The humans who live in the place they call America have a peculiar reaction to death.  It seems to disable their rational thinking even more than usual.

The following is excerpted from a Los Angeles Times article appearing in the Metro section of the February 22, 2001 edition.
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Fliers Are Honored in Service at Crash Site

Memorial:  Coast Guard cutters take mourners to the area off Long Beach where two planes went down after a collision.

Relatives and friends of three fliers who died last week in a midair collision off Long Beach made a solemn voyage to the crash site Wednesday afternoon to spread flowers on the area and hold a memorial service.  ...

etc, etc, etc.
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The article runs goes for 21 inches, and includes two pictures.  Nothing critical is mentioned about the two pilots who flew into each other over the ocean.  We interviewed pilots at a local airport, and they expressed relief at what had happened.  "There's no excuse for any pilot to fly into another plane under VFR conditions.  When it happens, it's because both pilots weren't paying attention, and pilots who don't pay attention are a danger to everyone.  We know there are bozos who fly this way, so when they hit each other, it's cause for celebration.  We all feel safer because those two idiots are no longer flying."

We wonder, therefore, why the newspaper article didn't express the same relief felt by the "general aviation" and "commercal" pilots we interviewed.  Someone explained to us that it had to do with "death," but the rest of their explanation wasn't coherent.

Will we ever understand the humans?

This site opened:  February 22, 2001.  Last Update: February 22, 2001