# Goanetters-2004 meet in Goa. Dec 21, Tuesday. 12 noon to 2 pm. # # Clube Vasco, Near Municipal Garden, Panjim. Pass the word around! # ##########################################################################
On Fri, 17 Dec 2004, Gabriel de Figueiredo wrote:
Fred's posting of Sea Harrier crashes in and around Goa including one "missing in flight" seems pretty high. Are these pilots sober when they take off? One should think they ought to have 0.00% blood-alcohol reading prior to taking control of the plane. Just my gut-feelings.
Gabriel, You're doing violence to the debate by suggesting such an easy way out as the explanation. It would appear that there's something drastically wrong with the Sea Harriers, or their operation in India, which isn't being admitted to by the authorities.
In the meantimes, there is a loss of life and a huge waste of tax-payer's money. Local press reports here indicate that each fighter jet costs US$9 million, though Jane's or some other source would be able to give an accurate figure.
[Earlier there were some official suggestions that the Sea Harriers' vertical take-off facilities were not being used in India, because this put stress on the aircrafts in a hot and humid climate like ours. One doesn't see such a number of aircrafts of a particular kind routinely crashing, except in the case of the Sea Harriers. It could be much more serious than your light-hearted content could make it seem.]
FN
