Picking on Delta Airlines

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Picking on Delta Airlines - Before we even start with this little posting, it should be noted that I truly think well of the Delta Airlines organization, having flown on their aircraft a number of times in speed, comfort, and (since I am still breathing), obviously in safety. But recently I have noticed that the well-read columnist, Ann Coulter, has gotten onto Delta's case because, as she claimed in her columns, Delta charged her an extra thirty bucks for an oversized airplane passenger seat and then would not allow her to use that special seat. Ann may be much luckier than she thinks. Witness some of what happened to the passengers on Delta Flight 925 on New Year's evening of December 31, 1971. I was not on that particular Delta flight (Thank God) but I was fully involved afterward in what happened in its cargo hold and to its then unaware passengers both during and following the flight. Two of the items transported in the cargo hold ( underneath the passenger seating ) were large laminated wooden casks inside of which were plastic containers containing very radioactive material, placed there by the Union Carbide company. We were a Union Carbide customer and were to receive one of those casks. The second cask was to be delivered to another company in Dallas, Texas. The "hot" material to be delivered to us was in the form of dry powder, whereas the Dallas company was to receive the same kind of radioactive material, but, for them, it was dissolved in liquid. For one reason or another, basically carelessness I guess, the container with the liquid radioactive material ( "hotter than blue blazes" ) had not been securely sealed. Thus, during Flight 925, the liquid-holding cask got jarred or overturned, and the radioactive material leaked outside of the cask and spread around in the aircraft's cargo hold. This resulted in contamination of exposed parts of the aircraft itself, lots and lots of items within the cargo hold (including passengers' suitcases). Passengers sitting above the spill in the passenger-seating area received more than a year's worth of allowable radiation for every one hour of their flying time and consequent exposures. That is the sort of bad happening that can occur when folks fail to pack dangerous materials securely and when airline cargo is not adequately tied down to keep it from tipping over during aircraft takeoffs, flights, and landings. Flight 925 was not halted for cleanup of this dangerous mess until after eight or nine takeoffs and landings. Oh, it was quite a mess. Well, we at our company cleaned up our cask and our delivery driver - both of which were red hot with radioactivity - but there may yet be people who, to this current day, are worrying about their exposure to ionizing radiation from that unfortunate spill. Not only did our several companies have big and dangerous messes to clean and to decontaminate, we had supervision in our labors from the State of Texas Department of Health and, for the Texas radiation control people, from the federal Atomic Energy Commission. What a way in which to bring in the New Year. No champagne at midnight for the bunch of us, and things were not any better for the Delta Airlines people. So, Ann Coulter, whereever you may be today, don't overreact to your loss of thirty bucks for that extra-wide seat. Believe me when I mention that things could have just as easily been a lot worse for your bottom end than just a less comfortable chair upon which to ride as you flew through the skies aboard your Delta flight. Image: A Delta Airliner - Pixabay.com