend Leo Buscaglia
American author and motivational speaker.
Thank you Jamie, this needed to be said, and again, and again! The social media, YouTube, and poor integrity of many news sources has forgotten about facts and seems to be looking for sensationalism with click & likes. I have un-joined aviation FB pages that had formerly offered valuable content and now have deteriorated to armchair quarterbacking, suppositions, cruel comments, and BS arguments that serve no purpose.
I used to make comments like “not being in the cockpit to experience what the pilot was and whatever led to his (maybe poor) aeronautical decision making…” it’s depressing.
So, now I just scroll past and I’ll wait for the NTSB report, thank you.
Well written and in a timely manner Sir, thank you. Trouble here of course, those of us that read it aren’t even related (that we know of..) to the media sprouts or random “experts”. When and where we are hopefully we take them to task over knee jerk reporting.
Over my eight decades I’ve enjoyed some education. Part of it is a trip through the US Navy’s PG course in flight and ground safety. One of the very early axioms is “if you weren’t there you really don’t know “ and even if you were there, even PIC, what you know/saw/remember is only part of the overall cause/effect of what actually transpired. As a result of a unique situation I carried an NTSB badge for ten days in the Anchorage office. If the USCG could have rearranged our deployment schedule I would have been the Jr NTSB investigator on the Detroit MD11 crash (circa 1988?). A month later I deployed aboard a USCG Cutter. One of the Chief Petty Officers aboard was the son of the much maligned Captain of that flight. Over the years that followed there emerged a pattern that I believe was airframe related, that exonerated that Captain….
“If you weren’t there… and even if you were….” Hang onto that as you enjoy the expertise of those that never were…
Well said Jamie. Much of the reporting is downright slander and libel. Too many immediately become an expert and feel compelled to share their (uneducated) opinion. I don’t even pay attention until the NTSB share their findings.
That train has left the station! You need to us less words to make your point!
Checking words before transmitting is also recommended.
“You need to us”?
Click bait, social media, internet, zero accountability and a rush to be first, facts be damned.
Jamie, you’re so right. I recall a day when a van loaded with migrant workers crashed with multiple fatalities. The headline in the newspaper (remember those?) was smaller than the one for the story just above about the heroic pilot who managed to land his airplane without engine power on a country road – after he ran it out of gas.