Category Archives: Scribbles

It doesn’t surprise me that some of the U.S. Airways passengers who got dipped in the freezing Hudson River would want to sue. Not because I’m cynical about our litigious society, or Americans, but because I can imagine how they feel. They were frightfully lucky, so frightfully that they can imagine better than any of us what might have happened but for their good luck. Moreover they lost who knows what in their luggage and the airline’s $5,000 compensation surely won’t be enough for some. Add in the inevitably-lasting trauma and nightmares which some of them are inherently ill-equipped to handle.

Of course they should thank the skilled pilot and the airline for employing him (and I’m sure they do) but, really, couldn’t both have been a bit more careful about taking off into a flock of geese? Even if not, even if it was all an unavoidable accident (and we will know when the official reports are released), there is the unsettling news that one engine on the plane had suffered problems on the previous flight. Moreover, you have to remember that the airlines continuously sell what is an inherently dangerous means of transportation as natural, safe, etc. In that sense, they deserve to be at risk of lawsuit and to draw a few when something like this happens. And, face it, they know it and have plenty of insurance