One for the "stupid QOTD" file

Pilots' low pay, long commutes probed in air crash

By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The co-pilot in an airline crash that killed 50 people in upstate New York was paid a salary so low that she lived with her parents near Seattle and commuted across the country to her job, a combination of long travel and little money that a safety official called a "recipe for an accident."

The article is dismaying, but I didn't really get pissed off until I read this:

Daniel Morgan, Colgan's vice president for flight safety, said the airline industry has a long history of flight crews commuting long distances to report for work.

Morgan said it is appropriate that the airline sometimes schedule pilots to be on duty up to 16 hours at a stretch with a maximum of eight hours of flight time.

"It's not an ideal way to work, but neither is working overnight in the post office," Morgan said.

Yeah? Well, you know, if some overtired post office clerk routes my mail to Peoria, nobody dies, MORON.

JESUS.