Sully Sullenberger: &quot;I&#39;m very glad that the Federal Aviation Administration has ensured the safety of the traveling public by wisely denying the waiver request by Republic Airways to cut in half the pilot experience requirement.   U.S. airlines have attained an extraordinarily good safety record, with no fatal crashes in more than 13 and a half years.&quot;   Sorry, Sully, not true. An  Atlas Air B767 flying for Amazon crashed on Feb 23, 2019, killing the three crew members. The first officer, who caused the crash, had 5073 flying hours. He had falsified his flying history and lied about failing seven check rides.   The 2009 Colgan Air crash that was the impetus for the 1500 hour rule was caused by a captain with a history of three proficiency check failures at Colgan.   In July 2017 Air Canada Flight 759 had two pilots with more than 1500 hours each. They missed crashing into several aircraft on a taxiway, clearing the closest plane by 14 feet. If they had crashed, the death toll would have eclipsed the Teneriffe crash. The crash was averted by a United Airlines pilot telling them they were lined up on a taxiway.   In December, B777 UA1722 took off from the Kahului Airport at 14:49 local time, where it was met with stormy conditions. Looking at data provided by FlightRadar24.com, the aircraft reached 2,200 ft approximately a minute after departing. However, it quickly began descending just north of the island&#39;s Baldwin Beach Park. At 14:50, the calibrated altitude of the aircraft was just around 775 ft as the aircraft dropped over the waters along the coast of Maui.   From  CNN Business:   Five recent near-collisions on US runways, including one more this week in Boston, have prompted federal safety investigators to open multiple inquiries and a sweeping review.   Boston   Air traffic controllers stopped JetBlue flight from running into a departing private jet as it was coming in to land on the evening of February 27 night in Boston. The FAA is investigating the incident.   The two planes involved in the apparent close call at Boston Logan International Airport came within 565 feet (172 meters) of colliding, according to Flightradar24&#39;s preliminary review of its data.   According to a preliminary review, the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without clearance while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway,&quot; the FAA said in a statement.   &quot;JetBlue 206, go around,&quot; said the controller in Boston Logan&#39;s tower, according to recordings archived by LiveATC.net. The FAA says its air traffic controller told the crew of the Learjet to &quot;line up and wait&quot; on Runway 9 as the JetBlue Embraer 190 approached the intersecting Runway 4 Right.   &quot;The Learjet pilot read back the instructions clearly but began a takeoff roll instead,&quot; the FAA said in a statement. &quot;The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the int

RFT 597: Divine Intervention - Let's Stop Believing Our Own Press!

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