D. Patrick Caldwell on The Joys of Flight

When I was in graduate school, I read a chapter from a book named The Abilene Paradox. The chapter that was chosen for my management course was called, "Captain Asoh and the Concept of Grace." The chapter is about the November 22nd, 1968 Japan Airlines Flight 2 and Captain Kohei Asoh.

The short version of this story is that Captain Asoh, improperly trained on the new flight director, made an unintentional water landing a few hundred feet shy of the intended runway in San Francisco. I'll spare you the rest of the details because this post isn't about the accident; rather, what happened after the accident.

When news spread of the accident, reporters and lawyers flooded San Francisco: the reporters in search of a fantastic story full of finger-pointing and blame displacement and the lawyers in search of injuries and lawsuits.

As soon as the NTSB and JAL were prepared, a press conference was held. The first question asked of Captain Asoh was, "how did this happen?" Cameras flashed and pencils scribbled as Captain Asoh leaned forward and responded, "Asoh fucked up."

Reporters and lawyers looked on in despair as everyone realized there were no questions left to ask and nobody to sue. Captain Asoh and the DC-8 went on to fly again and not a single passenger sued anyone.

Now, could you imagine if this was an American airline with American passengers? Our culture is to displace blame and we are unwilling to accept the consequences of our actions. I believe this is why the FAA provides certain immunities when pilots report violations to the NASA ASRS program.

Also, when was the last time you watched an hour of TV and didn't see an advertisement regarding a class action lawsuit? We are incredibly sue happy. I realize this isn't aviation specific, but it does relate to aviation and the concept of grace.

Back on topic, Captain Asoh's story is one we can learn a lot from. Everybody makes mistakes. The best thing we can do is accept our mistake and learn from it. Preferably, we can share our story with ASRS so that other pilots can learn from our stories as well. Aviation leaves no room for pride.

Obviously, landing your DC-8 in San Francisco bay is an awshit. More importantly, Captain Asoh gets an attaboy for serving as a great example of the concept of grace. So, cheers to Captain Asoh, Him, him, f**k him.

Have fun. Be safe. Happy Piloting.