In the 2012 movie “Flight“, Denzel Washington plays the heroic pilot who manages to save the lives of all 102 people on board his plane. He later gets in trouble for having alcohol in his system. I haven’t seen the movie, but obviously he is vindicated in the end. It goes without saying.
Millions of people will see the heroic black pilot in “Flight” but only a few know about the real-life episode of Flight 1771. From ask.com:
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 was a commercial flight that crashed near Cayucos, California, United States, on December 7, 1987, as a result of a murder-suicide scheme by one of the passengers. All 43 people on board the aircraft died. The man who caused the crash, David Burke (born May 18, 1952), was an angry former employee of USAir, the parent company of PSA.
Burke had been terminated by USAir for petty theft of $69 from in-flight cocktail receipts, and had also been suspected of other crimes. After meeting with Raymond F. Thomson, his supervisor, in an unsuccessful attempt to be reinstated, he purchased a ticket on PSA Flight 1771, a daily flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Burke’s supervisor was a passenger on the flight, which he took regularly for his daily commute to and from work.
Using his unsurrendered USAir credentials, Burke, armed with a loaded .44 Magnumrevolver that he had borrowed from a co-worker, was able to use the employee security bypass checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport. After boarding the plane, Burke wrote a message on an airsickness bag which he probably gave to Thomson to read before shooting him:
Hi Ray. I think it’s sort of ironical that we ended up like this. I asked for some leniency for my family. Remember? Well, I got none and you’ll get none.
The perpetrator, David Burke, was born May 18, 1952 to Jamaican parents living in Britain.
Previously Burke had worked for an airline in Rochester, New York, where he was a suspect in a drug-smuggling ring that was bringing cocaine from Jamaica to Rochester via the airline. He was never officially charged, but is reported to have relocated to Los Angeles to avoid future suspicions.
Hollywood’s hero:
Real-life demon:
But was there a real-life pilot hero? Of course there was. A poster at Stormfront pointed out that Captain Chesley Sullenberger heroically landed his craft in the Hudson River, saving all 155 people aboard. According to Wikipedia:
Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger, III (born January 23, 1951) is an American Airline Captain, aviation safety expert and accident investigator, best-selling author, speaker and consultant. Sullenberger gained fame when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549, which had been disabled by striking a flock of Canada Geese during its initial climb out, in the Hudson River off Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009. All of the 155 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft survived.
The real-life hero looks nothing like the movie version:
But Hollywood will only portray heroes as white when it feels there is no other alternative. Otherwise its top priority is lionizing blacks for their self-esteem – and to promote miscegenation. The self-esteem of whites, and their welfare, is of no consequence to them.
Jewamongyou's Blog 
Thats nothing, in the movie Prometheus, the black pilot sacrifices his life in order to save the world from the Aliens. That was after he had done his other racial duty by having sex with a white woman (Charlize Mandela-Hugger)
Also this – the Azanian guvaMUNT (owner of South African Airways), so well-known for its nobel (sic) anti-racist stance, announces they will no longer yake any white pilot trainees.
http://praag.org/?p=1107
As Auster would say – synchronicity! I was reading Taki today, about Schettino over in Italy.
Schettino is blamed for crashing his boat; and it is known that he is a womaniser. But it’s turning out that, once Schettino understood what was going to happen, he made sure to save the lives of everyone on board. The court case is going over whether Schettino’s negligence caused the initial crash.
The trailers to “Flight” make clear both that the captain was a drunkard and that the captain saved the passengers. They are leaving open whether the captain endangered the flight in the first place.
I’ll look up that Schettino affair. If it was his boat, and everybody survived intact, then what’s the fuss? As for Flight, I’d be very surprised if the black pilot is not made to be a saint in the end.
Blacks just aren’t given a chance to be heroes because no one will hire them as pilots. Bunch of raciss whites run the airlines, you know.
I think it probably dawned on me watching the first Transformers that Hollywood often has this kind of fantasy casting. In that movie there was a black computer whizz, Die Hard, was another classic. Of course the same goes with tv shows featuring doctors (Grey’s Anatomy) or lawyers.
So of course people must think there is something wrong with society when they find these groups underrepresented in those professional roles.
Assuming the Orientals take an interest in the history of their fallen rivals in the West, they’ll probably use Hollywood as an illustrative example of a civilization in decline.
Wesley Autrey, a black man, saved a guy who was on train tracks from getting hit by a train. The guy on the tracks was having a siezure. He saved him by jumping on the tracks and holding him down while a train road over both of them. Wesley Autrey is a example of a black man who is heroic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Autrey
Of course it happens – and look what recognition Autrey got for his bravery:
After the story broke, media attention rapidly spread. By the end of the next day, Autrey received a flood of gifts and phone calls of praise from complete strangers. He received $5,000 cash and $5,000 in scholarships for his daughters from Jerry Sherlock, the president of the New York Film Academy where Hollopeter attends school.[6] Autrey also received $10,000 from Donald Trump.[2] He was interviewed for several national morning news programs and was invited to be a guest by David Letterman, Charlie Rose and Ellen DeGeneres, among others.[7] Autrey, who had been wearing a periwinkle blue beanie with a Playboy Bunny logo, received a lifetime subscription to Playboy, a new beanie, and additional Playboy merchandise.[8] Autrey also earned the title “hero of Harlem” and also received a trip to Walt Disney World Resort. [1] On the January 9, 2007 airing of the The Ellen DeGeneres Show, he was presented with a $5,000 Gap gift card, tickets and backstage passes to the next Beyoncé concert in New York, season tickets to the New Jersey Nets, a signed jersey from Jason Kidd, a brand new Jeep Patriot, two years’ of car insurance from Progressive and a one-year free parking pass for use anywhere in NYC. His daughters were given new computers that will be updated every three years until they graduate from high school.[9]
Autrey, a construction worker, had been working on converting classrooms into a library at PS 380, John Wayne Elementary School, in Brooklyn. The New York Daily News’ Michael Daly said that the school was named after the actor (a District 14 superintendent was a “big fan”) but the school should be renamed after Autrey instead.[10]
On May 21, 2007, Autrey, who claimed to make $1,200 a week in his construction job, appeared as a contestant on the NBC game show Deal or No Deal. While he only won $25 on the show, as a token for his bravery, Chrysler donated a Jeep Patriot which was awarded to him (host Howie Mandel stated this would have happened regardless of how Autrey fared in the game); this was the second Jeep Patriot awarded to him which was valued at $24,710 plus the $25 that he had in his case which will be added to combine his winnings all together for a grand total of $24,735 on a television program.
Bronze Medallion ceremony
On January 4, 2007, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented Autrey with the Bronze Medallion, New York City’s highest award for exceptional citizenship and outstanding achievement, saying:[11]
Wesley’s astonishing bravery – saving a life in the face of an oncoming subway car – is an inspiration not just to New Yorkers, but the entire world. His courageous rescue of a complete stranger is a reminder of how we are surrounded by everyday heroes in New York City, and I am deeply honored to recognize one of them today.
New MTA executive director Elliott “Lee” Sander thanked him as well, saying:[11]
By selflessly leaping to the aid of a fellow New Yorker and performing a type of heroic act nearly unrecallable to the memories of veteran transit workers, Wesley Autrey has captured the spirit of our city.
Sander gave Autrey a year of free subway rides – 12 unlimited monthly MetroCards plus various items of MTA merchandise for Autrey’s young daughters.[11] Also at the ceremony, Walt Disney World Ambassador Lowell Doringo thanked Autrey and gave him and his family a week-long all-expenses paid trip to Disney World, as well as tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway. He also handed out Mickey Mouse ears and Mickey and Minnie plush toys to his daughters.[12]
State of the Union
On January 23, 2007, Autrey and his daughters were guests of President George W. Bush, seated in the balcony along with Dikembe Mutombo and others, at Bush’s 2007 State of the Union Address to the United States Congress. Bush said of Autrey:[13]
Three weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls, when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into a space between the rails, and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he’s not a hero. Wesley says: “We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms. We got to show each other some love.” There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey.
After Bush’s remarks Autrey received a long standing ovation.[14] Autrey proceeded to gesture outward to the crowd in thanks, shook the hands of First Lady Laura Bush, Second Lady Lynne Cheney, and embraced fellow honored guest Sgt. Tommy Rieman in a bear hug.
Rep. Joseph Crowley of Queens gave Bush credit for inviting Autrey and his daughters. Crowley commented on Bush’s invitation to Autrey:[14]
That’s wonderful. Often times people have a misconception of New Yorkers, of their willingness to put themselves in harm’s way, and he’s a great example of a true New Yorker.
See also: List of “Lenny Skutniks”
CNN Heroes
In December 2007, in a ceremony hosted by CNN to honor heroes who have made a difference in the world, Autrey received the “Everyday Hero” award.
Lawsuit against lawyer
An excellent example of what JAY wrote about a while back – “extra credit for being black” (or similar title). Mandela is another prime example – a man who sanctioned terror attacks against civilians, and whose wife (with his tacit approval) led mobs who tortured and burned alive hundreds of alleged “collaborators”, is lionised and worshipped as one of the greatest “humanitarians” in the history of the world: Yet when you ask one of his admirers “what has he achieved?” all they can think of is to say “well, he saved white S.Africans from a bloodbath”. Yet the truth is the opposite – the empowering of Mandela (by whites) facilitated a slow genocide happening now and no doubt a full-scale one to come very soon.
The number of blacks who have saved white lives can probably be counted on the fingers and toes. Whites, on the other hand, either individually or as societies, have saved the lives of countless millions of blacks.
“Yet when you ask one of his admirers ‘what has he achieved?’ all they can think of is to say ‘well, he saved white S.Africans from a bloodbath’.”
Yeah, and that argument is false, too. As Herman Giliomee (who was an opponent of apartheid) noted, despite international sanctions and foreign funding of the ANC, the White South African government still had the upper hand, militarily, over the ANC, when the whites more or less ceded power. They surrendered without being defeated. And, of course, the bloodbath is occurring anyway, which is why so many whites are leaving South Africa. White South Africans should have pushed for a separate ethnostate, rather than the empty words about protecting the rights of minorities in the new constitution, which the blacks will ignore whenever convenient.
Yet when you ask one of [Mandela’s] admirers “what has he achieved?” all they can think of is to say “well, he saved white S.Africans from a bloodbath”.
Nelson Mandela was turned into something of a saint out here in the USA. most people had not a clue as to the crimes (terrorism) for which he was imprisoned. Of course, Mandela spent a couple of decades in jail and conveniently out of trouble before his release and ascension to the rainbow nation’s presidency. If ever there was a politician who was a creation of the media, it was Mandela.
As for preventing a bloodbath, I suppose it would be churlish to point out that SA these post-apartheid days has one of the highest murder and violent crimes rate in the rapidly receding civilized world.
Anyway, it would be interesting to hear frontline updates from people who live in SA these days. Last time I was there, there was still white rule and it seemed to be a pretty decent place.
I was in Salem (MA–for Halloween) a few years ago, and ran into a fellow from South Africa running some cheesy fried-food concession. Asked him how the place was back there, and he sort of looked uncomfortable for a little while, and I said, ‘It’s not a civilized country anymore, is it?’
He laughed and said no. I smiled, wished him luck, bought several large fried things and went on my way.
What did you expect him to do? Instantly launch into a diatribe against blacks with a total stranger? I’ll tell you one thing about South African whites – they’re invariably very polite and well-mannered in a 1950’s sort of fashion. They’re also extremely patient and forgiving of the black mans frequent little (and even large) misdemeanours.
Library activism over the weekend. I borrowed the book “Race, Monogamy & other Lies” from my local library – it was featured in the new books section with a librarian’s choice sticker.
It features the usual stawman arguments that there are no races. So I added some comments through the chapter with references to Sesardic’s Biology & Philosophy (2010) paper, Edwards (2003) “Human Diversity: Lewontin’s Fallacy”, and Risch Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease (2002) Genome Biology, and Goodman Race FAQ.
Good for you! For those of us who fear repercussions from scribbling in a library book, we can always hide “bookmarks” with the same information strategic locations in the book.
Yes, I’m probably the first person to borrow the book too :) In my defense, I pay rates which pay for the library and expect better from them. If they asked I’d probably say some people at my work with an interest in evolutionary psychology borrowed it.
The bookmarks idea is good too. I might do that for Mismeasure of Man.
Jay :
Please don’t forget to include – possibly in an afterthought / footnote – the fascinating story of the attempted hijacking / murder-suicide of Fed Ex flight 705, where erectus Auburn Calloway attacked his three white colleagues in the cockpit with hammers and a speargun, injuring all three so badly that none of them could ever fly professionally again, for the rest of their lives.
Here’s a Discovery Channel re-enactment :
Sincerely,
– Arturo
crimesofthetimes.com
ps: I’m really surprised to learn that you do not know who Schettino is !
Thanks for the riveting and inspiring story.
You know Jay, in the same way that you were (apparently) unaware of Fed Ex flight 705, I was unaware of this flight you dedicate this blog post too, the 1987 David Blaire flight 1771. I was in Portsmouth New Hampshire when this went down, I should remember the events of that day especially because December 7th is my birthday, but I have no recollection whatsoever.
My oh my, why is that do you suppose?
Shouldn’t this stuff be common knowledge? Especially for a person like me, who considers himself something of an expert on aviation disasters.
In a sane society, the names David Burke and Auburn Calloway would be household names, as in, names that would be constantly brought up in reference to similar events. For example: in the millions of line-inches we’ve all read relative to the 911 attacks, why were these two names not evoked as some sort of historical precedent?
Answer: for the exact same reason, that practically noone has ever heard of the greatest maritime disaster in the history of mankind: namely the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustav (please google it).
Over 10,000 dead in the Baltic Sea in February 1945. I only heard about it three months ago. How f’d up is THAT?
I challenge you to ask your family, friends and acquaintances: how many of you have heard of the Wilhelm Gustav?
I learned about it through Forbidden History dot com. (go here: http://www.tomatobubble.com/id109.html).
Lastly: in 1998 another incredible crash occurred, Swiss Air flight 111. A fire in the on-board entertainment system brought the NYC to Zurich plane down. Of THAT disaster, I knew every detail five years later. But the names David Burke and August Calloway, heard them for the first time only today, and three months ago, respectively.
God Bless the internet. Now if only right-minded people like Jay could fight on to spread the truth.
Sincerely,
– Arturo
The Wilhelm Gustloff was but one of 3 large passenger ships carrying civilians (mostly children) and wounded soldiers which were torpedoed and sunk during “Operation Hannibal” (evacuation of East Prussia). The other 2 were the Goya and the Steuben which together accounted for another 10,000 deaths – due to the freezing Baltic winter there were very few survivors and both in absolute terms and %.the death toll was far greater than the Titanic. Many smaller ships were sunk as well.
Nobody wanted to talk about this for decades because there was zero sympathy for the Germans for many years after WW2 and, arguably, today also. I first read of the Wilhelm Gustloff (but not the other ships) back in the 1970’s courtesy of the Guinness Book of Records, but to the best of my knowledge these incidents were mostly hushed-up till after the German unification and are still almost unknown to the general public, although perhaps less so in Germany.
About 15 years ago the (London) Sunday Times (I think) finally wrote an extensive article about these events with some survivor recollections, all very possibly based on a book. What most shocked me was that, almost immediately after the torpedo hit and it became known that the ship was sinking fast, the ship rang out with gunfire as hundreds of badly wounded soldiers (who had no chance of escape) committed suicide.
I am a South African, still living in South Africa, so on the “front lines” so to speak. Look, it depends on where you live, and how you live. I used to live in Gauteng (Pretoria to be precise) and there you have to make sure that you travel a safe route to and from work, and always keep your eyes open. Even so, some collegues will turn up at work whitefaced to report that someone tried to hijack them at an intersection.
When we went to the ballet in Johannesburg we were pelted with rocks as we left after the performance, as the theatre is right next to Hillbrow. Another aquaintance was hijacked when he arrived at work early. Members of my family and close friends have been murderd. In two of the cases the murderes are still free.
I now live in the Western Cape, and things are much more avoidable here. Except when it is the strike season and they block the highway to the airport with burning tires or portable toilets. That is…inconvenient.
What strikes me most about people in SA nowadays, is that we still tend to “look at the bright side”. When someone is hijacked or robbed in their home and lives to tell the tale people will say: “At least you are still alive”. This happens even if someone is murdered, like in the case of a friend of mine. After the post-mortem her mother said to me “At least she was not raped, at least she was spared that.” When I think about things like that, I feel sick.
But generally we all live and work to the best of our ability. We go out and have drinks, and enjoy the lovely weather. Many people pretend that these things do not happen. Most of us, I think, deny the reality as much as we can. When it comes close, you wonder if you are next? Time dulls this, untill the next incident. But leaving seems almost unthinkable. How terrible to be forever a stranger in a strange land? Where no-one speaks your language, or understands your culture? But then, is that worse than being seen as a stranger in your own land? Or not living at all?
Thanks for this excellent account of SA today. It’s definitely worth reposting elsewhere and spreading around.
Before “liberation” in 1994 Pretoria was widely considered the safest city in South Africa, now it seems to be the most dangerous – probably because it is virtually surrounded on all sides by black townships and squatter-camps. Things are far from perfect in Cape Town and the Western Cape but, compared to most parts of the country it is idyllic and relatively safe, at least for now. In fact it is a huge tourist drawcard, frequently ranked by travel sites and magazines in the worlds top 3.
If you ever were to visit JAY, you would understand why. Trust me, I have been to over 120 countries (and territories) and for a sybaritic lifestyle at reasonable prices nothing can compare.
The crime stats for Cape Town look much worse than they are (from a white perspective) because it seems to be mostly intra-racial, esp with the coloureds and their gangs.
I hope to see hundreds of thousands more “lins” “trekking” back to the Western Cape and join in the movement to secede from Azania. it is the only hope left for white civilisation in Africa.
If only more Americans would look at what happened to SA and Rhodesia.
Why are people so ignorant, and why do they fall for the media hype that multiculturalism is good? Movies like the one mentioned are nothing short of propaganda.
Good article, Jewamongyou.