Southwest pilots,

[aa73]

Didn't feel like posting on page 11 or 12 from the main SWA thread below so...

God speed in these trying times. I'd like to add my condolences regarding your tragic accident. Believe me when I say I come from an airline where we've had these situations once too many times. Rise above all of these so called "professionals" jabbing and leering at SWA - they have always been around for every airline accident out there.

This tragedy could have happened to any one of us, we all realize that. Hang in there and remember that you have quite a few folks on this board pulling for you.

Be safe,
73

 

[Chuck Yogourt]

Ditto.

 

[HalinTexas]

I know that my fellow ATA pilots and I can commiserate with our SWA brothers (and sisters). "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

Maybe after all the finger-pointing, blame, shouting, judging something better can come out of this.

 

[kelbill]

Thanks for the sympathy, but the first dibs on prayers go to the family of the child killed in the vehicle. Tragic all around. Thank goodness it was not much worse. Nobody wants to see even their worst enemy get in an accident, as it is too close to all of us in real life.

 

[aa73]

Agreed, may he rest in peace.

 

[chase]

aa73,

Thanks for the thoughts & from those who have expressed their concerns. No words will relieve the pain of the loss of a child; the entire SWA family mourns for this loss and as others have said reminds us of why family is so precious, as is life. The SWA family is working in wonderful ways to restore things to a degree of normalcy with their indomitable spirit & teamwork. Life is irreplaceable but I believe Southwest will work to reduce the pain for all involved as well as pass along the lessons learned from this tragic incident to their own group and others.

It has been a sad 24 hrs for the SWA family but as with any great family (AA & UAL after 911 as fine examples for rallying around the families impacted by the tragedy) Southwest will rely on what it has always relied upon to overcome adversity, its people and leadership from within the company. My prayers go out to the child's parents, crewmembers/families & to the passengers. Additionally to the leadership who must make some very difficult decisions over the next year in regards to this situation, our prayers are with you.

 

[mdf]

Thank you guys,

You are true gentlemen.

 

[T1bubba]

Thanks for all the kind words. While we are certainly lucky that there weren't more injuries and fatalities, I still keep coming back to how tragic it must be for that family to lose a child. My prayers are with them.

"There, but for the grace of God, go I."

All the more so this time, I've flown that flight three times in the last six months.

 

[FDJ2]

Rise above all of these so called "professionals" jabbing and leering at SWA - they have always been around for every airline accident out there.

Quite true. It amazes me that the NTSB will take a year to perform a careful and scientific study of this tragedy, but the arm chair experts can draw a conclusion in less than a nano second.

This was a trajedy and my heart goes out to that poor child who died as a result and his family.

When the facts are all in and the investigation has been completed, hopefully we will learn something from this tragedy.

 

[ironspud]

Just to back up everything thats been said. SW crews fly into MDW all the time, and you do it professionally. We trust you every time you do, and we continue to trust you today.

Hold someone's hand and give a squeeze for the family of the child that died. Do it again for the crew. They've got some hard times ahead. We could all be there.

AA73 - good idea to start a "new and better" thread.