Air Story One-Sided

The article “A Close Call Over Burbank” by Jerry Hulse was slanted in ways that should not be perpetuated. 1) Fliers do not do touch-and-goes at Burbank on weekends, nor at most airports, where they are usually prohibited on weekends. 2) At 8,000 feet? Probably not over Burbank. In a DC-9 he should have been halfway to Gorman by 8,000 feet. 3) He implied that “one of these planes” converged and nearly collided with the DC-9. Isn’t it more accurate to say that the DC-9 (much faster) nearly ran over the civilian plane? This was the nature of the San Diego accident, which reporters never disclosed.

4) He spoke with contempt of “Sunday fliers,” as if the DC-9 had some innate superiority. Society does not nourish a corresponding myth on highways, where commercial vehicles and trucks are thought of as intruders. 5) He said the DC-9 turned, which is exactly what it was supposed to do. If you were in a Greyhound bus, and it turned to avoid a Volkswagen, you would not consider it strange.

6) He implied that the DC-9 was within radar range of Burbank, in which case the controller could have “advised” him. 7) The good news--he was rapidly on the way to 14,000 feet (controlled airspace).

HENRY VANNOY

private pilot

Woodland Hills