FAA: "You can't handle the truth!"

[thewayne]

Every day I eat my breakfast 200 yards from a pelican who'd like nothing better than to put its beak through my brain!


Sorry, been a little ill of late and my brain is always weird. And when you're weird, who better to channel than Jack?!


Anyway, after that flight went down in NYC from birds taking out its engines, the FAA said it was going to release bird strike data. Now they're saying they won't. They say: ""The complexity of the information warrants care with its interpretation; releasing this information without benefit of proper analysis would not only produce an inaccurate perception of the individual airports and airlines but also inaccurate and inappropriate comparisons between airports/airlines," the FAA wrote March 19 in the Federal Register."

Well, I have to agree with them, at least partially. It would be easy for a layperson to misinterpret the data and draw some pretty stupid conclusions. But there's also an awful lot of aviation engineers and wildlife management specialists who would love to see these data sets who would otherwise absolutely love to see this data.

But here's the scary part: "The number of strikes annually reported more than quadrupled from 1,759 in 1990 to a record 7,666 in 2007."

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/03/faa-says-public.html

Comments

[silveradept]

So more planes in the air makes for more bird strikes. And I think lots of people would like to see that data - too bad that fear of being misinterpreted is keeping this away. We've been misinterpreting just about everything statistical for years now - why stop now?

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

So should we be afraid of birds?

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Of course we should be afraid of birds! And clowns! And Neocons! :-)


Good to see you online, kiddo! I hope you're doing well.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

YES. Clowns are terrifying! YUCK.

I am! Sorry I've been gone so long. It's been weird and now I feel all better for being online and reconnecting. How are you??

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I'm doing OK. Had carpal tunnel surgery on my R wrist/hand (the incision is in your palm even tho they're operating on your wrist) early Feb, caught pneumonia the week after getting the stitches out. Recovered from that, have the next operation scheduled for two weeks away, and I've got a virus right now. But really can't complain, at least too much.

Made some EXTREMELY yummy meatballs and am about to have some for dinner. Also made an extremely yummy tomato sauce to go with it, won't bother with cooking pasta tonight.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Yum! I love meatballs. Also it sounds like you've had an eventful year or so! Sorry about all the sickness. And yuck, surgery. I'll probably need that later on in life with the rate I work on a computer. Ridic.

Meatballs are love, pasta just weighs it down. ;D

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/throwdown-with-bobby-flay/grandma-maronis-meatballs-100-year-old-recipe-recipe/index.html

They are REALLY good. And if you make 'em small, say just under an inch, you get lots out of this recipe.

I'll be posting more about my surgery later, I'm also doing a presentation or two at work. It's a good idea to watch your ergonomics if you're going to be using a computer regularly. Trust me: you don't want to go through this surgery. It really isn't too bad, in and of itself, but it's a long and inconvenient recovery.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Oh, have you ever seen Hitchcock's The Birds? Or Mel Brooks' High Anxiety? If you like Hitchcock thrillers, you absolutely must see Mel's movie.

[slashophile.livejournal.com]

Heck yeah! I love both of those movies, srsly.