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Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

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Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#141

I don't think most people appreciate the level of regulation that ensures safety and quality of life in Western countries. Go to many countries outside of that spectrum and you may still see beautiful architecture and more. Now did the team that worked on that project have the necessary experience to drive a safe and long lasting solution? Does the concrete and steel used follow good standards? This means that it may…

I like the stereotyping of the entire "East" as one incompetent shit hole. The last I checked infrastructure in the US is crumbling. Each new thing also costs an insane bloated amount leading to a refusal to build new infrastructure altogether. Being in the west doesn't guarantee many things and being in the east doesn't either.

It's crumbling because it hasn't been maintained since the 50s-70s, not because it's shittily built. To be fair.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently there's chatter in recent days on China's internet regarding the Three Gorges Dam, and how it's setting / warping due to reservoir backpressure (pictures in link): https://www.theepochtimes.com/experts-warn-of-chinas-three-g... Apparently there's heavy rainfall this year. 300-400 million people live below the dam. I'm unfamiliar with domestic travel restrictions within China, but I can't imagine it's gotte…

Yeah, that’s just a crummy image that looks like it’s been projected onto terrain. You see the same wavy effect on stuff all over google earth, which that appears to be from.

Yep, the issue here is that it's projecting it over the old terrain height maps that were created before the dam was built. In Google Earth Desktop, you can fix this by unchecking "terrain" and can see that the base image is perfectly straight.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#143
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "They don't have flying experience," he said. Yeah, I have no idea how that works. "Just wing it!" but literally.

My guess probably a license to fly some smaller aircraft. Just no actual real commercial pilot license and type certification to the actual plane they fly for work. And then just hoping that the captain/co-pilot with you has the real license/skills.

I stopped my private pilot training short of actually getting my license and even now, more than 20 years later, I can guarantee you I wouldn't make some of those mistakes.

No, these guys had no business trying to control any kind of airplane.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently there's chatter in recent days on China's internet regarding the Three Gorges Dam, and how it's setting / warping due to reservoir backpressure (pictures in link): https://www.theepochtimes.com/experts-warn-of-chinas-three-g... Apparently there's heavy rainfall this year. 300-400 million people live below the dam. I'm unfamiliar with domestic travel restrictions within China, but I can't imagine it's gotte…

It's worth noting that your source, The Epoch Times, is run by Falun Gong and is basically anti-CCP propaganda. I don't trust the Chinese government as far as I can throw them, but getting info from The Epoch Times has the same problem in the other direction. For what it's worth, that looks like distortion I've seen in other Google Maps images. This South China Morning Post article includes a satellite photo released…

That's great, thanks for the better link! The image did look a bit weird to me (I don't think the facility would be usable in that condition), and it seemed a bit incredible that there would be that much settling after only 10 years, but I'm not sure what to believe anymore and it feels like the worse scenario is always the true one. Really glad I'm just being Chicken Little, we have enough stuff to worry about.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#145

Older article, but apparently Pakistan carts its nuclear weapons around in regular delivery vans: https://www.wired.com/2011/11/pakistan-nukes-delivery-vans/ I personally think this is a bad idea.

How do you think toxic waste is carried over the US/Canadian border?

Hint: it's trucks and trailers.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#146

Older article, but apparently Pakistan carts its nuclear weapons around in regular delivery vans: https://www.wired.com/2011/11/pakistan-nukes-delivery-vans/ I personally think this is a bad idea.

US nuke transports don't look that impressive either: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nuclear-couriers-201703... (of course it is entirely possible that Pakistan doesn't have much in the way of hidden security around those, but flying under the radar seems to be a common theme for this business)

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently there's chatter in recent days on China's internet regarding the Three Gorges Dam, and how it's setting / warping due to reservoir backpressure (pictures in link): https://www.theepochtimes.com/experts-warn-of-chinas-three-g... Apparently there's heavy rainfall this year. 300-400 million people live below the dam. I'm unfamiliar with domestic travel restrictions within China, but I can't imagine it's gotte…

It's worth noting that your source, The Epoch Times, is run by Falun Gong and is basically anti-CCP propaganda. I don't trust the Chinese government as far as I can throw them, but getting info from The Epoch Times has the same problem in the other direction. For what it's worth, that looks like distortion I've seen in other Google Maps images. This South China Morning Post article includes a satellite photo released…

> For what it's worth, that looks like distortion I've seen in other Google Maps images.

I'd like to think that I would've noticed before reading your comment but I saw the picture after... it looks pretty obvious though, especially to the right where the distortion follows the stitching line where there is clearly different light.

Even if the distortion were believed to be real, some of the discontinuities in the structure would be so severe as to be catastrophic.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe regulation is an essential tool for society, but it is not the whole story- morality plays as large a part. Once the regulation is set, it can easily be undermined. BPA was banned by regulation, so industry developed analogue chemicals with the same properties and began using them. Certain aspects of concrete & steel are regulated, so unethical effort goes into subverting the idea of the law while following…

But you’re agreeing. Variable morality is a problem. The solution is (imperfect as it often is, as BPA ex illustrates) effective regulation. Effective regulation is synonymous with “making individual moral differences irrelevant.”

> Effective regulation is synonymous with “making individual moral differences irrelevant.”

I think it's more illuminating to phrase the problem in terms of externalities.

Things need to be set up to ensure that the profit motive cannot lead to the following thinking: Rather than spending $100m on doing the project to a high safety standard, I'll spend $70m, introducing a mere 1% chance of catastrophic failure and hundreds of deaths.

1% is of course far too high a probability, especially if this line of thinking is being followed in hundreds of different projects, but the odds may look fine to the manager.

Without regulation, companies can be incentivised to take corner-cutting risks where they profit by the upside, and we all bear risk-of-death on the downside (failing aircraft, collapsing buildings, etc).

With regulation, companies are required to meet a certain bar. Reputational harm can also incentivise companies to invest in safety, but it's not enough; regulation is needed.

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Paying someone else to take an exam in one's place definitely makes the resulting license fake, and definitely makes it not genuine. They just used a different process than Photoshop to produce the false document. Semantics. I must disclose that English is not my first language.

Yeah, they're genuine licenses obtained by deception. Not fake licenses. Perhaps aeroplane manufacturers should have a "pilot test" when booting up ...

[deleted]

Re: Almost 1 in 3 pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses, aviation minister says

#150

I don't think most people appreciate the level of regulation that ensures safety and quality of life in Western countries. Go to many countries outside of that spectrum and you may still see beautiful architecture and more. Now did the team that worked on that project have the necessary experience to drive a safe and long lasting solution? Does the concrete and steel used follow good standards? This means that it may…

>Go to many countries outside of that spectrum and you may still see beautiful architecture and more. Now did the team that worked on that project have the necessary experience to drive a safe and long lasting solution? Does the concrete and steel used follow good standards? This means that it may not have critical structural problems today, but in 5 to 10 years, you may have to reconsider your infrastructure. By doi…

Hiring engineers and following their plans is expensive, if you can skip one or both of those, you can undercut your competitors bids.
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