'A Sudden, Terrible Stillness'

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  • Posted By: bonanzapilot55 @ 12/22/2008 9:37:53 AM

    How do you spell Jeb Tilly.......i-n-c-o-n-s-i-d-e-r-a-t-e, u-n-t-h-a-n-k-f-u-l, i-g-n-o-r-a-n-t. His article is obviously written with little or no knowledge of what caused the accident or why it happened. I'm a pilot but I am well aware there is risk of injury or death if I strap myself into an aluminum tube and hurl myself through the atmosphere at a high rate of speed.
    It's not a perfect world. People make mistakes. Man made machinery breaks. Thankfully no one was killed in this accident.

    • Posted By: 101stairborne91 @ 12/22/2008 9:44:29 AM

      It's people like you that make this world a *** hole to live in. "Unthankful, Inconsiderate, Arrogant??" Wow! Glad to see that you care so much for other people and their well-being!

      • Posted By: bonanzapilot55 @ 12/22/2008 9:56:48 AM

        101stairborne91 I said ignorant not arrogant.

        Mr. Tilley is obviously using his position as a journalist to make a buck. He has written a dramatic piece of copy. His attitude is like airline personel should have known this was going to happen and they should have had a taxi waiting at the bottom of the hill to haul him back to the terminal. He should just be thankful that he and the rest of the passengers are still alive and mostly uninjutred.

  • Posted By: jamminjer @ 12/22/2008 9:56:42 AM

    degdiego, what a judgmental prick you are...

  • Posted By: cat24 @ 12/22/2008 9:56:26 AM

    Judge not, least ye be judged.....you don't know anything until you have been in his situation.

  • Posted By: 777Driver @ 12/22/2008 9:54:09 AM

    Flysafe is right!!! I don't care that Jeb's back happened to be "within reach". You are told to leave everything because you could drop your bag, or your laptop in the aisle or in the evacuation path and create an obstacle for those people behind you. Once it is dropped, it is not very easy to reach down and pick it up when you have othe paniced passengers behind you. It doesn't matter that his bag was in reach. I hope this man's account is truthfull and accurate but it sure leaves some questions in my mind. I am very qualified to comment on these issues. Flysafe is correct whether you believe he is or not.

  • Posted By: Jneen @ 12/22/2008 9:52:26 AM

    In defense of the author- people read all the comments before assuming anything. He comments here that he was at the back of the plane and not holding anyone up. He was waiting his turn to get off and while doing so had time to get his bag which was probably under his seat(like mine is when I'm flying) and not in the overhead. If you never been in a position like this than you have no business to pass judgement. I just Thank God they all survived. Isn't that what is most important?

  • Posted By: KYLE11LEVY7 @ 12/22/2008 9:52:09 AM

    fly safe must be a miserable person to make such a comment. When something like that happens your first instinct is to get your family safe , so before you judge put yourself in their shoes , I would think if the need was to rise to help others they would of but reading the article it seemed everyone was handling and able to depart the plane and help was on the way . Im just glad with such a disaster that it wasn't worse and that there wasn't any lost lives.

  • Posted By: cat24 @ 12/22/2008 9:51:25 AM

    I always fly with a backpack and store in front of me under the seat and my kids do the same...all you have to do is reach down and grab it. That is what I would have done.
    How do you know this guy did not do the same? Not everyone puts there stuff in the overhead bin you know!!

  • Posted By: Cory350 @ 12/22/2008 9:49:41 AM

    As someone who has been fortunate enough to never have been in a plane crash, I appreciate Jeb's recollection of the tragedy. His writing style made it seem as if I had been sitting right next to him on the plane. Please know that for every negative comment posted here, there are hundreds of people who are thankful for Jeb's account of the accident and wish nothing but peace for all of the passengers. The Lord was surely with all of you that night, and it is a miracle that no one was killed. Merry Christmas!!!

  • Posted By: GeorginaKlanica @ 12/22/2008 9:49:25 AM

    I'm surprised a flight attendent let him down the inflatable w/ "stuff". It's my understanding that only what is on your body is what you can take; everything else becomes part of the investigation.

  • Posted By: afairchild @ 12/22/2008 9:48:29 AM

    God has blessed you and all of the passangers. Make sure you live your life remembering that each and every day.

  • Posted By: grosislet @ 12/22/2008 9:09:54 AM

    I am not surprised by these negative ignorant comments because I have realized since a long time ago that American people must be illiterate. I am from the Caribbean *brap*. But I think the mistake the writer made which clearly fueled these comments is that he did not include the exact position of his bag. On the otherhand he did say that he was at the back of the plane so how can he possibly hold up the other passengers. And did it clicked to any one of you that the cell phone and jacket that he grabbed was a necessity in this case and that was a smart move on his part? No you all were too quick to judge, as usual. Also, Mr and Mrs Jeb did explained in details in response to the comments exactly what happened and their reason for grabbing the bag. I must say the writing was superb and I did wonder if he was a professional writer. Thanks though for sharing your experience and Merry Christmas to you and your family and the other survivors of this terrble ordeal.

    • Posted By: Rob K @ 12/22/2008 9:47:13 AM

      A large percentage of the American public has the reading-comprehension skills of a lobotomized gnat. I've worked in newspapers for 25 years, and I can tell you that many readers never let the facts get in the way of their preconceived notions and latent anger issues; they read what they expect to be there rather than what actually is there. It's little wonder that our society gives rise to vacuous politicians like Sarah Palin and Rod Blagovovich while eschewing reading in-depth journalism in newspapers in favor of quick-hit, mindless celebrity news on the Web. the dumbing-down of the American public has reached alarming new lows. A large segment of the populace doesn't know how to read anymore because they don't read anymore.

  • Posted By: degdiego @ 12/22/2008 9:47:13 AM

    I guess grabbing your bag is more important then your life and the lives around you......

  • Posted By: 1fly4life @ 12/22/2008 9:46:18 AM

    I'm so very surprised that we still manage to have ravines anywhere near a runway, take off or taxi way!! I'm a retired flight attendant and I could never understand the need for any barriers or walls or roadways near and close enough to any airport that could hamper or hurt an airplane on an aborted take off of any kind. It was always a little of my fear that take offs and landings were going to be the iffy situation when it came to airplane travel and the need for my skills would come during one of those situations. Thankfully the only emergency I had were a few engine failures and a few aborted take offs in 27 years of flying and that is the norm. Flying is still the safest form of travel we have. As the reporter says, engine failure could have occurred where one engine went into overdrive and basically pushed it off the runway, One apparently shut down, the other one did not. It will be interesting to see if something went wrong in the cockpit with engine thrust and the one engine failed. Thankfully it happened on the ground and not when they had actually taken off. No one was killed and that is a blessing.

  • Posted By: degdiego @ 12/22/2008 9:45:41 AM

    I guess grabbing a bag is more important then youtr life and the lives around you....

  • Posted By: coltboy @ 12/22/2008 9:45:27 AM

    Completely inappropriate to grab your bag in this instance. the first and only priority is to get yourself and others off the plane as quickly as posible. It may have only taken a second, but that second could have cost someone behind them their lives. My mother always said to never take anything on vacation that you can afford to lose.
    Wher are our priorities!?

  • Posted By: gia g @ 12/22/2008 9:44:19 AM

    I wonder how much faster that plane could have been evacuated had the author not stopped to grab his bag? In an incident such as this, fractions of seconds count. You are putting other people's life in danger, and that is when chaos ensues. I am very sorry for Mr Tilly's horrible experience, and I am so thankful everyone made it out alive, despite his selfish act.

  • Posted By: fesler @ 12/22/2008 9:44:17 AM

    Whatever super being you believe in - a god or something else - it was watching over them.

  • Posted By: ehutchings @ 12/22/2008 9:43:46 AM

    AH critics, mister or misses "flysafe" and "coltboy"!! HOW FREAKIN RUDE!!!!

    I fly an average of 130 flights a year traveling ocean to ocean. How is it that you know that by him grabbing his bag put people in jeopardy??? Was the bag maybe at his feet, very accessible??????

    Have you been on a plane that was in an "accident"???? Have you tried to rationilize YOUR actions we faced with a LIFE OR DEATH event????

  • Posted By: Cory350 @ 12/22/2008 9:43:45 AM

    Having never been through an emotional tragedy such as a plane crash, I can't even imagine what it would be like to be thrown around at 150 mph. I appreciate the images that Jeb has given in his account of the accident because it makes it more real. For every negative comment posted here, just know that there are hundreds who haven't taken the time to post their thoughts and are wishing you nothing but peace this Christmas season. The Lord was surely with all of you.

  • Posted By: ehutchings @ 12/22/2008 9:42:32 AM

    AH a critic, mister or misses "flysafe"!! HOW FREAKIN RUDE!!!!

    I fly an average of 130 flights a year traveling ocean to ocean. How is it that you know that by him grabbing his bag put people in jeopardy??? Was the bag maybe at his feet, very accessible??????

    Have you been on a plane that was in an "accident"???? Have you tried to rationilize YOUR actions we faced with a LIFE OR DEATH event????

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