A couple extra videos today. Here’s the first.
In the aftermath of the tragic plane crash near Palm Beach, something deeply disturbing happened. Before investigators could even begin determining what went wrong, social media was flooded with people blaming the woman heard on the air traffic control recording. The accusations were predictable: DEI, unqualified female pilots, and the usual garbage from people who have never set foot in a cockpit. There was just one problem: She wasn’t even the pilot flying the airplane. She was doing her job, communicating an unfolding catastrophe to air traffic control with extraordinary professionalism, even as she was falling to her death. Instead of recognizing that courage, people who knew absolutely nothing about the situation turned her final moments into ammunition for their political agenda.
I sat down with fellow pilot and aviation influencer Gary Baumgardner (@GARYBPILOT) to talk about why this made us both so angry, what actually happens in a cockpit during an emergency, and what it really takes to become a professional pilot. We discuss the rigorous training, testing, and standards every pilot must meet, why the DEI accusations are so fundamentally ignorant, and the growing tendency to turn every tragedy into a political culture war before the facts are known. This is about more than one terrible crash. It’s about basic human decency, respect for people who dedicate their lives to aviation, and the responsibility to know what you’re talking about before opening your mouth.
Watch our full conversation below.
I don’t like who we’ve become
Been waiting for your thoughts on this. Appreciate pilots perspective.