BBC - How Safe Are Our Skies? Detroit Flight 253

[The Lawspeaker]

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BBC - How Safe Are Our Skies? Detroit Flight 253

BBC Description:

On Christmas Day 2009, as Northwest Airlines Flight 253 began its descent towards Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a 23-year-old man left the airplane toilet, returned to his seat and pulled a blanket across his lap. He then attempted to detonate a device containing military-grade explosive PETN, a deadly bomb designed to take the plane out of the sky. With powerful eyewitness testimony and in-depth expert analysis, this timely documentary examines how alleged bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab slipped under the US intelligence radar and evaded three sets of airport security.

From Abdulmutallab's student days in London, via his time in the Al Qaeda hotspot of Yemen, to the final leg of his journey on a flight bound for the USA, the timeline of this story throws up important questions. What did security services know about him before he boarded the plane? What would have happened to the 290 passengers and crew on board if the bomb had detonated successfully? What lessons have be learned? And, in the aftermath of this attack, how safe is it to fly?

[rhiannon]

I meant to mention to you TB that I had talked again to my hubs about relative air safety of American carriers versus European carriers as a result of the other thread and our last discussion. The American carriers are safer, hands down. Much of this is due to the way Pilots are trained. I swear I am not being some America-centrist freak about this....I was looking for a critical answer.:)

One thing to keep in mind are the differences in design between standard European vs American aircrafts....this means compare the Airbus (European design) to the Boeing (American design). There are significant differences in how each craft is flown. The airbus is almost solely reliant on computers to generate the commands for the airplane to follow. The Pilots enter the commands, of course, but there is no other mechanism to kick in if the computers fail. These are the words out of my husband's mouth....a man who has flown airplanes full time since he was 21 years old...and first obtained his Pilot's license at 16:)

Boeing airplanes use hydraulics and give Pilots greater autonomy in handling the aircraft should the AutoPilot malfunction. Boeing aircrafts are a little less techno and rely more on the principles of old school mechanics:)

This was just part of the explanation he gave to me. He also mentioned that American pilots as a rule have a far greater number of flight hours upon hiring at any of the major carriers...and that they are required at his airline to have spent a significant number of those hours as Captain of the other aircraft

Hope that helps explain things a little more.

Again...airlines of the developing world are going to be significantly less safe than both American and European carriers:)

[The Lawspeaker]

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Say the Americans. Sorry: I put my trust in good old KLM. :rolleyes:
Besides KLM flies Boeing (and used to fly Fokker).

[rhiannon]

Say the Americans. Sorry: I put my trust in good old KLM. :rolleyes:

Now you are just being ridiculous and you know it. My American ass actually wants the real answer....not just the one I am hoping to hear:p

[rhiannon]

Say the Americans. Sorry: I put my trust in good old KLM. :rolleyes:
Besides KLM flies Boeing (and used to fly Fokker).

If they fly Boeing...awesome. However, it is also about experience before assuming the job as Commercial airline pilot for a major carrier:)

[The Lawspeaker]

Now you are just being ridiculous and you know it. My American ass actually wants the real answer....not just the one I am hoping to hear:p

By asking your husband who is also American ? Americans could never force themselves to admit that something non-American is safer.



If they fly Boeing...awesome. However, it is also about experience before assuming the job as Commercial airline pilot for a major carrier:)
Did you know that KLM was not created yesterday ? So they know what they are doing and who to select.

[rhiannon]

By asking your husband who is also American ? Americans could never force themselves to admit that something non-American is safer.Oh no. You can't dupe me on this one. My husband makes a living ensuring the safety of himself and his passengers. His airline and every other well-respected commercial carrier spend lots of $$$ in training their pilots every single year. Crashes are studied, and analyzed more than I can give words to. This is no joking matter, TB, and my husband is not the sort to be blinded by some ridiculous Patriotism simply because he happens to be American. His take on it is based on hard data that he as a professional and commercial airline pilot is privvy to, and you and I as non pilots, are not:)


Did you know that KLM was not created yesterday ? So they know what they are doing and who to select.I am not claiming they were, silly man:) I am sorry....you cannot touch me on this one, because these sorts of questions have been brought up to him by me before...why? Because I love my husband and want him to stick around as long as possible, but I have fears about his job sometimes. So, I can guaranfreakingtee you that I want the REAL answer to these questions....not the PC one.

He is also a Naval Aviator...this is more stringent training than even our Airforce will give to its Pilots.

You cannot knock us Americans on everything...merely because we are not Dutch:)