George’s Point of View

Airbus wants to do the impossible. Always pushing aviation physics to be bigger than we thought it was possible to be.

There’s a whole lot of buzz about Airbus’s superjumbo elephantine double-decker, wide-body, four-engine jets with seating for up to 853 people. The families who have lost loved ones at sea–especially those in the recent Airbus flight 447 and the Comoros crash–must feel crushed when they hear about expensive Airbus efforts to make their already huge aircraft series break more size records.

Maybe Airbus should stop trying to be the biggest plane on the block, and work a little harder on safety. If they were as safe as they are big, there would be 380 families not in mourning today. Yes, 380. Here’s the biggest irony.

There were 152 fatalities in the Airbus crash in the Comoros. There were 228 fatalities in AF 477. Does anyone else find it macabre and frightening that that adds up to 380? I’m not a numerologist, but that’s awfully disturbing–

Airbus needs to rethink their entire aviation philosopy, stop making these monstrous death traps, go back to the drawing board, and correct the defects of the planes they already have in service.

If they had done so already, there would be at least 380 mothers, fathers, and children still alive.

Or they should be responsible, and ask that their planes be grounded until they are made safe.

Airbus needs to stop throwing money at air shows, and start compensating the families of those that have died or been injured due to design flaws of Airbus planes.

Yes, even the much vaunted new jet has niggling problems surfacing all of the time, but the flaws in the Airbus 380 skywhale behemoth are being downplayed by the powers that be.

Issues have been found with all of these systems:

• a braking system fault
• a plethora of system nuisance warnings based on alleged over-sensitivity
• weight growth during development
• fuel tank indication
• nose wheel steering

This is just what has come to light so far.

Please, let’s go back to the drawing board Airbus, for the sake of your human family. There is nothing, nothing, nothing you can do to bring joy back to 380 families who remain wounded, broken, with holes in their lives that can never be filled, lives that have been deformed by damage that can not be undone. Airbus, you want to do the impossible, be ever bigger. How about doing something in the realm of the possible? Let your heart be big. Step up to the plate, and compensate the grieving, who are suffering from lives lost in Airbus planes. This is beyond the physics of aviation and above the laws of man. It’s the right thing to do.