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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!alice!ark
From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.flame,net.aviation
Subject: Re: doublespeak awards
Message-ID: <3120@alice.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-Nov-84 10:42:37 EST
Article-I.D.: alice.3120
Posted: Thu Nov 22 10:42:37 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Nov-84 02:44:28 EST
References: <3165@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 19

Ah yes: the National Transportation Safety Board was considered
for a doublespeak award for "calling an airplane crash 'controlled
flight into terrain.'"

This is absurd!  The NTSB is the organization that has responsibility,
among other things, for determining the cause of airplane accidents.

When you are determining the cause of an accident, it is important to
classify the various types of accidents that can occur.  Thus the
NTSB uses "controlled flight into terrain" to mean an airplane crash
in which the airplane was under control until it hit the ground.
These are usually due to the pilot not knowing where the ground
was, for any of a variety of reasons (altimeter set wrong, didn't
read the charts, incorrect charts, bad instructions from controller,
ice on the wings, etc.)  Other types of crashes include "uncontrolled
flight into terrain," "mid-air collision," "in-flight breakup,"
and so on.

Do not mistake legitimate technical terminology for doublespeak!