# What are the odds - Plane crash kills family twice **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272 "2011-11-27T20:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/21 "2011-11-28T03:37:19Z")
I have crashed thousands of times… Well, that’s what they all call my arrivals. I have made maybe 10 good landings in over 10,000 hours of pilot in command… But I lived… We won’t talk about my passengers… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/22 "2011-11-28T03:41:26Z")
I think we rationaize a lot. After all we are all better than average drivers… Any accidents we are in are flukes, unlikely to happen again. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/23 "2011-11-28T03:42:29Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I have crashed thousands of times… > > Well, that’s what they all call my arrivals. > > I have made maybe 10 good landings in over 10,000 hours of pilot in command… > > But I lived… > > We won’t talk about my passengers… :dubious: I have heard that any landing you walk away from is a good landing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/24 "2011-11-28T03:45:10Z")
Two comments. An old aphorism in aviation: “A fool and his money … are soon flying more airplane than he can handle.” Launching with partial fuel is 100% ops normal & a professional & safe thing to do. _When planned & operated professionally_. That doesn’t mean you’ve got be being paid to be able to do the job right. But whether it’s your daily job or your once-a-month hobby, you do have to approach planning & executing every flight with a systematic & mature attitude & a realistic appraisal of the parameters. Which include weather, distance, load, proficiency, performance, and a host of other factors. An airplane isn’t a car and the sky is not a freeway. And they’ll prove it to you pretty soon if you try to treat them that way. Shame about the other family members (both times). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/25 "2011-11-28T03:46:19Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > I have heard that any landing you walk away from is a good landing. Any landing you can walk away from, and you can still fly the plane afterward is a _great_ landing! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/26 "2011-11-28T04:47:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > There was a doctor in Lancaster who liked to fly his Bonanza in the Tehachapis… I need to amend this story. I decided to look for the incident, and **samclem** turned up an article. It was a Cherokee, not a Bonanza. My memories are from ‘hangar talk’, which can occasionally be propwash. I doubt I can verify anything other than the guy was a doctor and that he crashed. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/27 "2011-11-28T09:57:18Z")
Sabotage. Did the victims have life insurance? Why did the son survive both crashes? [/not entirely serious] ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/28 "2011-11-28T13:51:13Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Actually, most people do give up driving after a fatal car crash. > > (I know, sorry…) But not in this instance! After the fatal plane crash, the family died in a _second_ plane crash! ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/29 "2011-11-28T14:14:46Z")
Not specifically an answer to the Op - but I will note the unusual example of Ernest Hemingway. He was in 2 plane crashes, in the same day. Luckily, he survived [both](http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/04/specials/hemingway-safe.html). ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/30 "2011-11-28T15:58:55Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Sabotage. > > Did the victims have life insurance? Why did the son survive both crashes? > > [/not entirely serious] He’s got pretty much of an airtight alibi, if foul play is suspected on his part, simply by being on the plane himself. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272/31 "2011-11-28T16:21:39Z")
There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are very few old, bold pilots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-plane-crash-kills-family-twice/604272.md?page=1)