79 Year Old Pilot has Medical Emergency Forcing Woman to Crash Plane
UNITED STATES - JANUARY 23: A Piper Aircraft Inc. Piper Meridian airplane takes off
I don’t know if you’ve ever been in one of those two or four-passenger planes in your life. I have and it’s, let’s say, very interesting.
Well, it couldn’t have gotten more interesting for a woman passenger who was the only person other than the 79-year-old pilot on a small plane. WPRI12 reported that they were flying a 2006 Piper Meridian which left from Westchester, New York, and was headed over Martha’s Vineyard. Suddenly the elderly pilot suffered a medical emergency during the final approach. The woman then became the only one who could save the two of them. She jumped into action and took over the controls of the plane and somehow managed to land the plane on the grass near the runway.
The crash landing cause one of the plane’s wings to be damaged and break in half, but the woman survived the ordeal completely unharmed. The pilot was taken to the hospital in life-threatening condition. It wasn’t clear if the pilot’s condition was due to the rough landing or the medical emergency he suffered during the flight.
“The crash happened almost 24 years to the day after a Piper crash killed John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette, and her sister Lauren Bessette off Martha’s Vineyard.
The flight is still under investigation.
Many years ago I took a flight lesson at Princeton Airport. It was part of a radio promotion and I was broadcasting live while I was flying and had complete control of the plane. There was, of course, a pilot on board with me teaching me everything I needed to know to keep that sheet metal tube in the air. I did land the plane, but with a lot of help from my instructor. The point is that if he had passed out at any time during the flight, I feel that it is rather unlikely that I could have survived or landed without serious injury to both of us. I’ve got to give that woman a whole lot of credit for what she did.
A 'Definitive' Ranking Of The 5 Fast-Food Restaurants
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) recently shared a study that details the top fast-food chains in the country based on customer satisfaction. While I agree with the top choice, the others are questionable. And hey, taste is subjective. I’m something of a fast-food restaurant connoisseur. So, here I will re-rank the country’s top five fast-food restaurant chains based on personal experience. (Hence, “Definitive” in quotes in the headline.)
First, let’s examine the numbers in this report, as there are certainly some valuable points to consider. It appears as if their customer satisfaction entails 11 important factors. These include areas such as the accuracy of food orders, staff courtesy, and cleanliness. Another important measurement these days is the efficiency of the chain’s app.
The ACSI report is based on 16,250 customers who were surveyed. Their top five looked like this:
- #1 Chick-fil-A
- #2 Jimmy Johns
- #3 KFC
- #4 Papa John
- #5 Domino’s
Technically “other” landed at number three, but for the sake of top brands, that is the top of the list.
Re-Ranking Methodology
While I do like the variety in cuisine displayed in ACSI’s list, I am surprised at many of the names I see there. To create this ranking, I did follow and considered the customer satisfaction criteria previously laid out in the survey. Though I am a drive-thru-first type of person, I will quickly peel out of the parking lot if I detect the joint doesn’t look like it takes cleanliness seriously. Regardless of how much I am craving that chicken sandwich. In other words, those scored questions are legit measurements.
It’s worth mentioning that I travel quite a bit as well. Whether taking my kids to a weekend lacrosse tournament or heading south to visit family, a fast-food meal is often all I have time for. Nonetheless, I don’t just stop for anything, and I do aim for the healthiest option possible (most of the time).
So, imagine I just pulled off a magical interstate exit where all of these fast food restaurants had an open establishment. I’m considering the criteria points ACSI has laid out, and looking for a quality meal. Here is my official re-ranking of the top five fast-food restaurant chains in the country.
*Side-note, the ACSI also includes statistic results on full-service chain restaurants. That is not applicable to my ranking, but Chili’s is the clear number one, with all the rest being second.
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.
