Tristan Cenier

Well, if what you are after is better physics, then you should consider Xplane. The key feature is physics based on blade theory and not data table. In other words, feed Xplane any kind of object and it will tell you how it will fly (or fall down in cries of terror). Also, a free demo is available from their website. T.

I wish it could be that easy. But common sense does not rule in a court of law. Lawbooks do. Do you remember that story of the woman that puts her cat in the microwave to dry it up, the cat dies, the woman sues and wins because the manual does not state that you should not put live animals in a microwave oven. As any sensible human being, the initial impulse is to say "get lost, dumb creature, who is stupid enough to put a can in an oven". Ok, but come to think about it, there is no law to punish anyone for being stupid. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, stupidity is not a crime. Nor an offense, nor a felony. However, failing to provide proper documentation for any piece of equipment, possibly resulting in injury or death IS a felony. Simply put, in "electrical appliance manufacturer with an oversized faith in humanity" vs. "dumbest person in the world", the latter wins. Now, in the case of that girl, she got injured not because she held to a fence in an ill-chosen spot, not because she ignored the signs, but because she got pushed back by engine wash, and that happened because that airplane was too close, and that happened because... At least, that is a claim she could make and that would probably hold in court. Again, no text of law says that you should fine a girl for holding on to a fence while a plane is taking-off, however, intentionnally conducting actions that can put other people in a dangerous, potentialy life-threatening situation, is punished by the law, I think it is called reckless endangerement but I am no specialist.

Gee, thanks. you made me blush.

Well, yes, I suppose that could happen, if several requirements are met : 1) if the pilots (and through them jetblue airline) were indeed on the chevrons with no good reasons to be there As someone mentionned earlier, jetblue is faa licensed, but to that airport. Air laws are not international. Who knows what special regulation allows planes to start their take-off run on the chevrons ? I mean really, who knows, i'd like some input on that. 2) if a lawyer comes to this girl and tells her : "you know, you can sue their a*s, that plane violated regulations" But, most importantly : 3) if that girl happens to be an american citizen. For all we know, she could very well be Dutch or Spanish or Venezualian or French or German or South African... Again, as someone else mentionned here, lawsuits for personal injury are a USA national sport. Very unlikely that a tourist from another country will think "first bandaid then lawsuit". And point 2 remains. I think KevinAu has a good point : if indeed those pilots had nothing to do there, they will have to face consequences, girl+wall incident or not. After all, when a cop catches you burning a traffic light, you get the same ticket whether or not you caused an accident (granted : if you do cause an accident, you will have other consequences to face, but the fine for burning the light stays the same). In a perfect world, I'd have thought that it would be impossible that pilots would want to blatantly violate regulations just for fun. However, since a couple of those overshot their top of descent by 40 minutes being busy with their laptops, nothing surprises me anymore. As for why would one stand in the jetwash of a turbo-jet airplane taking-off, I mean come on guys, because it sounds like fun. It sure is a totally stupid idea, but no more stupid than biking down mountain lanes, mixing high speeds, deep ravines and low adherence ; no more stupid than jumping of a plane with a large piece of cloth strapped to your back, and no more stupid than trying to fly when we have no wings. There are so many things around us that only someone really stupid would do, most of the time they also look like tons of fun. E.