The cockpit voice recorder... (Part 2)

If it even occurs to me while I'm busy crapting my pants that I have this recorder, then yes I believe I would.

Of course....and it would probably say something like:

"Don't forget to tape the news. I might be on it"

I'm pretty sure that I would be scared witless and remembering a small recorder would be unlikely.

There is someone other than my SO that I want to get a message to.

I like how you made the pilot female.

Absolutely. We should all have such a chance before dying.

they, what if bill subliminally made the pilot female to indicate that a female is more likely to crash than a male. Hmmm.j/k

Yeah, a recorded will.

I think it's safe to say that my S.O. would be fairly traumatized by my death. I don't think that leaving her a recording to obsess over for years is the nicest thing I could do for her.

Yes. It might not survive, but I'd at least try. Plus, it would give me something to do besides have a massive heart attack.

I would definitely leave a message.I want to make sure everyone knows how I feel about them, and that I thought of them before my death.

Yes, For my daughter and my SO.

I would assume that I have a better chance of surviving most plane crashes than most small recording devices. I think I wouldn't bother.

Besides, you aren't allowed to use most electronic devices during landing. :)

Aren't you supposed to turn off recording devices when on planes?

I'd probably be too panicked to think about it.

Sure...although it probably won't be found, but you never know.

this is making me VERY nervous... i am taking my first trip by plane on the 24th... yes, i'd leave him a message... i'm considering actually taking a friend's cellular phone and a phone card like he asked me to... so... i... could... call

I wouldn't fly in a plane with a femlae pilot anyway!!

Avocado- You're supposed to turn off radios and certain other electronic devices because they have oscillators in them that could hypothetically interfere with cockpit instrumentation (although there's no way it would ever happen; trust me I've held a working radio right up against the instrumentation in a KC-135, FB-111, and an A-10 just to be sure and nothing happened - cockpits have radios in them already, remember?). However, there is nothing in a pocket cassette recorder that even the most paranoid flight attendant could get worried about.

Depending on what recording device... If I only have pen and paper, probably not. Something small and electronic, probably not. Something with a goodly chance of surviving if I don't, probably yes.

Wicksy: with that attitude, I wouldn't let you.

Avocodo: don't you think it wouldn't matter anymore if you were going to crash?

jaff: Well, now we know *why* the plane is crashing...

drdt: ??

Jaff - If I absolutely knew the plane was crashing, chances are I'd have little time or little movement-stability to make a recording. But in the survey here, it says the plane *might* crash, so there's also the possibility that it might not. In that case, I don't want to do anything that could make my chances of survival even slightly lower. Though ILJ gives a good discussion of why doing this likely wouldn't change anything.

I've actually been on a plane in which there was a threat of danger. We were attempting to land in an area in which there were multiple heavy storms across a large geographical region, and we circled a long while but could not be cleared for landing. Finally, the pilot came on the radio and said that we were running out of fuel, and he was going to head for the next nearest airport (about 100 miles to the south). The ride there was very rough, and we were all very scared; I wondered, "Is this how it goes before a plane crashes?" A child was crying hysterically, and I was holding onto the hand of the woman next to me for comfort (and I had never met her before that flight).

We landed in the 2nd airport ok, and I seriously thought about getting off the flight, staying in a hotel, and taking a train back up north. But we never went near the terminal - we went to the fueling part of the airport instead - and they seemed confident thereafter that we could go back up north and land safely. Which we did.

I've always wondered - how come we don't wear parachute backpacks when we are on commercial flights, like we weat life jackets on boats? I know they wouldn't be of much help in some types of plane crashes... but aren't there any possible circumstances in which they'd save some lives?

Avocado: I think that making people wear parachutes would tend to encourage people to think they aren't safe. Also, people don't always wear life jackets on boats - only on small boats where (a) the likelihood of capsizing is non-minimal, and (b) if the boat did capsize, you would be ejected fairly quickly.

If a jumbo jet was going down, there would be no way you could get everyone to bail out in an orderly fashion, even if they were all wearing parachutes to begin with. So it is only rarely that parachutes are even useful in that situation. Contrary to recent media, I don't think jumbo jets go down frequently enough to make the added paranoia of wearing parachutes worth it.

I don't think everyone would be able to bail out orderly-like... but if it could save even a few people, might it not be worth it?

I suppose we could bring our own parachute backpacks...

I wouldn't make a recording. My SO and my friends and family know what they mean to me.
The will idea is good though, since I still haven't got around to writing one....

I can't imagine the scenario in which I wouldn't leave a message.

I answered yes, but if I thought that not operating the recording device might make a difference to my or someone else's chances of survival I wouldn't. I'd certainly want to make sure it was stowed by the time we hit, so it didn't fly free and brain someone.

Well, I don't have a SO, but I'd leave a message for my friends and family. Something like "Hey, look I may die in the next few minutes, but i want you to know I'm not scared, well maybe a little, but if it happens it'll be over soon, and I want everybody to know I'm not going to feel any more pain, and this isn't that bad of a deal, I've had a good life - now go out have some fun - wish i was there, but hey- you are so enjoy it!"

Criminy, yes. "I love you."