NobodyKnowsPhysicsEither < Kitchen

11 Aug 2005 - 15:30

nobody knows any physics either

So today I'm sick.

I'm sick thanks to the 5 hours I spent sitting on United Airlines Flight 682 breathing recirculated air. Plenty of time to breathe and re-breathe ambient viral particles and really make them stick.

Speaking of 5-hour stints in the penalty box, I gather from the Chicago Tribune coverage of this event that not only does no one carrying a United States passport know Thing One about math, we're clueless on the subject of physics, too:

A wingtip-to-wingtip brush between two United Airlines planes waiting to take off from Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Monday frayed the nerves and patience of many of the 223 passengers aboard the two aircraft, but it injured no one.

OK, I don't know any physics, either....but I do know that two objects the size of an Airbus 320 cannot be said to brush.

No, indeed.

Two objects the size of an Airbus 320, when they come into contact, can only be said to collide. Especially when we are describing this event from the point of view of the tiny human passengers sitting inside.

(Of course, if we are describing the event from the point of view of official airline spokespeople, which apparently we are, that's different.)

Ah-hah.

Just as I suspected.

An object with small inertial mass changes its motion more readily, and an object with large inertial mass does so less readily.

Thank you, Wikipedia.

In the case of our wingtip-to-wingtip brush, my plane, the one sitting there in the penalty box minding its own business, was actually pushed sideways across the tarmac, causing most of us to believe, for a split-second, that we were crashing, just like the plane in Toronto! or even just like the plane that fell into Rockaway! My point being: if you're going to hit a stationary Airbus hard enough to move it sideways, we're not talking wingtip-to-wingtip brush. We're talking large inertial mass.

We're also talking scaring the bejesus out of the folks inside.

While we're on the subject of Media Inaccuracies, let me add that there were also no ensuing pleasantries from the flight crew, as this passage seems to suggest:

Passengers on Flight 682 had the benefit of soft drinks and a film that was in progress, as that flight had already been delayed for more than an hour.

OK, yes, we 'had' the 'benefit' of soft drinks and a film that was in progress, MONSTER IN LAW, starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda.

But all that was in the past. The film was ending when the other plane hit, the soft drinks were long gone, and the stewardess had refused to hand out pretzels until we were 'in the air.' I hadn't eaten since 9 AM that morning; it was now 3:00. Finally, around 5, a stewardess brought around some cups of juice. And that was it. There was so little interest displayed in our well-being or wishes—all of us wanted off the plane—that the guy next to me said they were probably going to give us a goodbye kick when we finally walked out the door.

The skies are not so friendly at United these days, I think.

Back to main page.

Comments

After entering a comment, users can login anonymously as KtmGuest (password: guest) when prompted.
Please consider registering as a regular user.
Look here for syntax help.

These United stories just get uglier and uglier. I'm glad you survived it. You just reminded me why I avoid flying like the plague.

-- SusanS - 11 Aug 2005

Are there MORE???

One of the other passengers said, 'Is it not obvious we're flying on an airline that is bankrupt?'

I had just reminisced about the golden rewards of yore....back when they used to give you hotel rooms and upgrades & the like for Bad Experiences.

-- CatherineJohnson - 11 Aug 2005

WebLogForm
Title:	nobody knows any physics either
TopicType:	WebLog
SubjectArea:	FromTheKitchenTable, HorrorStories, OffTopic
LogDate:	200508111130

Navigate KTM

Kitchen Table Math

KTM User Pages

Service Groups

Parent Groups

Personal Pages

Blogs

Special lists

Help

nobody knows any physics either

Comments