pigpenracing
En-Route
I think you just need to mind your own damn buisness and leave the guy alone. He probably tells you stupid crap because you have your nose where it don't belong...
JHW
En-Route
reading the whole thread, then reading the OP again, did it ever occur to any of the amateur psychologists here that maybe the person just isn't a very good pilot, and that's all there is to the story?
tlglenn
Line Up and Wait
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Ted
See if you can get the person in question to call http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
There may even be a crisis center in your local area that you or the other person can call.
There may even be a crisis center in your local area that you or the other person can call.
I agree. Being a natural born smart@ss myself, I will often respond to a nosy nancy with a flippant remark. Like when you run into someone who starts in on how dangerous motorcycles are and so-and-so's cousin's brother died on one. I'd be liable to reply with, "I obviously have a death wish."
Eagle I
Pre-takeoff checklist
I guess this is off topic, but I do want to say something about motorcycles here, in case it's relevant to the original post (and maybe it's not). I drive the I-95 corridor between Boston and New York frequently, and I have to say, there are two kinds of motorcyclists: those who take safety to heart, and those who, well, I have to believe have a death wish. And I'm sure we all know who I mean: those who do wheelies and weave in and out of traffic at high speed on their "crotch rockets."
But back to your comment about the "nosy nancy" who wants to tell you how you're about to die. I have to say, I'm disappointed by many pilots I've encountered. I fly -- gasp!!!! -- an LSA! And I can't tell you how many other pilots have made snide comments, as though I must be crazy. "Oh, you fly that plastic plane?" or "You fly that toy plane?" To which I want to respond: Yeah, be careful when you fly that 787 or A380, or, my "toy" plane is far more sophisticated than that hunk of metal you're so smug about.
Damn, it's too bad we're not on the same page as pilots.
ClimbnSink
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Greg
Have you ever weaved in and out of traffic on a sport bike riding between Boston and NY? I have, it is far safer to be going faster then everyone else then to be a sitting duck. The best defense on a motorcycle is a strong offense.
Eagle I
Pre-takeoff checklist
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
I just flew one of these guys out last night from a small town to Albuquerque for better health care. He will never have to worry about his future. He doesnt have one anymore. But the young couple that were driving the car that he mashed his cycle into, they will have to live the rest of their lives with what he did. Not a pretty sight.
Yep, nothing less than a liter bike on the freeway, and it doesn't have to be a sport bike either, my V-Max would turn on some speed with a snap of throttle. I do usually limit myself to 15 over the speed of traffic, but if the traffic is light, I boogie. If I pass you faster than you can react to seeing me, you are not a threat to me.
ClimbnSink
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Greg
Different from smooshing your brains up in front of people in a plane crash how?
Oookay--
This may not be a great time to wade into this problem. I DO happen to be a psychiatrist, but I am completely uninterested in figuring out what the OP's acquaintance is dealing with, because it is impossible from the OP's position.
The speculation I am hearing from others seems to waver between the person-of-interest being either:
I realize I'm coming into this late, but the fact is nobody has enough information about any mental/psychobabble type stuff on the person in question. I assume it matters to the OP (or anyone) because we would feel emotionally guilty for ratting out a fellow pilot who "just needs some professional help," but would feel emotional satisfaction to rat out a jerk who makes all of us look bad.
In the end, how we "feel" is irrelevant (how's that coming from a mental health person?). The correct thing to do in this case is true for all of us--confront the individual, which the OP said he's done. How many of us would actually be able do such a thing? Or do we have a "Code of Silence?" Alternatively, at least confronting someone who knows the person would be morally correct. Note the OP considered confronting the person's wife, but ended up confronting the person anyway.
If confronting the person is not effective, the OP needs to make a judgement call whether it is worth presenting the concerns to higher authority figures. In this case that would be the person's employer (if he is in aviation), and if not, the FAA. Certainly, in cases of mild concern, or where there is potential for retaliation from the person, ratting someone out is probably not right. But if the concern is severe and there is no realistic fear of retaliation, I think it would be morally correct to present those concerns.
It sounds like the OP has decided to let the matter drop, but I hope that the responses here did not sway him away from the most reasonable decision. I for one am pretty impressed that the OP had the balls to actually bring it up with the person--I think most pilots I know (including myself) would have just let the matter drop and never confronted the person.
This may not be a great time to wade into this problem. I DO happen to be a psychiatrist, but I am completely uninterested in figuring out what the OP's acquaintance is dealing with, because it is impossible from the OP's position.
The speculation I am hearing from others seems to waver between the person-of-interest being either:
- Mentally ill and needs to be gotten some type of (vague and unspecified) help
- Mentally ill and needs to be held accountable somehow to protect everyone involved.
- A jerk who is responsible for his own deficiencies and who will end up in an NTSB report someday
I realize I'm coming into this late, but the fact is nobody has enough information about any mental/psychobabble type stuff on the person in question. I assume it matters to the OP (or anyone) because we would feel emotionally guilty for ratting out a fellow pilot who "just needs some professional help," but would feel emotional satisfaction to rat out a jerk who makes all of us look bad.
In the end, how we "feel" is irrelevant (how's that coming from a mental health person?). The correct thing to do in this case is true for all of us--confront the individual, which the OP said he's done. How many of us would actually be able do such a thing? Or do we have a "Code of Silence?" Alternatively, at least confronting someone who knows the person would be morally correct. Note the OP considered confronting the person's wife, but ended up confronting the person anyway.
If confronting the person is not effective, the OP needs to make a judgement call whether it is worth presenting the concerns to higher authority figures. In this case that would be the person's employer (if he is in aviation), and if not, the FAA. Certainly, in cases of mild concern, or where there is potential for retaliation from the person, ratting someone out is probably not right. But if the concern is severe and there is no realistic fear of retaliation, I think it would be morally correct to present those concerns.
It sounds like the OP has decided to let the matter drop, but I hope that the responses here did not sway him away from the most reasonable decision. I for one am pretty impressed that the OP had the balls to actually bring it up with the person--I think most pilots I know (including myself) would have just let the matter drop and never confronted the person.