"Aviation Expert" on CNN is a Student Pilot

[sweptback]

I kid you not, I'm watching CNN right now with coverage of the Southwest incident, and they're interviewing a guy. The newscaster is baiting him with questions like "why was the plane allowed to land if conditions were so bad?" and "Why did the nose gear collapse?" The supposed "expert" answers with "well, you see the airplane is pitched down because the nose gear most likely collapsed when the airplane went through the fence, but you see I'm only a student pilot with about 40 hours, and I only fly small planes."

I kid you not. I don't know how these fools get on the air.

Now they're just admitting that they interviewed a passenger on the flight, who wasn't even on the flight. This is insane... what has journalism become?

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

Was it Miles 'O I know everything about aviation Brien?

 

[AA717driver]

This just in...

I just sent this to CNN. Let me know if I wasn't clear enough.

--------------

Your "aviation expert" on the scene of the SWA accident in Chicago is a Student Pilot? Can't you guys do better than that? My 8 year-old knows more about aviation than a student pilot.

Geez, with all the AA and UA people laid off in Chicago, at least you could get someone who knows what the heck they are talking about. If someone doesn't have an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate from the FAA, they have no business reporting on aircraft incidents and accidents (yes, there is a difference, not that anyone in journalism would know...).

In aviatiion circles, 99.9 % of news stories on aviation aren't just inacurate, they're a joke. You CAN do better.

Txx Cxxxxxxxxx
ATP w/ multiple type ratings... Oh, forget it!

 

[ERfly]

So let me get this straight...According to the latest expert (and he has printouts), the runways at O'Hare are bigger than the runways at Midway and bigger runways are better.

Just wanted to make sure I understood this right. The best line so far?

"Let us recap, we surely don't want to head down the road of speculation...." - Anderson Cooper

 

[SlapShot]

Why would they call that guy an aviation expert? In that case, I drove a boat once, can I be considered a maritime expert?

 

[SlapShot]

So if there is runway left in front of you, you can still stop on that? Wow, that is deep!!!!

 

[StaySeated]

Why even bother watching this...

the student pilot just did an "analysis", and I am not making this sh1t up:

"Midway has a 6500ft runway, Ohare has a 13000ft runway. I crunched some numbers and it appears that ohare has a runway that is twice as long"

We need to get this guy a job at the NTSB.

 

[Roger Ball]

Anderson Cooper.... 'Clearly the landing did not go as planned.' Where do they get these people?

 

[sweptback]

Jonathan Freed is the guy's name, I believe.

"I only fly small planes, I'm not checked out on jets mind you, but the principles are the same."

 

[ERfly]

Ladies and Gentleman, CNN's Aviation Expert:

Name : FREED, JONATHAN Airman's Address : XXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX, IL, XXXXX-XXXX
FAA Region : Great Lakes
Date of Medical : Aug, 2004
Class of Medical : 3
Expiration of Class 3 : Aug, 2007
Airman Certificates : Student Pilot