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Friday, January 30, 2009
Mike Gallagher :: Townhall.com Columnist
Ungrateful Flyers
by Mike Gallagher
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The headline in USA Today gave me a sinking feeling: “US Airways Gives Passengers On Flight $5000.00 Each -- Passengers Wonder, Is it Enough?”

Is it enough?

Is anything ever enough anymore?

It is absolutely, positively inconceivable that anyone aboard the miraculous US Airways Airbus whose pilot made a safe water landing after birds were sucked into the engines would expect US Airways to fork over a ton of money to them.

This was one great story: a pilot makes a split-second decision to ditch into the frigid waters of the Hudson River, a decision that saved everyone on board from certain death.

But it didn’t take long for the vultures to swarm, the heads to spin with visions of big dollar signs, and the pure greed to hijack this otherwise-wonderful tale.

One disgruntled flier who got a bloody nose and some bruises says it’s still too early to decide just how emotionally distressed he is as a result of the incident.

“I just want to be made whole,” he sniffed to a reporter.

Already US Airways has written checks for $5000.00 apiece to each and every passenger to cover any and all “immediate needs” they may have from having lost their luggage and other belongings.

I’m a frequent flier who often travels with a laptop, nice headphones, even some partial radio equipment and I know that $5000.00 would more than cover anything I might lose on an airplane.

Furthermore, the airline has promised that their insurance carrier will cover any and all losses of property that exceed $5000.00.

Not good enough, some of these miserable people are saying.

Kreindler and Kreindler, a New York-based law firm that specializes in aviation accidents, reports that “several” of the passengers on the flight have already contacted the firm.

I wonder how long it took those folks to stop thanking God for His decision to spare their lives from what should have been a fiery, horrible end before they Googled the best law firm to sue the pants off US Airways?

I might be a lone voice in the wilderness on this, but I don’t think US Airways owes any of these people one red cent. Continued...
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About The Author

Mike Gallagher is a nationally syndicated radio host, Fox News Channel contributor and guest host and author of Surrounded by Idiots: Fighting Liberal Lunacy in America.

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Reply # 1
Date: Feb 5, 2009 - 12:44 PM EST
February 5th New Headlines
The headline in USA Today: "Passengers on Flight give Captain “Sully” Sullenberger $5,000 each as a demonstration of gratitude. The only 'fact' they were concerned with is they are alive and well."
Wish it were true.
Semper Fi, Hank
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Reply # 2
Date: Feb 4, 2009 - 10:11 PM EST
U.S. Airways Payout
Hi Mike,
I called in the other day to comment on the money paid out by U.S. Airways. Unfortunately I got in too late to get on your show. I am a professional airline pilot with 22 years of experience. Prior to that I flew jets in the USAF for 7 years. As much as I would like to laud Capt. Sullenberger and his crew for saving everyone onboard, I must remind you that this incident is still under investigation by the NTSB. The results of the incident have not been made public. Both the digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder would have been turned over to the Flight Operations Dept. of U.S. Airways for their own internal investigation. It is probable but highly unusual for bird strikes to render both engines inoperable in a case such as this. Normal cockpit procedure is for one pilot to remain at the controls and fly the aircraft while the other pilot fights the fire or shuts down the malfunctioning engine. Under high stress loads it is possible to shut down the wrong engine. Testimony from the surviving passengers stated that they saw the left engine on fire and shortly thereafter the right engine shut down. Capt. Sullenberger would have been too busy flying the aircraft and talking to ATC to have caught the mistake. At that altitude and airspeed an engine restart is nearly impossible. If U.S. Airways management had been made aware of such a mistake they would have been very anxious to settle immediately with all of the passengers onboard. What on the surface sounds to be quite generous may indeed turn out to be a multi-million dollar law suit save. I hope that I am wrong. Unfortunately in aviation, most of the worst disasters are attributable to pilot error. The jury is still out. I hope the verdict is not guilty, and God Speed to Capt. Sullenberger and his crew.
Thanks,
Capt. C.
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