They were. And yes, the weather and pitot icing were both factors, but it was the pilots that doomed the plane with AF447. They lost all situational awareness—failing to respond even when the pitot tubes de-iced and good speed and altitude data was available—and produced control inputs that could only end in disaster.…

I bet the Honda driver agrees with you right about now. She was so determined to not get caught behind the truck in the right lane, that she basically threw herself under the cab of the truck in the left. A bit of patience would have saved her a lot of grief.

All I know is, she showed more deference to a 2,000 pound Saturn compact than to an 80,000 pound loaded semi truck. The grill of that semi had to be filling her entire rear window, yet her main concern was to keep a full car length between her and the Saturn.

I don't know. I think you might be underestimating the value of a good roadside beating.

^^^ So much this. Expedite the damn pass. Otherwise, all you are doing is extending the amount of time you are at risk of that semi wandering into your lane due to a gust of wind, driver inattention or some other cause.

Well, he's not wrong. As a driver, you have some level of control over what's in front of you. You have optimal visibility, and you can brake and maneuver to avoid or at least minimize an impact. But when stuff catches you from behind, you are just along for the ride (as Ms. Honda found out).

OK. Second rule then.

You know, I considered that. I just look at how casually the Saturn driver approached the pass—heck, he signaled and everything—as if he has all the time in the world. But as you note, it all worked out.

It's pretty clear the Saturn driver, despite the reckless initial pass, was timid. Scared about closing on the truck in the right lane, he stupidly braked to reduce speed, rather than just expedite his move into the left lane. That guy needs to be beaten with a switch.

Wonderful Christmastime makes me want to murder puppies. Terrible, awful, brutal song.

I really can't muster up sympathy here. If you are too stupid to try the door handle, you get whatever Darwinian end you deserve.

You're partly right, in that pilots do not share your fear about turbulence. But I wouldn't call them hardasses. They are professionals who will try to make the flight as comfortable as possible, within the confines of their schedule, flight plan and fuel budget. They'll definitely try to find smoother air when the…

Yep, this is the stuff that worries me when in heavy weather. Short of flying directly into a supercell, the wings are not going to snap off the airplane. My concern is that a pitot tube might ice up during heavy turbulence and start throwing bad air speed and altitude data at the pilots, causing them to make bad…

Well, also consider that SFO-SLC is a short hop in a smallish (likely 737) plane. The pilot probably never turned off the seat belt light, and passengers had no reason to get up. A trans-Pacific flight, though, is a whole other animal. They were probably already a couple hours in when the turbulence hit, so much more…

I thought foxholes were.

Not a great analogy. Losses among US Air Corps servicemen during the war were atrocious—second only to German U-boat crewmen in terms of percentage killed.

Well, you can't always avoid turbulent air, or in the case of clear air turbulence, even predict it. When it comes to storms, planes do route around the worst of it when possible, and if severe turbulence is being reported, they will certainly go out of their way to avoid it. But sometimes you get unlucky. In this…

Geese are the deer of the sky.

Here is some pretty intense Youtube video of the turbulence. This plane got hammered.

"Cyclists. Red and green. Learn the bloody difference."