nice headlinerism

As long as he flies Quantas, he'll be ok.

GoodyearPimp: As long as he flies Quantas, he'll be ok.

come on man...

There's already a draft Sully (Chesley Sullenberger - Miracle on the Hudson) movement on Facebook and Twitter.

eyefarkno: There's already a draft Sully (Chesley Sullenberger - Miracle on the Hudson) movement on Facebook and Twitter.

Based on what background?

stebain: eyefarkno: There's already a draft Sully (Chesley Sullenberger - Miracle on the Hudson) movement on Facebook and Twitter.

Based on what background?

Wiki Entry (new window)

19,000 hours in the air, served on accident investigation boards, etc. sounds like fairly good credentials.

Too late for headline of the year?

eyefarkno: stebain: eyefarkno: There's already a draft Sully (Chesley Sullenberger - Miracle on the Hudson) movement on Facebook and Twitter.

Based on what background?

Wiki Entry (new window)

19,000 hours in the air, served on accident investigation boards, etc. sounds like fairly good credentials.

Isn't/wasn't he also a bigwig in the pilots' union?

PS - Babbitt shouldn't have retired, IMO. A DUI/DWI, by itself, is not enough (for me, anyway) to make me not trust his leadership. How many of our friends/neighbors/business partners/coworkers/Representatives/Senators have had a DUI/DWI?

Granted, they likely don't have positions at the head of major transportation agencies, but it's not like he was drunk on the job, he's not defending his right to be drunk behind the wheel, he's not claiming he's the victim of a smear campaign, his subordinates and managers all approve of the job he did...

eyefarkno: There's already a draft Sully (Chesley Sullenberger - Miracle on the Hudson) movement on Facebook and Twitter.

Dr Dreidel: eyefarkno: stebain: eyefarkno: There's already a draft Sully (Chesley Sullenberger - Miracle on the Hudson) movement on Facebook and Twitter.

Based on what background?

Wiki Entry (new window)

19,000 hours in the air, served on accident investigation boards, etc. sounds like fairly good credentials.

Isn't/wasn't he also a bigwig in the pilots' union?

PS - Babbitt shouldn't have retired, IMO. A DUI/DWI, by itself, is not enough (for me, anyway) to make me not trust his leadership. How many of our friends/neighbors/business partners/coworkers/Representatives/Senators have had a DUI/DWI?

Granted, they likely don't have positions at the head of major transportation agencies, but it's not like he was drunk on the job, he's not defending his right to be drunk behind the wheel, he's not claiming he's the victim of a smear campaign, his subordinates and managers all approve of the job he did...

FAA has been in a LOT of hot water recently, and in times of trouble it's nice to present someone's head. Not that they had anything to do with it, and not like it will fix anything, but it buys everybody else some time.

besides, how do we know that heading the FAA didn't drive him to drink?


/think about that...

FAA's Aerospace Medical division is very tough on pilots who get DUI/DWI. For the head of the FAA to get pulled over for DUI and not face harsh consequences would have destroyed the FAA's credibility on this subject.

Dr Dreidel: PS - Babbitt shouldn't have retired, IMO. A DUI/DWI, by itself, is not enough (for me, anyway) to make me not trust his leadership. How many of our friends/neighbors/business partners/coworkers/Representatives/Senators have had a DUI/DWI?

Granted, they likely don't have positions at the head of major transportation agencies, but it's not like he was drunk on the job, he's not defending his right to be drunk behind the wheel, he's not claiming he's the victim of a smear campaign, his subordinates and managers all approve of the job he did...

Yeah, but a couple things aren't in that story. DUI is Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's big thing. And Babbitt, knowing that, couldn't be arsed to pick up a phone and let the political types know about the bad news coming; LaHood learned it from a press release from the Virginia police. For his part, Babbitt went flying, probably because he knows a DUI gets him his pilots license pulled automatically and he wanted one last flight. DUI is bad, but he handled the followup even worse. About the only things stupider than what he did would have been assaulting a cop or pulling the "do you know who I am?" card.

It's a pity; he seemed to be doing a good job. But LaHood probably can't even look the guy in the eye at this point, let alone trust his judgement.

ZAZ: downgraded from FAA to AA

He got the F out.

Flawless Victory

I'm ok with Babbitt having to step down. We have a controller here that got a DUI two years ago. He gets drug tested randomly (even on Sundays) and had to sign a form saying that he wouldn't drink again. That includes at home, too. If someone sees him drinking any amount of alcohol anywhere then he could be fired on the spot. Harsh, but we haven't had any drinking offenses since.