For all you aspiring Marine Harrier pilots

[FlyingFortress]

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/national-reporting/works/national3a.html

I got done reading this and was thinking to myself, "why/how in the hell is the Harrier still around?" If anyone else can think of a present-day U.S. fixed-winged plane that has a higher death/accident ratio, let me know.

I am not knocking the Harrier or the DoD and I don't know much about the Harrier's combat success. To me, that just seems like a LOT of non-combat accident related deaths for a single-seat jet in today's day and age.

On a side note, did any of you ever play the old pc simulation game Janes Advanced Tacticle Fighters or Janes Navy Fighter's? Maj. Roland Wheeler in this article was one of the pilots you could choose from in the game. You could use his picture in your pilot profile.

 

[skidkid]

Ok first off some good guys got ambushed by that reporter. They basically meant to say after Sept 11 we wanna go get some and the reporter twisted their words pretty badly. I know the Harrier has its issues and a questionable record but this reported like most was way outa line. This occured in part one that came out about two years ago I hadnt seen this part two yet but ti is the same reporter and paper
The Harrier has limitations and some problems but the bottom line is we have it and it goes on the MEUs. Having worked with the Harrier guys quite a bit I will say this they can bomb with the best of them. They as a community are consistently on time and on target.
That article just makes me really angry because I know damn well that reporter doesnt give a sh!t about the lives lost they just want ot sell newspapers and I really hate that they got publicity on this forum.
end rant

 

[phrogdriver]

It was a BS way of approaching the subject. Rather than analyze the mishaps in any systematic ways, it pretty much gave a human interest angle--"Look at all these family men killed in this airplane." Also, well over half those mishaps were in A models. Flying's a dangerous business. Flying naval aircraft even more so. That shouldn't be news to anyone. This was a sensationalistic hit piece.

 

[KBayDog]

I could write a similar "story" (probably with more names) on the number of people who have died behind the wheel of, say, a Ford Mustang since it was introduced. I don't know what this sensational crap is trying to "prove."

I certainly feel for the families, but as phrog pointed out, this is a very dangerous line of work that we have volunteered for.

 

[airgreg]

For reference, this article was discussed fairly extensively here:

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2367