In this post I explain how human nature teaches us to cover-up when we are found out. Sound like fig leaves in the Garden of Eden anyone? I take a recent video released by private investigator Dan Gryder who has been building a YouTube following. Enjoy.
A young female, commercial American pilot was killed recently when she pushed downwards too soon on her yoke and flew her plane (N92BJP) into an illegal potato factory tower. It was snowing, marginal flying conditions with reduced visibility and coming into a nasty airport, she hit something that shouldn’t have been there, flipped her plane upside down, ending up dead – her plane found nearby on the factory roof.
Dan Gryder’s gory analysis shows the details and points the blame at the authorities: the FAA, Burley officials and the commercial enterprise involved. The flight path into Burley was, according to Dan, both illegal and unsafe.
Dan was brought up ‘old school’ and has had a few scrapes along the way. His recent efforts to improve the lot of General Aviation safety have hit a chord with me. Apparently the old-school “Drive & Dive” method would be more sensible to fly into the Burley airport but this is now no longer possible. Basically as a pilot with the D&D approach you have to level off until you see the VASI (the red and white lights that guide a pilot down to the airport), normaly at three degrees, Burley airport, quote late at almost 4 degrees. Add in an illegal chimney, technology designed for normal standardised glideslopes, FAA oversights or dodginess, a bit of bad weather and you really do have a recipe for disaster – and litigation no doubt!
From what Dan has said the FAA clearly allowed it to happen. The EPA wanted a new tower built to 120ft but the FAA wanted it built to only 50 ft above ground. Gem State Processing (the potato factory) told the FAA that it was shorter than it was and the local authorities just disconnected the VASI! Problem solved! No lighting on the tower, major steam obfuscation and some poor pilot following her instruments religiously and directly into the tower resulted in a needless and painful (for the grieving family) death.
Cover-ups
One of the things that seems to rile up Dan, not only in this video but also in others, is the covering-up that goes on when the authorities stuff up. I endorse his frustration but the more I see and engage with fools in power, the more I see human nature at work.
Dan’s example of how the FAA secretly published then withdrew their warning post-crash is fantastic investigative work and says it all.
People in positions of power, be it judges, civil servants, politicians or commercial enterprises who have power ALWAYS use it. I saw this most obviously in Samoa when close with the Prime Minister at the time, Tuila’epa. It is true to say that those with power are the ones that seek it. They use it because they have it, and the first temptation is to use it to better themselves. The second temptation is to use it when they are or have been challenged.
Protecting their butt becomes more important than abstracts such as truth, fairness, justice or even right or wrong.
Please watch Dan’s video, especially if you enjoy or are interested in investigations or the aviation industry. It is an excellent example of how one man can make a difference and also of how the human nature to cover-up engenders loss to others. In the effort to gain more profit, in the USA, one family loses a daughter or sibling. In Samoa, the little people miss out as a result of the greed of ‘Ministerial madness’. In New Zealand the IRD, Police or whoever may exercise their power at the expense of others but the Christian world-view says that it is the same forces are at work – Human Nature.
We should expect that as the likes of Dan, myself and others get increased exposure and with the global power shifts we will see the crooks being shown up for who they really are . . . bring it on, I say!
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