Nearly 2,000 Chicago Flights Canceled After Worker Sets Fire At Radar Center 223
SpzToid sends this news out of Illinois:
Nearly 2,000 flights in Chicago have been canceled so far today as federal aviation officials slowly resume operations at O'Hare and Midway airports following a fire that was deliberately set at an FAA radar center, apparently by a disgruntled worker. The center handles high-altitude traffic across parts of the Midwest. Controllers there direct planes through the airspace and either hand off the air traffic to other facilities handling high-altitude traffic or direct the planes to terminal radar facilities, including one in Elgin, which in turn direct planes to and from airport towers.
I've heard of burning your bridges, (Score:2, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Funny)
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Disgruntled worker (Score:5, Funny)
This is a high-visibility example, but employers should really learn it can be much cheaper to gently gruntle your workers than to deal with the consequences.
Re: Disgruntled worker (Score:2, Funny)
Yeah, what's the cost ratio of one Swingline stapler versus thousands of cancelled flights?
Let's see whether they actually prosecute, first. (Score:3, Insightful)
This guy was a telecommunications specialist working in the basement. Are you familiar with the type?
He is a contractor whose direct employer is specified as Company A in the affadavit.
Apparently he looked in the mirror and did not like what he saw in himself or in his employer.
He was being transferred from Chicago to Hawaii. Disgruntlement?
He claims it's a crisis of conscience.
Re:Let's see whether they actually prosecute, firs (Score:5, Interesting)
Will the person who modded my comment down please read it?
He did not set the whole facility on fire. He tore up the floorboards and set fire to whatever was underneath his basement workplace.
He was cutting his own throat with a knife when emergency crew got there.
He wrote that for the first time in a long time he gave a shit.
This is not the profile of a disgruntled worker. It sounds more like a story about a repentant member of some secret police -- domestic surveillance squad.
The reassignment to Hawaii sounds like a promotion, as it was for Snowden.
We'll know more if the government actually brings this guy to trial. That's why I think they won't.
FTFA (Score:2)
Police said the man is a contractor, not an air traffic controller or FAA manager. ";We understand that this is a local issue with a contract employee and nothing else,"; Aurora Police Chief Gregory Thomas told reporters. ";There is no terrorist act."
Thank Allah!
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Who knew Milton Waddams worked at the airport? (Score:3)
Scorpion ot the rescue! (Score:3, Informative)
So did they send in the new Scorpion team to save the day?
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So did they send in the new Scorpion team to save the day?
They tried, but were having trouble finding a 458 that could transform into a 360 and back in the blink of an eye.
(The dash they flash to while accelerating was a Ferrari 360, not the 458 he was driving)
No redundancy? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Press reports are still very sketchy, but it seems like the suspect was in charge of maintaining the very systems that allow such transfers of control and that he intentionally destroyed key connections between radar and radio installations and the Air Traffic Control system. Why this building contained single points of failure is something I'm sure the NTSB report will focus heavily on, but at some point a connection has to exist between the physical hardware that track aircraft and transmits radio instru
Really, a single oint of failure? (Score:5, Interesting)
I would think that the major hubs in the US didn't operate with this poor of a practice. Honestly, I'm flabbergasted. This is not something you can hide when it's exposed. What I find more surprising is that with this big of a deficiency, they didn't go with the "terrorist" card in order to deflect some of the backlash this should cause.
I wonder how many other airports are using a system with similar vulnerability.
I don't see this as just a problem with some guy who obviously did something wrong. Seems like lighting or other natural events could have the same impact.
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This is an AIR traffic control problem, and is not localized to O'Hare airport. They manage all the flights over the entire region. I'm sure they will extend the operations to the surrounding regional centers to make up for the loss, but due to the sheer volume of traffic the Aurora center used to handle, the other centers will need to add a lot of extra staff to deal with it.
I suspect they are temporarily operating with local staff called in for the emergency, but that's not sustainable. They'll likely ne
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. It takes about six hours to drive from the Aurora center to the Farmington center near Minneapolis, and that's not counting going home and packing for an extended stay.
Drive? Why would they drive that far? It's much quicker to fly.
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. It takes about six hours to drive from the Aurora center to the Farmington center near Minneapolis, and that's not counting going home and packing for an extended stay.
Drive? Why would they drive that far? It's much quicker to fly.
Well, duuh. All the planes are grounded. How are they supposed to fly? ..... ...or was that a big wooosh?
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Well, duuh. All the planes are grounded. How are they supposed to fly? ..... ...or was that a big wooosh?
Barring inclement weather, if all the commercial planes are grounded so that traffic is not an issue, it should be well possible to land planes visually for a purpose like bringing in the experts to fix the situation.
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Barring inclement weather,
Not even barring inclement weather. The navigation aids were not impacted by this, only center. Departure and approach were still functional, too. Get an IFR clearance and fly it. You don't have to talk to a center to do that.
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It's the getting the clearance which is the issue. Because of the problem the FAA might reject your flight plan. If the flight is effectivly a charter by the FAA then that isn't likely to happen.
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No, just a joke. :^)
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The Mythbusters demonstrated it's plausible that driving distances less than 400 miles is faster than flying.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It's almost exactly a 400 mile journey that takes 6 hours.
https://www.google.com/maps/di... [google.com]
And if you're hauling a month's worth of stuff, or a family, you might not want to stuff it in a single checked bag.
Re:Really, a single oint of failure? (Score:5, Insightful)
Redundancy costs money, and people don't like spending more money. To save cost you cut redundancy.
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I would think that the major hubs in the US didn't operate with this poor of a practice. Honestly, I'm flabbergasted.
Huh? What "poor of a practice"? Evacuating a building that is on fire? My God! How stupid can that be? Leave them in the building and let them burn, just as long as no flights are delayed.
I wonder how many other airports are using a system with similar vulnerability.
You mean a "system" where people work in buildings where there could be a fire? I think I can answer this one: ALL of them.
Seems like lighting or other natural events could have the same impact.
Buildings are rarely evacuated because of lighting. The centers are usually operated at reduced lighting levels anyway. They are also not usually evacuated because of lightning, and while a lightning
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Where there is malicious action that can easily circumvent "redundancy". Especially where this involves "insiders" who can know which parts of systems are the least redundant. Since redundant systems are generally intended to be so against random damage.
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Depends on the cost.
If an extra building would add $1 to each ticket-- might be worth it.
But if it adds $20 to every ticket and it happens once per 20 years.. probably not worth it.
No good information in this case to make a decision on.
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Or even the one in the back of the plane behind the one now stuck half way down the runway until all the wheels on the MLG are changed.
Striking air traffic controllers fired (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember when Ronald Reagan fired all of the air traffic controllers because they had the nerve to form a union and strike for better pay? Now the air traffic controllers work on obsolete equipment, get paid very little, have a stressful job with long hours, oh and are the only people stopping planes from running into eachother. I am almost amazed no one has gone crazy before now.
Re:Striking air traffic controllers fired (Score:5, Interesting)
You mean, when they conspired to cripple the nation's air-transportation — holding the rest of us hostage? Imagine, Verizon turning off all telephones to demand lower taxes — a public employee has an even stronger monopoly power...
That must all be Reagan's fault, right, 30 years later...
Maybe, it just is not quite as bad as you are describing?
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I've mentioned a few times here on /. that people blame the poor quality of air travel on Reagan firing the ATCs 30 years ago. Some don't believe me. Some think it's only the Deregulation that people blame.
Thank you for showing us that there are people who, after three decades, still blame him for firing people who refused to work.
And with that low enough of a UID, it isn't like you're a newbie here.
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oh and are the only people stopping planes from running into eachother.
Believe it or not, there are other people who stop planes from running into "each other". They're called "pilots". Actual human beings who control the airplanes and where they go.
Of course they aren't perfect at keeping airplanes from running into each other. They're humans. (And computers aren't perfect at it either.) Just like the ATC humans aren't perfect at keeping minimum separation.
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They also tend to have a direct personal interest in planes not colliding too. They are also not obliged to follow ATC either. There are rules specifically indicating that if ATC and TCAS are in conflict to follow TCAS. Though a pilot might have to answer to all sorts of people afterwards if they said "unable" without a good reas
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See and avoid doesn't work so well when you're in the clouds.
No, but commercial aircraft in high traffic areas tend to have TCAS and similar to alert them to traffic, and if on a proper clearance won't run into anyone anyway.
Also, you might not see an aircraft coming at you until it's too late.
Like I said, they are humans in the cockpit, and their failure to be perfect at see-and-avoid doesn't mean ATC is the only person keeping them apart.
So, yeah, the OP was right.
No, he was wrong. The pilots are also there to keep planes from running into each other. If you are going to discount their presence because they are imperfect at it and think only ATC has that j
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In many (most?) situations, controllers are the only people stopping planes from running into each other.
Bullshit.
Parent has seen all the proof he needs in "Die Hard II".
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This fiction. Mythbusters managed to inadvertantly "bust" the ending too.
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IIRC there are plenty of places where TCAS is mandatory. Even for light aircraft which intend to use that airspace.
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I am almost amazed no one has gone crazy before now.
Well, there's always alcoholism.
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I'm sure you'll substantiate that.
HR still says (Score:5, Insightful)
cheap contract workers are better than investing in employees!
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Your comment got me interested in actual numbers, so I did some Google searches. I expected to find a small but nonzero number of yearly deaths. The results I found indicated that death by starvation in America is so infrequent that it's not even tracked. Occasional cases do occur, but they are often the result of something other than lack of access to food, such as child neglect or mental illness. Even Feeding America [feedingamerica.org] only talks about the effects of hunger and food insecurity [feedingamerica.org], not actual starvations.
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There are also highly paid (possibly overpaid) people who show utter contempt for their employers though.
The kinder, gentler terrorism (Score:4, Insightful)
If a single person can cause so much havoc without killing anyone — and without the condemnation and sympathy for the victim concomitant with any would-be murder — the terrorists don't need to kill.
Heck, they don't even need to set fire — just phone-in [scpr.org] an anonymous warning.
A moderately motivated group could also disable a city's subway system for hours — by boarding the trains on carefully picked stations and pretending to have a seizure of some sort. Our kind society's rules (as evidenced in that paragon of humanity New York City) say, you can not be taken out of the train — except by "qualified personnel". So all other passengers will be removed from the car and the train will wait for the EMS to arrive and figure out, what to do with you. If your friends do the same to every other subway lines at the same time — during rush hour — your organization is bound to get donations, all without you killing or maiming a single person...
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the terrorists don't need to kill.
The terrorists just need to say a few things on their cell phones, and let the NSA and paranoia do the rest.
Bin Laden's goal was to turn the US into what it's become. He succeeded.
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I strongly suspect, the NSA are a lot smarter, than your average pig or a school principal. Their reaction will be more appropriate than that of a local police department or school...
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Perhaps you are confused about which side the NSA is on. They are not interested in reducing anyone's fear, not even their own.
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Seems like one of us is confused indeed. They are on America's side and they are sincere. They will not act on a threat — such as a prankster talking about a terrorist act on his phone — if they consider it bogus. Now, it may be possible for such a prankster to fool them — and they may choose to err on the side of caution. But they are quite smart, so fooling them is not easy...
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single point of failure? (Score:3)
I don't know much of anything about how air traffic control works, but a fire at a single radar station practically shutting down o'hare seems to point towards a single point of failure, that probably ought to be looked at.
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If only it worked like that. As long as planes don't actually crash they only need one radar, and all the disruption can always be blamed on someone else. Why spend money on preventing things you won't take the blame for?
In other words, they want maximum profits and minimum costs, not reliability.
Backups? (Score:5, Interesting)
Aren't these kinds of critical systems supposed to have backups? I see DHS/TSA is too busy strip searching children/grandmas, securing chicken farms & writing up justifications for their abuse of authority to bother with the "unimportant" things like securing/fortifying the transportation infrastructure.
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Giving people a reasonable sense of job security is definitely a step in the right direction, but you still have to be ready for the rare nut-job (employee or otherwise). While that includes onsite backup equipment (which they apparently had) it must also include off site backup facilities. I work with my local PD a bit and from what I understand even they have contingency plans for if the 911 dispatch center is evacuated/destroyed. If something happens the entire call load for the county can be redirected
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"Load balancing" the work like that works nicely.. until you run at 90% load all the time, and you suddenly lose 15% of your capacity.
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Apparently he tried (unsuccessfully, so far) to commit suicide, so job prospects were probably not part of his agenda.
Re:Smart move moron (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently you did nod read the lead. He fired them.
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Well, he does have SOME benefits. He'd get free room and board and meals for a number of years now.
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It also comes with a free gym membership where he can meet new and interesting people.
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He shouldn't have too much trouble finding work. Alton Nolen, the guy that beheaded [newsok.com] a co-worker in Oklahoma this morning in another incident that is also Not Terrorism had only been released from prison a year ago:
And I am sure our wonderful District Attorney Prater is already on his way to file life in prison charges against the owner of the company who saved countless lives by shooting and killing this maniac. But that's modern liberal life in Oklahoma. Kill a gun wielding thief, go to jail for life. Kill a couple of unarmed innocents, go to jail for maybe 10 years, out in 5.
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Alternate view;
You come in late, leave early and do as little as possible while you are here. When someone calls you on it you try to burn the place down. Keep up the good work.
Is there any wonder there are disgruntled employers?
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Is there any wonder there are disgruntled employers?
Disgruntled employers?? Shit like this pisses off everyone. It causes panic among the people that get to enact new laws that fuck over the rest of us, for our protection!
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But which do you think is more common?
Mind you, doing it in a way so easily traceable is a sign of being so upset that you count as crazy, but there's often a reason (or more than one) that people go crazy.
FWIW, "going crazy" in ways analogous to this is a part of our evolutionary toolkit for dealing with abusive management. It doesn't work as well in modern society, as those in control have learned to isolate themselves from the possibility of retribution, but in earlier times reactions analogous to this
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Overall I don't know and neither do you because there are no real numbers. There are plenty of example of workers slacking off. Just go to any road construction site.
Re:Taxing the Congested Skies (Score:5, Informative)
Your solution is "don't travel so much?" With all due respect, go fuck yourself. We already pay fees on airline tickets to pay for things like this. If the system cannot handle the current load, then the system needs to be upgraded.
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The system handles the current load just fine. They just haven't gone to the expense of making it doubly redundant so when a major facility goes down it causes problems. Once ADSB [wikipedia.org] becomes mandatory in 2020 this will be less of an issue for a radar facility like this since each airplane will be broadcasting it's position and vector to every other ADSB equipped airplane and they won't need ground based radar to maintain separation.
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The real problem is that the airlines switched from having a few flights a day between point a and point b using medium sized or large aircraft to having more flights per day using smaller aircraft.
Reverse that and you wont have anywhere near as much of a problem (especially if the airlines have an incentive to use larger planes as demand grows rather than adding more flights)
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travel forced on employees
I'm a frequent business traveller. I appreciate getting out of the office and getting in front of customers and other users.
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You do realize that 50 to 60 percent of an airline ticket are taxes and airport fees?
Yeah....that's not true.
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So, while everything isn't "taxes", they are larger than you think, but the "profit" part is generally pretty small. For example, the current "profit margin" for American Airlines is negative [yahoo.com] That can't be good...
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I don't know about commericial airlines, but I know that when I was checking private jets, the airline fees and taxes was much more than 50% of the cost. It was closer to 80-90%.
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Some of them are. Most? I'd like to see a breakdown of that. I recall reading that TSA fees alone recently went up double digits of $ and since I consider the TSA not to be legitimate in the first place, that's a good place to start.
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Whoosh!
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They have a backup for the hardware but when the building had to be cleared the controllers had to leave their stations. Sorry but it is not feasible to have a complete crew sitting around in another complete office just in case something goes wrong.
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Reroute the data to a cloud service have the PCs remote into virtual workstations and have the radio fed through the same system. Small amount of latency, but should not be an issue. Hell. Build out the whole system on the same frame work and distribute the hell out of the workloads.
Re:Big Goverment no backup (Score:5, Insightful)
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Are you under the impression the controllers land airplanes?
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You fail-over to another controller, obviously.
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Reroute the data to a cloud service have the PCs remote into virtual workstations and have the radio fed through the same system.
Imagine making the call to your HOA: "do you mind if I install a primary and secondary radar system on the rooftop of the apartment building? Yeah, I need that for work. Ok, thanks, bye"
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Is it though feasible to set up the the system so those controllers can go home, login to a VPN and have a nation wide system that they can load their area into and continue work?
And then when some Chinese hacker breaks in and redirects every plane in the country to Newark, you'll be bitching about the stupidity of connecting the air traffic control system to the Internet.
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Reroute the data to a cloud service
Oh what fun the hackers would have!
...planes ...the sky ...funny.
Oh I get it, cloud service
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Indeed.
And even if the system is secured (hah), all it takes is some malware on a controllers home computer (or if there is a work issued one, for one of them to let their kid install limewire (or whatever the current virus bag is) on it.
RTFA (Score:3)
No
Re:what a difference a day makes (Score:5, Insightful)
Police said the man is a contractor, not an air traffic controller or FAA manager.
Reading is hard.
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If he was hired to mow the lawn he would have access to the site. It's pretty hard to stop someone from taking a can of gasoline and tossing it over a fence (or some such).
Re:what a difference a day makes (Score:4, Insightful)
That's actually a really good point. If you want to get access to sensitive locations, get hired onto the work crew. Want a key to the CEO's office? Become a janitor.
Re:what a difference a day makes (Score:5, Insightful)
Which is exactly why lots of people wonder about the intelligence of hiring on the lowest bidder [thedailybeast.com] to clean out and stock commercial aircraft. You know, those people who scrunch down everywhere in the cabin with no supervision. Who load baggage in the hold after the TSA 'screens' it. Who deliver boxes and boxes of stuff to all manner of aircraft.
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The people you're talking about go through a ton of screening before being allowed onto an aircraft. They couldn't just bring a bomb in from their car.
Re:what a difference a day makes (Score:5, Informative)
The people you're talking about go through a ton of screening before being allowed onto an aircraft.
As someone who works at an airport, no, they don't.
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"...The people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. [pause] Do not fuck with us."
--Tyler Durden
what a difference a day makes (Score:2, Funny)
its obvious that we need to regulate matches. When one person can just walk into a store buy a pack of matches and threaten 1000 innocent airplanes we have an epidemic in the USA, Other countries have sensical match control laws. It is about time the USA got on board too.
If we could have outlawed matches this tragedy could have been avoided. Yes the problem with the USA is there aren't enough common sense laws.
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No, everybody should carry matches! They would surely have stopped this maniac that way! It's the damn gubiment saying we can't carry matches...
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Lest we forget Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, which saw a plane load of people killed because some guy didn't like that they got fired for stealing money (which he did, he was caught on camera).