The remains of an albatross seabird after a mid-air collision with a plane. (Image source: Japan Times)
A Japanese pilot likely got a nasty shock when an albatross seabird crashed into his plane, leaving a three-foot-wide crater in the nose.
None of the crew members aboard the Japan Coast Guard patrol plane were injured in the mid-air collision, which took place at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet, the Japan Times reported. The same could not be said for the bird, whose dead carcass lodged firmly inside the hole.
Despite the damage, the pilot opted not to make an emergency landing, instead flying for another hour and arriving at its intended destination.
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Comments (123)
bpost58
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:19amGee, I hope the birdie is OK.
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guns-an-bibles
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:51amHe has a head ache and feels a little flat but other than that he had a blast!
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NOTALOTTAYITTAYADDA
Jan. 22, 2012 at 12:03pmEven w/ hind site being 20/20, ppl still continue to believe commercial airliners can shear through structural steel walls.
WAKE THE FREAK UP!!
A B-25 bomber couldn’t do it in 45′, it can’t happen today either, they are called the LAWS OF PHYSICS for a reason.
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RepubliCorp
Jan. 22, 2012 at 12:53pmNOTALOTTAYITTAYADDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2NsXQcBtOQ&feature=related
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Regdunlop
Jan. 22, 2012 at 1:08pmNot, you are wrong in citing the B25 hitting the Empire State building as ‘proof’ that a plane can’t cut through structural steel. The B25 is a much smaller airplane than a modern airliner, hence not as heavy. The B25 travelled a lot slower as well, and struck a much more substantially constructed building. The difference in the damage created by the two different impacts is like comparing apples to oranges. It is not evidence of any conspiracy, as much as the idiotic truthers would like it to be.
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artoruby
Jan. 22, 2012 at 1:39pmWhat’s the last thing that went through his mind before he died?
His rectum.
LOL
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BOMUSTGO
Jan. 22, 2012 at 2:28pm@ NOTAYADAYADAYADA(?)..Wake up, it’s on video..Also,the WTC towers built entirly different from the empire state building.
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ZaphodsPlanet
Jan. 22, 2012 at 4:31pmYes, he’s fine, he’s just sleeping, and his brains, ass, left leg and tail are sleeping next to him.
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Cause4Liberty
Jan. 22, 2012 at 5:43pm@Republicrap. Your stupidity ceases to amaze me. A downright hiliarious attempt and Fail. I cant believe you would be so narrow minded to believe this garbage. Unless you created that video, which wouldnt doubt.
It’s only fair to counter with real knowledge, not this phony “Brotherhood of Darkness” crap.
Evidence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGDisyWkIBM&feature=player_embedded
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mountainmanbigdog
Jan. 22, 2012 at 6:11pmYada, you’re a dunce. His rectum! Lol!!!
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REVerse
Jan. 22, 2012 at 6:57pmGee. Think 0bama will put a moratorium on all flights in the US due to the slaughter of innocent birds?
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LIBSALWAYSLIE
Jan. 22, 2012 at 7:23pmNOTA, you just made a complete azz out of yourself. That was the most stupid analogy since rosie odumbell.
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ChiefGeorge
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:09pmVery fortunate it did not come thru the pilots windscreen or all might have been lost. Count this one as a saved event.
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MR_ANDERSON
Jan. 23, 2012 at 7:07amNOTALOTTAYITTAYADDA,
You mean just like how in the 14th century Diamonds were never cut with Metal chisels, because diamonds were the hardest material known to man at the time?
How about you go back and study the “LAWS OF PHYSICS” so you can learn about the Theory of Relativity, and more specifically Special Relativity.
Einstein wasn’t always right, but it doesn’t take a genius to know commercial airliners could shear through structural steel walls.
I mean tornadoes are able to puncture telephone poles with pieces of straw. Now, I think you need to…WAKE THE FREAK UP!!!
The more you educate yourself, the more you’ll find that those towers could easily have been brought down with those aircraft. Even in some conspiracy world where something else was used to bring them down, you HAVE TO ADMIT that it is possible that those planes alone could have done it. To state otherwise discredits you, as you are either uneducated or unable to accept factual possibilities, or worse both.
REF:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16610-diamond-no-longer-natures-hardest-material.html
http://www.allaboutgemstones.com/diamond_cutting_history.html
http://www.phys.vt.edu/~takeuchi/relativity/notes/
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BubbaT
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:18amBad juju, killing an Albatross. Poor pilot is damned, DAMNED I TELL YOU!!!!!
At last the moon rose, casting the great shadow of the ship across the waters; where the ship’s shadow touched the waters, they burned red. The great water snakes moved through the silvery moonlight, glittering; blue, green, and black, the snakes coiled and swam and became beautiful in the Mariner’s eyes. He blessed the beautiful creatures in his heart; at that moment, he found himself able to pray, and the corpse of the Albatross fell from his neck, sinking “like lead into the sea.”
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john9664
Jan. 22, 2012 at 2:15pmWater, water, all around, and not a drop to drink. Water, Water all around and all the boards did shrink.
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AmazingGrace8
Jan. 22, 2012 at 7:55pmIs that you Edgar Allan Poe?
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VermontPatriot
Jan. 23, 2012 at 6:35amIron Maiden has a great tune called The Ryme of the Ancient Mariner off their Powerslave album.
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koibaby
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:54amWhat happens when you steal the sky.
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Melvin Spittle
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:10amGo hug a tree, hippy.
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Gonzo
Jan. 22, 2012 at 2:49pmYea Koi, If man was meant to fly…right? I’m sure you ride a horse wherever you go so as not to run over a deer.
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Parnell3rd
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:47amPeta will be in Japan demanding the arrest of the pilots!
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cyclops
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:04amLMAO……..Funny one….
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Enough is Enough__Oath_Keeper
Jan. 22, 2012 at 12:53pmPeople; who
Eat;
Tasty;
Animals
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Bill Rowland
Jan. 22, 2012 at 7:43pmDamn Albatross, damaging a perfectly good plane in his suicide
OMG
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Mil Mom
Jan. 23, 2012 at 2:25am“Please Lord, can they keep them for the next 50 yrs?”
BTW, How do you say, Good luck with that in Japenese?
Don’t know so I’ll just say to PETA, “Sayanarra(sp), NOT SORRY TO SEE YOU GO!”
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COFemale
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:37amWell that birds looks pretty intact after hitting the plane; there is nothing worse than having to clean a bird strike or so I was told by my ex-husband. He mostly had to clean the engines or the wheel wells. At the time he was with the Thunderbird’s maintenance team. Of course, the birds he had to clean up after were not as big as the albatross.
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snufy
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:33amYou didn’t mention that the pilot had to clean his pants…
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Charles
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:33amIn Cincinnati some big bird went through the windscreen of a business jet and decapitated the pilot immediately after takeoff some time back. The copilot managed to land the jet safely.
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Zoe
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:01amWas the Cookie Monster involved?
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AgentP
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:41amcookie monster was fired before this incident. He was accused of being a 1% cookie consumer and due to his greed he was replaced by the veggie monster.
Elmo, however, was the co-pilot and since he was protected by the magical rainbow, he was able to safely land the plane with Big Bird who was not charged with a crime citing diplomatic immunity.
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nobull14
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:51am**** happens !!!!
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nobull14
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:54amBetter there than the cockpit window
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AgentP
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:50amWasserman-Shultz most-likely has an open cockpit since she probably flies a bi-plane.
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Athinkerinaseaoflibs
Jan. 23, 2012 at 11:42amI was looking at the Wasserman-Sgt Shultz woman. Not a bi-plane…I am fairly sure it is broom.
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ZAP
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:46amBye Bye Birdie
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willbedone
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:08amAs sang by Ann Margaret?
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iStorm
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:45amPeta peta peta peta peta peta. SUX
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BubbaT
Jan. 22, 2012 at 11:19amWell yeah, tell us something we don’t know.
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Enough is Enough__Oath_Keeper
Jan. 22, 2012 at 12:50pmHey, I am a proud member of Peta.
People, who
Eat,
Tasty,
Animals.
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South Philly Boy
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:44amThat was a Big Bird
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str8blues
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:02amKey word in that sentence…..WAS
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V-MAN MACE
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:26amLargest wingspan of all birds if I’m not mistaken.
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Wyatt's Torch
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:41amThe environmentalists will want the pilot to wear the albatross around his neck and set him adrift (on a biodegradeable, organic, non-BPA raft)
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goofyfoot2001
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:39amFix the comment sort!
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COFemale
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:41amIf the comment isn’t appearing where you want, perhaps you should make sure that when you click Reply the person’s name is listed, “COFemale, Leave a reply to GoofyFoot2001. Otherwise you comment goes in a normal listing.
Frankly, it is called OPERATOR ERROR!
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EPROM
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:26amOuch! ……Poor bird.
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Twobyfour
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:39amWhich one?
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goofyfoot2001
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:40amFix the comment sort ya fool!
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COFemale
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:43amAw, are your feelings hurt that your comment isn’t sorted and first rather than last. Do you want your participation trophy little boy/girl? If you noticed it is by date then time Ascending order. What is there to fix?
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guns-an-bibles
Jan. 22, 2012 at 12:06pmthe plane
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KEA
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:26amHe should have his license pulled! Bird stick with known damage and he does not declare an emergency? Just ONE small piece of debris comes off of that damaged area and goes into an engine and its an instant game changer.
Bird strike protocal is return to nearest facility!
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nelbert
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:42amYou do realize that just “pulling over” isn’t exactly an option. It is very conceivable that the pilot was doing exactly what you suggest but if he were some distance over the Pacific, it might take an hour.
Since this was a Japanese Coast Guard plane, I’ll at least give way to the pilot’s judgement pending further information.
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COFemale
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:46amNETBERT, that type of logic just might not be in KEA’s DNA.
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Cynic-clinic
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:48amWhere is MID-air? Is it in the middle of left air and right air? Or maybe it’s in the middle of top air and down air. Suppose the plane was in left air–how far from mid air was it when this occurred?
May I suggest that the plane was IN-FLIGHT when the bird strike occurred and drop this mid air crap.
And while I’m at it, how about that cliche’ ” he OPENED FIRE”. Did he CLOSE FIRE afterwards? hat does an editor do? Edit?
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1TrueOne55
Jan. 22, 2012 at 1:32pmIf your reading the article completely then you would have noticed that the “Japanese Coast Guard” plane was flying in International waters of the East China Sea. If he had made and emergency landing it would have been in either North Korea or China, think about it. And I bet the plane was surveillance version of the P3 Orion that our Navy uses to keep eyes and ears on the NK and Chicom military in those areas of Asia. So flying an extra hour with a bird in the nose would be the safest move for him as a Japanese Navy Pilot. He also averted an International Incident, BRAVO for the pilots thinking.
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BOMUSTGO
Jan. 22, 2012 at 2:34pmPart of Okinawa is in the East China sea..I used to snorkel there..Maybe the plane was based out of Okinawa?
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Mil Mom
Jan. 23, 2012 at 2:30amre : Bird strike protocal is return to nearest facility!
****
American or Japenese protocol?
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Wreck14me
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:18amAll aircraft flights need to be banned immediately!!! Stop this avian holocaust!!!
I know it may be impractical so let’s push forth additional regulations to impose heavy penalties for striking birds and require air carriers to sponsor bird sancutaries to preserve populations decimated by their carefree attitude toward nature.
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Baddoggy
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:26amPlease dont give the enviromentalist any ideas….
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mbck1491
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:14amDon’t give PETA any ideas. Next thing you know they will come up with regulations banning all airplanes.
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Jim in Houston
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:41amDoes this apply also to the windmill bird killers? Green energy from windmills is often blood colored.
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Mil Mom
Jan. 23, 2012 at 2:42am@Wreck14me
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:18am
All aircraft flights need to be banned immediately!!! Stop this avian holocaust!!!
I know it may be impractical so let’s push forth additional regulations to impose heavy penalties for striking birds and require air carriers to sponsor bird sancutaries to preserve populations decimated by their carefree attitude toward nature.
****
100% right on target! Don’t pilots know that killing birds IS NOW THE MISSION OF WINDMILLS? All airplane mutilation of the aviatory species MUST STOP AND DESIST IMMEDIATELY BY ORDER OF Mr CHU, US DEPT OF ENERGY AND bo’S EMPIRICAL WIZARD OF WINNERS AND LOSERS!
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Silat
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:16amBush’s fault!
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Athinkerinaseaoflibs
Jan. 23, 2012 at 11:48amI could not resist–
A bird in the plane beats two in the Bush
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gmoneytx
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:02amWell the japanese are using kamikaze birds now!
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Baddoggy
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:51amThe Japanese killed Bigbird! We need to invade them now!! Right Neocons?
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RevLouM
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:06amWhy? “Big Bird” was a LIB.
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felix
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:15amloser !
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ihypnotise
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:18amTypical liberal comment
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Baddoggy
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:24amLiberal? hahahahaha…Not a liberal bone in my body. Full on Constitutionalist. Warmongers hate us…And I love ticking them off.
This is what the CONSTITUTION says…maybe you should read it…
ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8
The Congress shall have Power:
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress….
Where does it say the PRESIDENT has any power to declare a war, send in drones, to nation build or to assasinate anyone anywhere that we as a Nation do not like? If you say Ron Pauls foriegn policy is nutty or dangerous then you are ignorant in Constitutional law
Restore LIBERTY and FREEDOM…
Ron Paul 2012
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qpwillie
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:27am@ihypnotise
Baddoggy is a Paulie but you’re still right. Their purpose is to help 0bama get reelected.
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str8blues
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:04amIt was Alex Jones and Ron Paul……….2 birds of the same feather
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Baddoggy
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:06amQP the commie…glad to see you popped in with your typical BS…Can you say ANYTHING Constitutional today? Just maybe one sentance?
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Abraham Young
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:08amJust because you idiots don’t know the difference between conservatism and progressivism, just because you want to put a right wing progressive in office, doesn’t mean it’s Ron Paul’s fault.
It’s your own lunacy – Romney, Gingrich, both progressives, Santorum a warmonger, you don’t read your own Constitution, nor do you do your own research. “Paulbots” have.
So don’t blame us when your progressive loses – the fix is already in. The game is predetermined, you are following the script they wrote for you. Lemmings.
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Jim in Houston
Jan. 22, 2012 at 10:43amYeah, let’s vote for the Paul/Kucinich ticket and we can have a “Reasonable Profit” law for oil companies. Are you NUTS?
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bigal883
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:51amare you sure the plane didnt crash into the bird? your headline makes it sound like the bird did it intentionaly..i have to think the plane was flying at a much higer speed so why blame the bird?..
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Salamander
Jan. 22, 2012 at 4:30pmHmmm, was the aircraft ‘an overtaking vehicle’ (e.g. did it push the bird’s **** through it’s head) or was it a Port/Starboard crossing situation? Was the pilot ‘texting’ at the time of the mishap or for the 10 minutes prior, or on a cell phone? Did the plane kill the bird, or was it the two school buses that ran into the plane after the plane hit the bird that caused the fatality? Fortunately, it didn’t happen in Kentucky, Ohio, Nebraska or Kansas, all of which were cited at one time or another for the accident that ’caused’ the recent NHTSA regulation banning ALL cell phone use in commercial vehicles!!! (I wonder if the regulator that thought that one up EVER performed a customer service function in the private sector? What the hell do they think COMMERCIAL vehicles are used for? And, by the way, at least twice a day, I get a ‘happy caller’ that decides to change lanes whilst driving adjacent to me on and my truck on an Interstate highway–which is really hard on the poor guy on the other side, while I swerve into HIS space, choosing the lesser of two evils!) Seems to me that it would be a LOT more sensible to ban cell phone use in ANY vehicle until the driver demonstrates the ability to manage the driving task while distracted! How about a ‘Cell phone endorsement’? Hint: An idea for the driving exam!)
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ddg7
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:50amLawyers representing the the goony bird’s family are alledging that the plane crashed into the bird. They may have a case.
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justangry
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:50amThat stuff is no joke. We had one of our pilots hit a buzzard in 93. It crashed through the canopy and well… We miss him very much.
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Darla_K
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:46amI am not so sure that I would of kept flying with that hole. Just sayin’.
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guns-an-bibles
Jan. 22, 2012 at 12:19pmYer right! He should have pulled the plane over to the curb and patched the hole with duck tape ( I know, fowl, right?) and took off again.
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itsmyfirstday
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:45amNote to self….when flying make sure the plane has a propeller in front of the cockpit and not mounted on the wings….
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SpankDaMonkey
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:38am.
The bird was seen watching Tora,Tora, Tora shortly before the Attack…….
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ThePostman
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:33amPayback for cap’n Sully’s flight, I would say.
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ThePostman
Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:36amI wonder if PETA will denounce the pilot, and maybe douse him in blood or something extreme?
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DD313
Jan. 22, 2012 at 9:09amMaybe a glitter bombing like the one on Rick Santorum in SC.
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