How Does A Plane Crash Into A Light Pole?

Everyone who drives a car eventually comes into close encounter with a light pole. Backing up, trying to parallel park, hey, it happens to all of us. And that’s totally OK. What’s NOT OK is if you’re a pilot and you crash your freaking plane into a light pole. How does that even happen?

The unfortunate example of bad plane driving happened on Southwest Flight 792 from LAX to Denver International Airport, as the Boeing 737 was taxiing to its gate. No one was hurt in the freak accident, and the airport continued swimmingly sans light pole. But who is this pilot? He’s the anti-Sully Sullenberger! He’s the pilot equivalent of the guy in the Hummer who thinks he can fit inside a compact spot. He’s the flying man big rig driver who squeezes himself into narrow alleys. Know your blind spots!

This got me wondering though. I know most pilots get tested while flying a plane in the air, but what about driving a plane on the ground? How thorough are those tests? Those are big honking vehicles with gnarly wing spans, I’d like to see them practice their arm signals and navigate through cones in their pilot driving test. [Hilarynh Instagram via KWGN via Consumerist]


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