In the past few days we have been beset with much grief – again.
Why?
Because another aircraft is missing with people on board.
There are many people aboard this aeroplane but, in real terms it matters little if there are five hundred or there is only one person. It is a matter of scale and the quantity of grief with which the World becomes awash.
Let us stop, just for a moment, and consider a couple of things here.
Firstly we should look at that third sentence. It says that an aircraft is missing.
Say that again slowly, ‘an aircraft is missing.’
Notice that, at the end of the sentence, there is a full stop. It is at precisely this point that the conversation should stop. Anything said after that is conjecture, it is speculation; there is no place in aviation for that. None.
When we get to that full stop we say, in our heads, that ‘we don’t know’ what happened. And that part is the truth. We do not know.
Shall we move on to a headline. It is dramatic, it is sensational. It shouts at us that ‘Terrorism Suspected in Missing Flight’.
This is guessing. It is speculation. There is absolutely no evidence to support this idea. That there are people flying on the aircraft with stolen passports is no indication of terrorism at all. There are a thousand reasons – well, several, anyway, why someone should be flying with a stolen passport and terrorism is not one of them.
We have ‘International Terrorism’ stuck in our heads by the media who are so anxious that there should be ghouls and ghosties behind every headline.
Consider this: there are only three questions ever asked by the news media. They are:
1. How bad is it?
2. How bad can it get?
3. What can be done about it.
They never, ever, ask about the good news.
These guessing games played by the news are no comfort to the friends and families of those who are missing. It is much better to say nothing, or pray for them if you will, than go on these wild crusades.
We hope that, ultimately, they will find the FDR (Flight Data Recorder – the ‘Black Box’) and the CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder so that the truth may finally reveal itself to us.
Until then all else is conjecture. It is rumour, hearsay and, mostly, nonsense.
Let us not spread it around. Even if only for respect.
Thank you.
If you actually tried this and announced ‘an aircraft is missing.’. with absolutely no other comment until it was found, I wonder what response you would get from relatives and friends? The Airline is not allowed to speculate, the country concerned is not allowed to speculate?
ReplyDeleteWhat you are asking is that nobody shows any concern for the event or how it is being handled! Subject closed!
I am not asking for a lack of sympathy. I am not asking for people to disregard the suffering of anxious family and friends.
DeleteWhat I have stated, clearly, is that the cause and disposition of the lost aircraft should not be speculated upon.
There are, even now, people willing to make bold statements about what they consider to be the root cause of this event (we do not, yet, know if it is 'accident' or 'incident').
Suddenly everyone is an aviation expert. From tales of 'Electronics Warfare' experts on board - all of whom, it is inferred, are suicidal, to stories of aircraft route reversals that show the wrong aircraft registration number!
How is this helpful? How do these wild speculations help the grief of the families? None of it brings the family any nearer to closure. Only the facts will do that.
We have no facts.
Let me say again:
WE HAVE NO FACTS.
Let's leave it at that until we get some.
Until then I shall pray for the potential victims and their loved ones who remain on land.
You do what is best in your heart.
Perhaps, UKTiger, you would care to write down your thoughts on this for all to see. Of course, I do not hide behind a pseudonym because all my comments are, like my name, open and honest.
DeleteI am, of course, making the broad assumption that you have thoughts on this subject that can be shared?