When I read comments such as those by niknak, who sincerely hopes the pilot “serves the full sentance (sic)” and “never, ever flys (sic) again”, rigga who thinks making him serve "all his small sentence won't hurt him much more” and Saskatoon who thinks the pilot deserves “no compassion at all”, I feel reassured.
Reassured that, despite three decades in a career in which I’ve prosecuted and defended people who’ve been sent to prison, and sent people to prison myself for anything from a month to Life, I can still have compassion for people whose lives have fallen apart because of a single mistake.
Those who speak so lightly about decent hard-working people being sent to prison clearly have no comprehension of the enormous impact of a prison sentence upon them, particularly if it happens late in their lives.
I've sat in a cell with them just after they've been sentenced, doing my best to explain what to expect after they are carted off in handcuffs to prison. Even when they knew prison was inevitable, they are reeling from the shock because their nightmare has now become a reality.
I also know that, however dreadful they feel then, they are going to feel much worse when they wake the next morning and the terrible reality really sinks in.
How anyone can have no compassion for the pilot is beyond my comprehension, as is the hope that his career is finished for ever.
(Opinions will differ about whether sending someone like this pilot to prison serves any useful purpose, but that's for another discussion. )
The suggestion by some that the majority view here is simply professional pilots being loyal to a colleague is silly. I’m not a professional pilot, and nor FWIW am I a heavy drinker.
Interesting, impressive and very moving posts by Chuck Ellsworth and Lyle Prouse.
I salute them both.
Their contributions are far more thought-provoking than some of the taboid-style drivel in the sanctimonious posts.
FL