Re: Hp Technology forum (New Orleans sept 12-15)

From: JF Mezei (jfmezei.spamnot_at_teksavvy.com)
Date: 09/02/05 

Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 20:45:27 -0400

Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> Well, there is obviously no way to convince you of the reality of things,
> but you can't load passengers on cargo planes. Unless, of course, your
> willing to provide us with a letter personally accepting all liability!!

If Qantas was able to load passengers on the cargo deck of a 747 and
exceed the legal limits for the 747 to help evacuate Darwin, why
couldn't it be done in the USA ?

We are talking about an emergency situation/evacuation of a city here.
Forget liability.

> You have to move them to the planes and then, you have to have the planes
> and the crews and the fuel and, and, and...... Nice being an armchair
> quarterback and not having to look at the whole picture, isn't it.

Moving people in buses to the airporrt for a 30 minute trip requires far
fewer buses and can carry more people per hour since you can re-use the
bus many many times during the day. In term of fuel, aircraft only need
to fuel up at the other city and make sure the distance is such that it
has enough fuel left to return.

> You have never been on an aircraft carrier, have you. They don't
> have the facilities to handle 10,000 pasengers.

If it is for an overnight trip to another port, they can put people on
the top deck. Far better than the people stuck in the convention centre
with absolutely NOTHING for days. Not talking about carrier hosting
people for days. Just providing mass transportation.

Where there is a will, there is a way. If they can lift a lot fo EPA
regulations to allow oil to flow, surely they can lift FAA regulations
that limit aircraft capacity.

In terms of Amtrak, if they can commandeer 500 buses, surely they can
commandeer Amtrak trains, especially since Amtrak is government owned.
They can get charter carriers to bring in 747s to carry people if you
really don't want to use military transports.

Let me ask you this: when their hoist people up onto those helicopters,
do you think this is FAA approved treatment for civilians ? Do they get
an armchair once they are pulled into the helicopter, or are they just
kept on the floor ?

ITS AN EMERGENCY. FORGET ABOUT COMFORTS AND SECURITY. SAVING LIVES IS
WHAT COUNTS.

Today, things seemed to get better in terms of influx of help. But a
lot more could have been done in the immediate hours after the hurricane.

The convention centre is a good example of media miscoverage: they had
ignored that area because it wasn't damaged/flooded (media never show
undamaged areas after a disaster).

at http://www.digitalglobe.com , there have some images that do show the
central part of New Orleans and there are many key areas that are dry
and undamaged, although the focus is on the flooded area. (only the
peripheral areas to the picture are OK).