***What the heck, it's the weekend here!*** Joe, 747s have two pilots and an engineer. The engineer doesn't go round changing the oil in the engines and tightening the fan belt. They know where the plane is. So do the pilot and co-pilot. They have maps, they have plenty of navigation gear. This isn't Biggles where you get lost in the dark and turn left at the next iceberg, though the Air New Zealand DC10 computer was programmed with the wrong flight path straight into Mount Erebus, in Antarctica, in daylight, failing to turn right at Scott Base causing the death of all. Flying at 1000 feet for a good view helped cause that. As well as whiteout conditions and inexperience in such an environment. They were literally looking out the window, wondering where they were, with non-pilot Peter Mulgrew saying "I reckon that's the Ross Ice Shelf" or some such. By the time the ground proximity warning called to pull up, pull up, the rising ground was too steep for them to escape.
So I understand that things can go very, very wrong in big planes with experienced pilots.
True enough, I haven't seen a declaration "We were on a military mission". Spy people don't operate like that. They act covertly, with cover, deception, fronts, etc. Hence the Russians were suspicious of Richard Bliss, who seems to be overpaid as a field technician - I heard getting over $100K. It seems unreasonable that he sue QUALCOMM when he volunteered for a known risky place to work. QUALCOMM says they had obtained the necessary permits. I wonder if he was smart alecky to some local police or military people and they thought they'd teach him a lesson. And I don't ever recall him being a hero though there seems to be a devaluation of the word these days.
Richard Bliss seems to be asking a bit much for an unpleasant experience. QUALCOMM and the USA ensured he was protected with all attention needed. He has been nurtured and helped since returning to the USA. He was not obliged to go to Russia.
You can conclude things from circumstantial facts. Occam's razor helps = the simple answer is probably the right one. Create for me a different KAL007 scenario from the spy plane which fits these facts:
The top Korean pilot who is specially designated to fly the President around is allocated to the job of being the pilot in charge of KAL007 [we can ignore the James Bond name of the flight as being simple irony though you never know!]. We can assume he is competent. He was also an airforce pilot. We can also assume the co-pilot and engineer were competent.
The 747 was delayed for unstated technical reasons before the flight began. Not a flat battery, late passengers or anything. Just 'technical reasons'.
It flew into Russian military security airspace in contravention of everything which you do when you are a top pilot, backed by a co-pilot and engineer.
They ignored communications from intercepting Russian planes.
There has been no USA accident report according to my source.
747s don't just get lost, they have transponders, way points, multiple crew, emergency and other frequencies to talk to nearby pilots. Don't forget, these pilots were not beginners.
Mqurice |
