why is he smiling at this disaster?
- Thread starter kiowa
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WNrforlife
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- Apr 17, 2003
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That's not a "he" that is smiling, it's a she. The guy in the picture isn't smiling- nor should any of us.
RowUnderDCA
Veteran
- Oct 6, 2002
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perhaps we could think positively and assume that the models are standing there for scale.... and she just forgot not to smile... well... I guess that's a reach.
CaptianBoomer
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- Jan 26, 2004
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Pretty twisted.....
as a side note, aren't roadway obstacles such as light poles and signage supposed to be breakaway type? I would suppose that if that lightpole was breakaway, that is would have sheared off and the car that was crushed should have been shoved out of the way instead of smashed.
Boomer
as a side note, aren't roadway obstacles such as light poles and signage supposed to be breakaway type? I would suppose that if that lightpole was breakaway, that is would have sheared off and the car that was crushed should have been shoved out of the way instead of smashed.
Boomer
Now that is novel. First it was the airports fault. Now it is the lightpole's fault. How about not running off the end of the runway and then the car would not have been damaged also.
Maybe on a rural road, but in a congested city I'd think a falling large alum tube would be a bad thing. High winds could cause other problems...
KCFlyer
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- Aug 20, 2002
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Must be a central midwest thing....I watched a semi hit a lightpole in downtown St Louis and the pole broke away and fell onto the service roads, and there have been a fair amoung of broken away light poles along the major thoroughfares here in KC.
Agreed. Here's an article by the Federal Highway Admin that mentions collateral damage as a reason not to use them in urban areas:
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/02may/07.htm
Uhh, KCFlyer - a semi will take out any type of pole, whether using breakaway joints/bolts or not. Many semis are 70k - 80k pounds and that much mass in motion will wipe out any pole encountered.
KCFlyer
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- Aug 20, 2002
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Uhhh...FWAAA...there aren't that many semis on the roads in KC that knock out the light poles. Often times, the CAR that knocked it down is still there. But I gotta wonder...if a semi at 70-80k pounds can take out a sign pole, how come an airliner that is 100k pounds can't??
WNrforlife
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- Apr 17, 2003
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CanyonBlue
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- Nov 12, 2004
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No, that is not a SWA uniform. It does appear to be similar, however, that "person" is part of local law enforcement or airport ops. I was there for the duration of recovery and clean-up. These "people" ( mostly police, some fire and airport ops) took many " photo ops". We were appalled at the time, and remain so. Their lack of sensitivity was amazing. As a side note, it has been rumored that many of the offending "photographers" have been identified and disciplined by their precinct captain.
It would, had it hit the pole. However if you look at the pic's the aircraft didn't hit the pole.
Most of which were just doing their job to "document" the accident. I doubt that these people involved in the clean up effort (police, fire, airport ops) were strictly there to take pic's to hang on their wall. Besides these people there were probably many others that came by to get a shot. They probably missed their chance in Burbank.
CaptianBoomer
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- Jan 26, 2004
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magsau:
Still spewing goodwill everywhere you go?
Obviously, if the aircraft didn't go off the runway there wouldn't be a tragedy to discuss. My point was, that looking at the pictures it was obvious that the lightpole was quite stout.....and that if it was a breakaway type the death of a child might have been prevented in spite of the runway overrun.
Only you would come up with the statement that it was the lightpoles fault...
Boomer
Still spewing goodwill everywhere you go?
Obviously, if the aircraft didn't go off the runway there wouldn't be a tragedy to discuss. My point was, that looking at the pictures it was obvious that the lightpole was quite stout.....and that if it was a breakaway type the death of a child might have been prevented in spite of the runway overrun.
Only you would come up with the statement that it was the lightpoles fault...
Boomer
No disagreement with you. Still, you brought up the semi in St Louis and how the pole was knocked down - my point is that semis moving at any significant speed would bring down any type of pole - so we don't know if the semi you witnessed hit a breakaway pole or a fixed, non-breakaway pole. Semis have a knack for breaking thru concrete Jersey-dividers, heavy guardrails and most other obstacles they encounter. 40 tons at highway speed is a lot of destructive force.
I agree with you that autos often bring down breakaway poles in rural areas. Even in some cities. Probably more often than semis.
Why didn't the MDW pole in the photo breakaway? Dunno. My guess is that the pole in the MDW tragedy (which appears to have withstood a significant collision with the crushed auto) was not a breakaway type. Additionally, the airplane was nearly at a stop when the impact between the airplane/auto combo and the light pole occurred.
Nevertheless, I seriously doubt that the pole caused the boy's tragic death, as the crushing by the 737 appears to be the cause.
