The Canadian aircraft accident. Pilot error?

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday Money was this is General Tacrick, and he was bringing in General on the Space Command and knows a little bit about airplanes and General tell us about yourself and tell us about we’ll talk about so all these crashes that have been happening lately.

0:20 Speaker 2 John, Absolutely, I am a retired Air Force fighter pilot and test pilot. I flew a lot of time in F fifteen e strike Eagles, a lot of time in F twenty two raptors, and a lot of time testing cutting edge technology to make sure that our war fighters are as lethal as possible. As far as the crashes

0:38 that are going on, I think the public is a little bit spooked. It continues to be the case that aviation is extremely safe, but after what happened outside of DC about a month ago, Toronto last weekend, and a few other crashes here and there, I think the public is extra sensitive to what’s going on, and they’re a

0:58 little bit concerned about our aviation.

0:59 Speaker 1 So, yes, there was a survey taken and they are very concerned about the aviation system. And you know, I think it went from from like twenty seven percent to forty one percent or whatever. But I think all these crashes are for different reasons, and it goes under maybe Murphy’s law that sometimes all of them happened at the

1:27 same time.

1:28 Speaker 2 Was saying, I think, I think you’re right. I think that once you see a big crash, because it happens so infrequently, that the public attention and concern is spiked. But it continues to be the case that it is overwhelmingly more safe than if you strapped into an uber or on a train or a greyhound bus. And I

1:48 do see different causes for each of these, and while it does capture our attention and the investigators are doing their due diligence, the public should not be concerned. In fact, the reason we are so safe is because each time there is a crash, there is a diligent process that investigators go through to get to the root cause so

2:10 they can fix things so it never happens again. And the reason we’re so safe is because we’ve trusted in that process over the course of the last several decades.

2:19 Speaker 1 I understood the crash in Toronto some of the information getting out it’s not Delta themselves, it’s a Delta commuter craft, and that the commuter craft in Toronto they weren’t using pilots that had the experience they should have. Have you heard anything like.

2:46 Speaker 2 That, John, I’ve heard a little bit of that, And I know it’s easy for us to jump to some conclusions that, hey, maybe someone’s not qualified enough to do this. I know the weather conditions were horrible. And the thing that struck me, John, and I know you’re a pilot and it probably struck you too, is as soon as

3:04 that plane touched down, there were signs of the crash or indications of the crash. And to me it might have been partly because of the weather. But my gut feeling is that what happened here was that upon landing there might have been a gear malfunction that caused especially the right gear to retract or to disembark from the aircraft,

3:26 and that’s what would cause the right wing to dip that it ultimately to get torn off in it to flip. But the tough thing about investigations of a crash is not figuring out what happened, but why did it happen?

3:39 And I know getting to the root cause is what the investigators are working through with the crash and the Potomac and the crash now in Toronto, and regardless of what the experience was of the pilots, we need to make sure that we understand at the root what was the cause of something like this, so we can resolve

3:56 problems so that it never happens again.

3:59 Speaker 1 I understand good. You don’t see that very often, a plane flipping over like that.

4:07 Speaker 2 You never see that. You don’t see a wing ripped off of a plane. Uh, you know, you think about it, you’re a pilot, that the wing is what holds up the heavy aircraft and even at the heaviest weight and in turbulence and when you’re climbing, the wings are extremely strong and firmly attached to the aircraft and it just

4:26 seems very rare and something certainly the investigators are looking into of how in the world the wing ripped off and then how did this plane flip. It’s a miracle that nobody died. That is a blessing, but we really do need some answers and that what’s that’s what the investigators are charged to do during the next several weeks

4:45 and maybe several months.

4:47 Speaker 1 Yes, and the you know, and I’m very apprehensive when they it takes them a year to investigate you know, nothing takes a year, but they figure the pressure is off. When it’s it takes a year, the pressure is off, and people have forgotten how angry they are.

5:04 Speaker 2 No, you’re right, and it’s insane to think that we’ve got to wait until twenty twenty six to figure out what happened in DC and what happened in Toronto. They’re likely going to be some initial preliminary findings that they will immediately the investigators roll in to fixes and processes, procedures or policies, but the public is clamoring for more

5:26 information than that. At least in the Air Force. When you have a crash, you have a month to come out with the accident investigation report, and I wish that the FAA and the NTSB was a little bit more diligent about speeding up the process.

5:40 Speaker 1 I agree with you. Anything else you want to tell the American people on Sunday morning.

5:45 Speaker 2 John, I really want to go back to this idea that the investigators go through this disciplined, methodical and evidence based process, and while it takes longer than it should, the reason why we are so safe in air travel, far more than any other means of transportation, is because every time something like this happens in DC or in Toronto,

6:08 that we are going to get to the root cause of why something happens, and we’re gonna fix things so it never happens again. So I realize that your listeners are probably a little bit spooped. Please know that we are still very safe. Pilots are still very skilled as our air traffic controllers, and the investigation will make sure

6:26 that we’re even safer next year than we were this year.

6:30 Speaker 1 Well, John Tichrick, otherwise known as Dragon, now’s your flying night, and thank you for everything you’ve done for our country and continue to work work hard for our country. And God bless you and God bless them Eric.

6:46 Speaker 2 John, God bless America as well. It’s my honor and I love speaking with you. Thank you,