A few weeks ago I ordered two new Flying Spaghetti Monster badges for my car(s). One for the new(er) Abarth and a replacement as a decade of NZ UV had got to the finish on the Bravo one. They were supposed to arrive about a week ago but I suspect may have been lost in a tragic accident.
I was listening to a local aviation podcast on Saturday and they mentioned an Amazon freight aircraft had crashed on a flight from Florida to Houston:
NTSB Takes Lead Investigating Crash of Amazon Air Cargo Plane
A widebody cargo plane hauling packages for Amazon with three people aboard abruptly plunged out of the sky and slammed into a bay Feb. 23 as it was preparing to land in Houston…
I checked the order tracking details and there was nothing after it left a Florida distribution centre before that crash. Given there are direct Houston – NZ flights it’s not unreasonable to think they were headed there.
When I queried the delivery Amazon immediately credited the full cost of the transaction, although they didn't say why, and suggested reordering. They could not just replace the items as the sale was through a third party vendor. They also offered to credit the cost of express shipping on the replacement order which I chose not to take advantage of.
The loss of a couple of bits of metal is nothing, three people lost their lives with untold impact on all those connected to them. It just made me think what a small, strangely connected, world we live in. It’s sad there is no deity, even a noodly one, to influence the fate of that flight. That we may learn from it, and prevent similar incidents in the future, is no compensation for the families and colleagues of those lost.
My condolences to all those lost on Flight 3591. Ramen.
2019-12-21 Follow up from the preliminary investigation:
'Lord, you have my soul': Panic in cockpit moments before Atlas Air crash – Stuff.co.nz
“Shem Malmquist, a Boeing 777 captain at a different cargo airline and professor of advanced aircraft operations at the Florida Institute of Technology's College of Aeronautics, said based on this preliminary report it looks like the go-around switch was activated inadvertently, and it is possible that the first officer became disoriented.”
