Polish President dies in plane crash along with 96 other govt personnel (!?)

[Sara Heddleston]

Please someone help alleviate the panic I'm feeling after reading the news of this horrible tragedy in Poland: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100410/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_plane_crash

Capt. Keith - how can fog affect a pilot's skills if they are using the computers and gauges in the cockpit? Do you think this was the real reason for the crash or could it have been something else?

I fly in a week and this is making me nervous to the extreme.. :( How can flights crash because of pilot error related to fog and weather conditions?

HELP!

[SteveK]

Try not to let it play on your mind Sara..obviously its not easy but there is nothing yet to indicate that fog was the reason or even contributed to the fact the plane crashed...everything happens for a reason, but until the accident has been investigated thenthere is no point in speculating just yet..the text mentions the plane was 'ageing' and the fact that the airport wasnt equiped with technology to bring the plane it...it could have bene anything..including thing that were nothing to do with the plane itself.

Try to think positive...there was a car crash on the M4 yesterday 3 people were killed..but it hasnt put me off of driving past there next week..or even being in a car being driven by someone else..nor would it you either im sure..

Try and relate that to your flight...

Of course these things would make the nervous flyer (like me) a little more anxious...but becasue something happened this week it doesnt mean its going to happen again on your flight as well

Im not a gambler..purely for the reason I dont understand betting etc...but I know enough to understand that the odd of it happening again again so soon after are even more remote than they were before it happened..

Good luck and I hope you quell your fears..

[Captain Keith]

Hi Sarah

Don't worry about this uneccessarily. My guess is that because they were flying the President and a lot of 'important' people they might have carried on trying to land when normally they might have diverted sooner. But this is only a guesss...the facts will come out eventually.

Did you also see that a lot of people died the same day while driving to work, electrocuting themselves, falling down stairs, food poisening, colds, flu, heart attacks, strokes?

Whats the difference? Why are those things less likely to happen to you?

Keith

[Karolina]

i am flying to poland in two weeks by ryanair.... i was trying to be positive but the news is not helping at all. what to do?

[Captain Keith]

Hi Karolina

There's nothing to do. What do you do if there's a car crash, or a rail crash? If a boat sinks? You carry on normally...of course you'd be unusual if you didn't worry or be concerned but nothing has changed, it's just that your attention has been drawn to it. Suppose for example that you never heard about this accident?

Suppose in complete ignorance you got on your plane flew to your destination and then found out about this accident. Would you have been more at risk? No of course not. What you are experiencing are feelings and emotions that whilst being quite valid, don't change anything with regard to the safety of flying.

If I were flying tomorrow of course I'd think about it, but then having done that I'd become 'me' again and remember that in all my flying career nothing ever happened to me.
That's what I'd like you to think of.

Best wishes

Captain Keith

[Leila Rasheed]

I think Keith is right - they probably tried to land because they had all these important people on board who they didn't want to miss their meetings, and it was a mistake. Also, if you are flying on a commercial flight to Poland you are unlikely to be flying on one of these kind of planes.
You are no more at risk now than you were before you heard this news - as someone said, it's just emotions, and they're annoying but they don't mean anything has changed. YOu will be fine, I'm sure of it.

[Sara Heddleston]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Captain Keith, I know you are right.. Just because that happened to those people doesn't mean it will happen me. Honestly, it's more likely I'll have something at home happenn to me.

I am just eager to know the facts... Can heavy fog affect an aircraft/landing in such a serious way??
Captain Keith said:

Hi Sarah

Don't worry about this uneccessarily. My guess is that because they were flying the President and a lot of 'important' people they might have carried on trying to land when normally they might have diverted sooner. But this is only a guesss...the facts will come out eventually.

Did you also see that a lot of people died the same day while driving to work, electrocuting themselves, falling down stairs, food poisening, colds, flu, heart attacks, strokes?

Whats the difference? Why are those things less likely to happen to you?

Keith

[suzi]

I have never thought of fog as particularly dangerous, so i was shocked as well as saddenned about this crash. Are smaller planes less able to land when visibility is poor - I guess in the dark/at night pilots can see the runway lights on the strip, but you cannot see this in the fog until the last minute when you're very near the ground, do smaller planes have less sophisticated autopilots than the larger jets?

[SteveK]

The plane may have had something...but, from what I have read, the airport didnt have the technology in this instance..but it may not have been anything to do with the fog anyway...No one will know until he flight data box is recovered...

[Captain Keith]

I'LL PUT A PAGE ON THE WEBSITE ABOUT THIS ASPECT OF FLYING SHORTLY.

Captain Keith

[Captain Keith]

This will need a long answer...I'll try to post something on the website as soon as I can .

Keith

[Sara Heddleston]

Thanks, I can't wait to read the post.. :)

Captain Keith said:

This will need a long answer...I'll try to post something on the website as soon as I can .

Keith