For Those Thinking Of Emirates- Read it and Weep

[ratpoison]

Be forwarned Gentlemen. For those that threw their job in back home, most of them 8 months later are crying in their soup wondering WTF have they done. As it states, Read it and WEEP for our fellow brothers.

www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=295358

[G Cantstandya]

very sad indeed....

but what does it have to do with living in the desert...8 people died on vic roads on the weekend...

[JetRacer]

Ratpoison wrote:

Be forwarned Gentlemen. For those that threw their job in back home, most of them 8 months later are crying in their soup wondering WTF have they done. As it states, Read it and WEEP for our fellow brothers.

I'm confused!!

The link relates to 2 pilots, one working for and the other being interviewed by Emirates, being killed in a car crash. Condolences to their families.

To say 'most of them 8 months later are crying in their soup wondering WTF have they done' is a bit misleading. It sounds as if most that have gone enjoy the lifestyle and the job they do, however they acknowledge that the driving is terrifying and dangerous.

The unfortunate death of these 2 people whilst driving, a tragedy in itself, is no different than you or I getting killed by a drunk driver in the streets of Sydney, Perth or Wagga Wagga! It could happen anywhere, just a higher chance of it happening in Dubai.....

I think your age maybe bringing on senility :E:rolleyes:

Condolences to the families and may the 2 gentlemen rest in peace.

[victor two]

What's the point of this thread anyway? Is the accident especially significant because a couple pilots died or what?

When your times up, it's up, no matter what you do for a job!

[ABX]

Maybe ratpoison needs to take some warfarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin)?:}:E

[Henry Winkler]

Ratpoison.
Your an idiot.
This is a tragic event, and is not exclusive to Emirates.

[Wiley]

Victor2, while the sentiments in ratpoison’s post might have been just a little over the top, the sad fact Is - with the possible exception of Baghdad and Kabul - the possibility of your time 'being up' when you step into your car is exponentially higher if that car is going to venture out onto Dubai's roads than just about anywhere else in the world that immediately comes to mind.

In most parts of the world, the hard shoulder is there for cars that have a flat tyre or have broken down - and for emergency vehicles to get to an accident. In Dubai, it’s (very politically incorrectly) commonly called the “local’s lane”, (it would seem) in the opinion of drivers of “large four wheel drive vehicles with darkened windows”**, for them to speed – and I mean SPEED – past the rest of the traffic in the other lanes.

**(“Large four wheel drive vehicles with darkened windows” is the code phrase in the local English language press for “(usually-young-male)-drivers-holding-GCC-(local)-passports-who-are-apparently-totally-above-the-law”.)

It’s not uncommon – in fact, an everyday occurrence – to see a large 4WD or a very high end sports car with darkened windows, (or just as frequently, two or more of such vehicles involved in a race), threading its/their way erratically at very high speed through the very heavy traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, (the Parramatta Road of Dubai). If the driver of another car has the temerity not to get out of their way immediately, the drivers of these cars are given to sitting about one metre behind the ‘offending’ car, (at 120kph), as they flash their lights. If the driver ahead doesn’t get out of the way, they frequently take to the hard shoulder – at such speeds that if some poor unfortunate (like the two Columbian pilots) happens to be standing by his or her car on that particular stretch of hard shoulder, the result is all too predictable.

In January this year, the 20 year old daughter of one of the most senior pilots in Emirates was killed, along with her boyfriend, as they attempted to make a U-turn only a block or so from her home. (To give the grisly details - just like the two pilots in the accident that caused this thread to be opened, she was burned to death after her car exploded because of the incredible force of the impact.)

This was in a highly built up area – Dubai’s equivalent of Mosman – and her car was flipped end over end FIVE TIMES before coming to rest. The car that hit her, driven by a local woman, was not a heavy weight 4WD, but a small four cylinder sedan, but it was travelling at such speed that it flipped the other car five times end over end and caused it to explode. As far as anyone in Dubai knows, the local driver has not been prosecuted or punished in any way. The local press reported that she had ‘suffered enough because of the (mental) trauma she had suffered in the accident’.

Most expatriate children leave Dubai when they finish their secondary education, but even allowing for that, the 21 year old boyfriend was the fourth from his class (of around 22) from his Dubai school to be killed on Dubai’s roads in the four years since they had left school – and one of those four was the daughter of another EK pilot.

I for one avoid driving on Dubai’s roads as much as possible. Mothers with children at school who have to do the ‘Mum’s taxi’ routine five days a week don’t have that luxury.

[Ramboflyer 1]

A very accurate post Wiley . without basings im leaving very soon to an airline that does care about its staff. Im not blaming EK but they could do a lot more lifestyle wise. ( commuting, temporary basings, basings anything to reduce the numbers in Dubai) Face it most westerners hate Dubai and many will leave and cut their careers short because of it.

[boofta]

In Dubai recently.
Reading a local newspaper with an interesting statistic.
10% of local Dubai males are killed in road accidents
before their 25th birthday.
In fact I think it was 23rd birthday, either way horrific.

[Fliegenmong]

Quote:

10% of local Dubai males are killed in road accidents
before their 25th birthday.
In fact I think it was 23rd birthday, either way horrific.

Not fast learners then? Fast drivers though evidently.

To be fair I was driving back from Brisbane to Gold Coast last month, and I was probably doing about 130, and I was in the far right lane, trying to get back to an inside lane, I had to move in front of the car to the left and slightly behind me (the reason for momentary 130) and **** me if some clown doesn't speed and I mean speed past me on my RHS - dumfounded - seldon does one see such acts of utter stupidity, but frequently in Dubai it seems.

(Holden Ute BTW, and why does that not surprise?)

[Chimbu chuckles]

I fequently RON in DXB...here as I type actually...and the Large four wheel drive vehicle with darkened windows drivers on Shiek Zayed Rd have to be seen to be believed...and wo betide the expat who visibly displays his/her displeasure at the offending driver...jail, the sack and deportation awaits...as a Canadian EK pilot found our recently when cut off in traffic by an off duty cop in a BMW.

Lots of mates here...some of whom still enjoy it overall...but all very aware of the dangers involved in driving.

I remember my very first overnight here...we'd actually landed in Abu Dhabi and for whatever reason were transported by road to the pub in DXB rather than stay in OMAA...2am, very little traffic around 1/2 way between OMAA and OMDB and there on the other side of the 3 lane straight bit of highway was a Large four wheel drive vehicle with darkened windows on it's roof...no other vehicle involved...no massive skid marks...just there.:hmm:

[fatbus]

LR 3 please list the good things about Dubai

[Tidbinbilla]

While it is tragic to see countrymen killed overseas, I fail to see the link with working at Emirates.