QF94 Qantas wake turbulence incident

[Hvr]

Perhaps the Journos should actually try flying once in a while

Doubt they'd know how to process the payment from their personal funds.

 

[Quickstatus]

Hi

Perhaps the Journos should actually try flying once in a while.

They do but it does not fix the lack of accurate reporting

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't see the problem with the reporting. It was factual in the sense it reported the actual incident, and (selected) quotes from passengers who relayed their experience. A bit sensationalist? Perhaps. But it works both ways. Airlines are presumably quite happy for feature pieces about how good their business class seat is that a passenger didn't move a single step in 17 hours. If you're going to let that piece stand then you should accept people will also run the negative.

 

[Quickstatus]

There are 2 forms of journalism

Factual reporting and Opinion editorials
Often opinion editorials are often characterised as fact. And factual reporting falls down because of inaccuracy, bias, and ignorance.

The media wants freedom of the press but in many ways have not lived up to the other side of the equation.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm a bit kinder to the journos on this occasion. There does appear to have been some substantial, sudden downwards movement of the plane (to have pax "raised up" in their seats, etc). There were definitely some very scared passengers, and unless the quotes were made up, some "terrified" etc. pax. Frequent flyers forget that even today, there are novice flyers out there and any turbulence is disconcerting, let alone the sudden jolt (and a bit more) that evidently occurred here.

So, the journos, in the business of reporting this sort of thing, have reported it. No doubt spiced up and made to look more dramatic than it actually was, but can't blame them for quoting what pax told them.

The involvement of the QF Chief Pilot I thought interesting. He was essentially criticising the passengers for "not understanding". Sounded like a bit of over-compensation to me, deflecting the implied criticism of the QF crew for following too close to the aircraft in front. If this sort of thing happens regularly (and it appears it does), why get involved?

 

[dajop]

There are 2 forms of journalism

Factual reporting and Opinion editorials
Often opinion editorials are often characterised as fact. And factual reporting falls down because of inaccuracy, bias, and ignorance.

The media wants freedom of the press but in many ways have not lived up to the other side of the equation.

Isn’t there a third now as well? Sometimes taking quotes from people , but more than likely sharing copies of tweets or quoting verbatim from facebook and passing these of as facts?

 

[straitman]

I'm a bit kinder to the journos on this occasion. There does appear to have been some substantial, sudden downwards movement of the plane (to have pax "raised up" in their seats, etc). There were definitely some very scared passengers, and unless the quotes were made up, some "terrified" etc. pax. Frequent flyers forget that even today, there are novice flyers out there and any turbulence is disconcerting, let alone the sudden jolt (and a bit more) that evidently occurred here.

So, the journos, in the business of reporting this sort of thing, have reported it. No doubt spiced up and made to look more dramatic than it actually was, but can't blame them for quoting what pax told them.

The involvement of the QF Chief Pilot I thought interesting. He was essentially criticising the passengers for "not understanding". Sounded like a bit of over-compensation to me, deflecting the implied criticism of the QF crew for following too close to the aircraft in front. If this sort of thing happens regularly (and it appears it does), why get involved?

I'm not. The journos could with a little research/knowledge could have accurately reported and at the same time explained the situation.

A 3 degree pitch up followed by a small pitch down is less of an attitude change than you get during normal operations such as takeoff and landing. What is different is the rate of change which is what causes the uplift or push down in the seats. To me it actually points to a reassurance as to the dynamic stability of the A380 as a type.

I'd rate the Chief Pilots comments in the dammed if you do and dammed if you don't category.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'd rate the Chief Pilots comments in the dammed if you do and dammed if you don't category.

It's fine for the chief pilot to provide an explanation. But telling people, repeatedly, they 'don't understand' rarely has a positive connotation.

But this isn't unusual. Airlines rarely have good responses to incidents, but that's partly because airline PR in this field hasn't kept up with current social media trends and expectations.

 

[Quickstatus]

Isn’t there a third now as well? Sometimes taking quotes from people , but more than likely sharing copies of tweets or quoting verbatim from facebook and passing these of as facts?

But doesn’t journalism involve a bit more - such as doing a bit of research asking some questions, some more research before publishing?.
The rush to get it out there so you got a story with your name on it without fact checking is not journalism

I think the Chief pilot is referring to a general misunderstanding in the general community about aircraft operations rather than implying the passengers were stupid

 

[straitman]

I think the Chief pilot is referring to a general misunderstanding in the general community about aircraft operations rather than implying the passengers were stupid

Agreed.

It just shows IMHO, how people can and will misunderstand comments.

We are lucky here the we have the ‘Ask the Pilot’ thread.

But this isn't unusual. Airlines rarely have good responses to incidents, but that's partly because airline PR in this field hasn't kept up with current social media trends and expectations.

Though often because the real explanation is actually quite boring compared to the beat up version.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm not. The journos could with a little research/knowledge could have accurately reported and at the same time explained the situation.

I wonder what 'research' they should have done in respect of preparing a report on the this incident? Say nothing until QF comes forward with their explanation (on the assumption that they would, eventually)? We saw what their response eventually was "Passengers don't understand ... nothing to see here ... move along ..." . So then the media report nothing I guess, and we never hear about it. You might say its not worth hearing about, but those that were actually there seem to disagree. Say people were injured in the incident. Again, nothing reported until Qantas has their say? More broadly, should the media to only report events from the point of view of the 'controlling' side?

A 3 degree pitch up followed by a small pitch down is less of an attitude change than you get during normal operations such as takeoff and landing. What is different is the rate of change which is what causes the uplift or push down in the seats. To me it actually points to a reassurance as to the dynamic stability of the A380 as a type.

You are a pilot, I believe? Newspapers of the type we are discussing here don't report for the benefit of technically trained people - they are general media. Something happened; people came forward with scary stories; they were no doubt scared; people told what they felt; this got reported. Qantas' explanation then got reported. The dogs bark, the caravan moves on.

 

[Hvr]

The first story on Media watch tonight (18 June) was about this incident and how the various media covered it from outright sensationalism to tempered coverage (amazingly Ch9).

Watch it on ABC iView.

 

[oz_mark]

The first story on Media watch tonight (18 June) was about this incident and how the various media covered it from outright sensationalism to tempered coverage (amazingly Ch9).

Well, Eddie was on the spot for 9, giving his version of events.

 

[cove]

I try not to watch Eddie Everything. He seems to be able to get more AFL games at the MCG for Collingwood than is reasonable.
My business associate did have food and drink splash around. He wasn’t too upset by it and he flew to Perth, Singapore and then Mumbai and Delhi.

 

[coriander]

Well, Eddie was on the spot for 9, giving his version of events.

To his credit, his report describing the sudden movement was close to good journalism, no sensationalising " like going over the top on a rollercoaster" I believe he said.