Two 747s that crashed on that fateful day, weren't even supposed to be there. There were supposed to fly to the Gran Canaria islands with loads of Holidayers.
I am reading this book, "Sway : The Irresistible pull of Irrational Behaviour", where it gives the psychology behind irrational decisions.
The first case study in it was the world's worst Air crash, the Pan AM - KLM crash in Tenerife, where 583 people were killed.
Two 747s that crashed on that fateful day, weren't even supposed to be there. There were supposed to fly to the Gran Canaria islands with loads of Holidayers.
The Pan AM pilots were no slouched too.
As a result the authorities closed the airport and diverted all the flights, including the Pan AM and KLM to the nearby airport at Tenerife
Now Tenerife airport is a very small provincial airport. It was not equipped to handle big 747s. But it had no choice.
Amidst a lot of smaller planes, both the flights landed and jostled for space. It was at this point, von Zanten started worrying.
Just as the flight started refueling, the Gran Canaria airport reopened.
The Pan AM pilots tried to become a Chennai auto and tried to find a gap. But they were missing it by 20 feet
20 feet was the difference
It reduced the visibility to zero. And the ATC couldn't see the runway & the aircraft
With the pilots almost blind & the ATC completely blind, the process of take off started
Because of the small airport, the planes had to taxi down the main runway, turn around at the end and then take off
The KLM went first and Pan Am after
At the same time, the Pan AM was taxiing down the same runway. Because of the fog, nobody could see each other. All communications was on the Radio.
He asked them to take the third exit. The Pan AM guys miscalculated
Which got lost in the Radio noise
So von Zanten took off, while the Pan AM was still on the runway
Pan Am tried to get out of the way. But failed
Result, the KLM smacked into the Pan AM. The full fuel load ignited and resulted in the world's worst Air disaster, with 583 people losing their lives.
Sadly, it didn't happen.
Makes you realize, you may think you are in control of your fate.
But you probably aren't.
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"I lied about my basic beliefs in order to keep a prestigious job. Now that it will be zero-cost to me, I have a few things to say."
We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.
Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)
It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.
Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".
As a dean of a major academic institution, I could not have said this. But I will now. Requiring such statements in applications for appointments and promotions is an affront to academic freedom, and diminishes the true value of diversity, equity of inclusion by trivializing it. https://t.co/NfcI5VLODi
— Jeffrey Flier (@jflier) November 10, 2018
We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.
Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)
It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.
Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".
So it's now October 10, 2018 and....Rod Rosenstein is STILL not fired.
He's STILL in charge of the Mueller investigation.
He's STILL refusing to hand over the McCabe memos.
He's STILL holding up the declassification of the #SpyGate documents & their release to the public.
I love a good cover story.......
The guy had a face-to-face with El Grande Trumpo himself on Air Force One just 2 days ago. Inside just about the most secure SCIF in the world.
And Trump came out of AF1 and gave ol' Rod a big thumbs up!
And so we're right back to 'that dirty rat Rosenstein!' 2 days later.
At this point it's clear some members of Congress are either in on this and helping the cover story or they haven't got a clue and are out in the cold.
Note the conflicting stories about 'Rosenstein cancelled meeting with Congress on Oct 11!"
First, rumors surfaced of a scheduled meeting on Oct. 11 between Rosenstein & members of Congress, and Rosenstein just cancelled it.
He's STILL in charge of the Mueller investigation.
He's STILL refusing to hand over the McCabe memos.
He's STILL holding up the declassification of the #SpyGate documents & their release to the public.
I love a good cover story.......
The guy had a face-to-face with El Grande Trumpo himself on Air Force One just 2 days ago. Inside just about the most secure SCIF in the world.
And Trump came out of AF1 and gave ol' Rod a big thumbs up!
And so we're right back to 'that dirty rat Rosenstein!' 2 days later.
At this point it's clear some members of Congress are either in on this and helping the cover story or they haven't got a clue and are out in the cold.
Note the conflicting stories about 'Rosenstein cancelled meeting with Congress on Oct 11!"
First, rumors surfaced of a scheduled meeting on Oct. 11 between Rosenstein & members of Congress, and Rosenstein just cancelled it.
Rep. Andy Biggs and Rep. Matt Gaetz say DAG Rod Rosenstein cancelled an Oct. 11 appearance before the judiciary and oversight committees. They are now calling for a subpoena. pic.twitter.com/TknVHKjXtd
— Ivan Pentchoukov \U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8 (@IvanPentchoukov) October 10, 2018