Historical Dimension of Crew's Behaviour
So much has been written, but after the News yesterday I would like to add the following.
The News showed a passenger in the hospital with a pilot's shirt (with three stripes, ergo from the FO) who said: He gave it to me and said 'Stay warm' or anything like that.
There was a famous British explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton, who with all his men survived a tremendous Antarctic expedition (1914-1917) with their ship Endurance being crushed by the ice. And there was a situation in an earlier expedition between him and his Captain Frank Wild suffering from hunger, as they all did. Let me paste a short extract found with Google 'Shackleton biscuit Wild'
"Early in his career, Shackleton became known as a leader who put his men first. This inspired unshakable confidence in his decisions, as well as tenacious loyalty (In an earlier expedition) Frank Wild, who had not begun the expedition as a great admirer of Shackleton, recorded in his diary an incident that changed his mind forever. Following an inadequate meal, Shackleton privately forced upon Wild one of his own biscuits from the four that he was rationed daily. "I do not suppose that anyone else in the world can thoroughly realize how much generosity and sympathy was shown by this," Wild wrote, underlining the words. "I DO by GOD I shall never forget it. Thousands of pounds would not have bought that one biscuit."
The US-Air crew continuous such a tradition. This is where CRM meets humanity at its basics.
I just can repeat and confirm all the compliments that have been made to the Crew ! Chapeau!
Regards, Bernd.
Last edited by vorticity; 17th Jan 2009 at 08:05.
Reason: typo correction