Short Final: Flight Following - AVweb

Aviation Accident Reporting is sort of a Man Bites Dog means for news outlets to spark interest in their papers, online channels, television news stations (If it bleeds, it leads. And they’re always quick to flash their “BREAKING NEWS” logos to pique our curiosity.) and radio channels. The more catastrophic the crash, the more time these ‘journalists’ will spend on the tragedy, with updates, “Expert” analysis and friends/family members/eyewitnesses relating their stories and videos. That’s their business. What should concern us pilots and accident studying types entails the amount of time it takes to determine what caused the crash, and whether the FAA will get involved with EADs, Bulletins and regulatory changes–even grounding the fleet of aircraft types that crashed. I don’t see sensationalizing these tragedies as being needed, but the aviation community needs to be apprised of what they’ll be subjected to in the wake of a major mishap.