Latest / Drive with John Perlman / Private jet kills 9 people

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Private jet kills 9 people · Drive with John Perlman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: 702 Drive, it's eight minutes now to four. A terrible
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: airplane accident in the United States. This in Palm Beach County, Florida.
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  Speaker 1: The private jet was traveling from Austin in Texas to
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  Speaker 1: the Bahamas and crashed, leaving a huge crater and burning
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  Speaker 1: debris just feet from nearby homes and businesses. All nine
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  Speaker 1: people on board were killed. Now, the plane was Learjet 60.
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  Speaker 1: and it hit the ground at huge speed. We, of course,
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  Speaker 1: have had private plane crashes here, but it struck me,
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  Speaker 1: and it's something that I know very little about, but
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  Speaker 1: maybe a jet of that kind crashing, much more potentially lethal,
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  Speaker 1: not only for the people on board, but for the
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  Speaker 1: people on the ground, when it's a jet as opposed
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  Speaker 1: to the light aircraft crashes we've seen in South Africa.
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  Speaker 1: So are these valid distinctions or is there immense risk
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  Speaker 1: in both scenarios? Dr. Guy Leach, aviation expert, joins us
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  Speaker 1: now on 702 Drive.
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  Speaker 2: Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Leach, welcome and thanks very much for your time. What
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  Speaker 1: is known about the crash, which is described by many
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  Speaker 1: as cataclysmic, the pilot apparently told the Miami Air Route
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  Speaker 1: Traffic Control Center, We're descending at 10,000 feet per minute.
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  Speaker 1: And then it sounds like that got even worse. Is
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  Speaker 1: a crash of a plane of this kind much more
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  Speaker 1: deadly for everybody, not only the people on board, but
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  Speaker 1: the people in the path of its flight?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Hi, John. Nice to be with you, even on
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  Speaker 2: a tragic and weird accident like this one. But, yeah, look,
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  Speaker 2: obviously it's way too early to speculate as to exactly
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  Speaker 2: what happened here. But there's fairly clear evidence, thanks to ATC,
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  Speaker 2: that's air traffic control transmissions, and reports of the weather
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  Speaker 2: and so on. So I think to answer your question, no,
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  Speaker 2: there are direct parallels between the way a business jet
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  Speaker 2: like this flies and an airliner flies. So you can,
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  Speaker 2: by extension, say, well, the risks are the same. However,
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  Speaker 2: I think that airline pilots are certainly just a little
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  Speaker 2: more circumspect. They don't go charging into thunderstorms, as it
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  Speaker 2: appears that this air jet crew did.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an alarming situation for people on the ground.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, for example, a plane that's powered by propellers,
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  Speaker 1: is it easier to do an emergency landing with that
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  Speaker 1: kind of plane than it would be with a Learjet?
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because generally the speeds are much slower. A
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  Speaker 2: Learjet in particular is known as something of a hot rod,
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  Speaker 2: a high-performance aircraft, and indeed it's Performance is no better.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, in many respects, it's better than a jet's performance.
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  Speaker 2: And that means that if it ends up losing its tail,
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  Speaker 2: as this one may well have done, then it really
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  Speaker 2: does go down like the missile we saw in those
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  Speaker 2: extraordinary clips from dash cams.
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  Speaker 1: You were talking about the circumstances in which people take
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  Speaker 1: to the air and what might have been an indefensible,
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to use the word indefensible, that may
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  Speaker 1: be too strong, but very pronounced risk. I mean, in
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  Speaker 1: South Africa, do we have very clear protocols on that?
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  Speaker 1: And crucially, do we have a means of enforcing it?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, the world of private aviation, how closely regulated
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  Speaker 1: is it in general?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'll try and be brief here, but private aviation,
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  Speaker 2: as you've called it, for business and commercial aviation like this,
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  Speaker 2: is incredibly safe as well. It's managed, in many cases,
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  Speaker 2: to the same or even better standards than the airlines are.
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  Speaker 2: Often the equipment is even newer and better than airliner equipment.
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  Speaker 2: So there's no significant risk, and indeed we're very settled
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  Speaker 2: in here of business jet trashes. So I would reassure
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  Speaker 2: passengers that what we call Part 135 operations, which are
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  Speaker 2: these private operations of business jets and so on, are
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  Speaker 2: incredibly safe. Look, recreational flying is obviously significantly more dangerous.
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  Speaker 2: That includes home-built aircraft and single-engine piston aircraft. But an
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  Speaker 2: aircraft like the AirJet 60 has to have two pilots involved.
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  Speaker 2: It has all the same safety systems as a full-scale airliner.
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  Speaker 1: When you take to the air in a private plane
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  Speaker 1: of any kind, who are you required to let know?
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  Speaker 1: And is that person able to say, not today, son.
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  Speaker 1: Stay on the ground. The weather and the flight path
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  Speaker 1: you've given us would suggest you could be in trouble.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, or is it, okay, thanks for letting us know.
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  Speaker 1: Good luck.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, no, absolutely. Any pilot, regardless of whether they're a
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  Speaker 2: newly minted private pilot with all the 50 hours or something,
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  Speaker 2: must know when he or she is going to be
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  Speaker 2: out of their depth. They must be able to say no.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, I've written articles about how to say no
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  Speaker 2: without losing face. How to say no, I don't like the,
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  Speaker 2: I'm worried about this on the aircraft. I'm worried about
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  Speaker 2: the weather. These are decisions that come with experience, obviously.
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  Speaker 2: And that is why we still have this rather long
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  Speaker 2: and painful hour-building process whereby young pilots are expected to
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  Speaker 2: get at least 200 hours before they can get a
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  Speaker 2: commercial license. It's all about ammanship. It's about decision-making. I
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  Speaker 2: don't think anything like that, though, would have stopped people
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  Speaker 2: getting on to this particular near jet.
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  Speaker 1: And just finally, if we bring it back home, Dr. Leach,
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  Speaker 1: and talk more generally, if a plane is in trouble,
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  Speaker 1: I suppose it's unrealistic, isn't it, to imagine that you
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  Speaker 1: can warn people in neighboring areas? Because, I mean, A,
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  Speaker 1: there's not a lot you can do, and B, I
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  Speaker 1: guess there's no real certainty as to where the crash
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  Speaker 1: landing will take place.
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  Speaker 2: Very much so. I mean, as you say, it's extremely unlikely.
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  Speaker 2: But I've never heard of an incident where people on
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  Speaker 2: the ground have been warned that there's an aircraft about
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  Speaker 2: to crash.
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  Speaker 1: In the area.
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  Speaker 2: Because, as you say, the story so often goes that
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  Speaker 2: A pilot becomes noted as a hero because he managed
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  Speaker 2: to steer the aircraft away from busy sites and before
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  Speaker 2: he was ejected. It's a common story in Air Force accidents. So, no,
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  Speaker 2: I can't see that there's any means of protecting people
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  Speaker 2: on the ground. Obviously, it's not great to live in
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  Speaker 2: the takeoff line or the landing line of airports, but
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  Speaker 2: people continue to do that because property is cheap. Beyond that,
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  Speaker 2: there's nothing that can be done. It's just your time
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  Speaker 2: when somebody's going to crash into your backyard. Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, aviation expert Dr. Guy Leach. And yeah,
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  Speaker 1: a story quite prominent on a lot of the international
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  Speaker 1: news channels. Some of you may have seen the footage before,
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  Speaker 1: but certainly everything happening incredibly fast with hugely tragic consequences.
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  Speaker 1: 702 Drive still to come on the show. We'll be
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: chatting to Anne Bernstein. She heads the Center for Development
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  Speaker 1: and Enterprise Research. They're looking ahead to what Joburg does
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  Speaker 1: in regard to economic growth, and that's irrespective of who
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  Speaker 1: is in charge. They've written a paper, actually part six
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: of a longer series looking at various aspects around the
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: city of Johannesburg, the series called Johannesburg Matters, Fixing South
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  Speaker 1: Africa's Growth Engine. The six of the papers looks at
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  Speaker 1: the need for economic growth, firstly, Secondly, more broadly, what
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: needs to be done. And then there are some specific recommendations.
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  Speaker 1: But let me throw this out to you as a question,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, and I'll ask you again after you've
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  Speaker 1: heard the thoughts of Anne Bernstein. But what do you
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  Speaker 1: think would be the best economic sectors to make Johannesburg grow? Yes,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: there's all the other things streets need fixing. You need
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: reliable and affordable electricity and water. Take those all as
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a given. But if you think Johannesburg could have a
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: real surge of growth from something, going on in the city.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me what you think that something is. I'd love
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  Speaker 1: to hear your ideas.
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  Speaker 2: 072-702-1702.
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  Speaker 1: It's four o'clock.