The San Francisco Citizen

Check the now infamous Bill O’Reilly / Fox News video of San Francisco. Says Bill, in the context of personal safety:

O’REILLY: “No, you wouldn’t go to the Presidio at night in San Francisco. I wouldn’t.”  

Check out the white zone up by the Golden Gate Bridge here. That’s the Presidio - it’s completely surrounded by low-crime white millionaire neighborhoods. Perhaps the famous Google Street View Car Incident from earlier this year ranks as the most noteworthy crime in the Presidio in recent memory.

The scariest thing ever in the Presidio seen at night - old school Halloween decorations near Arguello:

Click to expand.

Now, it’s easy to see why Bill might not like the official street signs of Presidio Boulevard, but would that sight prevent him from completing an evening constitution? Or maybe Bill confused this park with another? Golden Gate Park has it’s share of dangerous foxes, coyotes and feral cats.

That must be it. Otherwise, one might think old Bill doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Here’s what’s up with that - If you operate a television news station in the San Francisco Bay Area, life’s a little easier when you don’t plaster your rolling stock with gaudy graphics.

‘Cause if you put your station name on your vans, then some vandals will come around with a can of spray paint (what’s that? you yourself don’t carry spray paint with on your person at all times?) and write “Fuck The Corporate Media” all over said vans. Thusly.

Circa 2008 - a live remote capable truck on the streets of San Francisco, anonymous and therefore safe from mischief. Click to expand:

(If you don’t believe that, then type in “954 Front” in the San Francisco section of Mapjack. See?)

Of course, “Fuck the Corporate Media” was quite the meme back in 2005. Witness the start of the downward spiral of Josh Wolf (aka “Insurgent,” srsly) that ended up landing him in the hoosegow.

But now, this “legend among journalists” is with the corporate media (or what looks like the corporate media, what with all the ads ’n stuff) himself.

Isn’t it ironic, dont’cha think?

First,  let’s all agree that denial, (also called abnegation), is:

 ”is a defense mechanism‘ postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept…”

Can a radio station be in denial? Well, how about the coverage KCBS AM 740  is giving to yesterday’s crash landing of a traffic-reporting Cessna 172. KCBS reports this incident thusly: “Plane Lands near I-80 Ramp” with an account about how “freeway traffic was not affected by the landing”.

Firstly, KCBS used this in the webpage URL: “Plane-Blocks-I-80-Off-Ramp” - so this was spurious information? Or maybe the plane blocked the off-ramp, but not the freeway? Secondly, other media sources correctly called this incident a “crash-landing,” as that’s what it was. Thirdly, KCBS reported last month’s other crash landing of a Cessna 172 in the bay area as a “crash landing.”

The dash of a Cessna 172 that didn’t crash land in the bay area last month, from the incredible Telstar Logistics Flickrstream

There’s lots of ways to report a story. KCBS certainly chose a drama-free approach. As must be obvious by now, you can put a Cessna 172 (that has a landing weight pretty close to a tiny 2-seat Smart Car) down in a very small piece of real estate, but yesterday’s crash landing could easily have been fatal.

So, better check yo self before you wreck yo self (again). Just saying,

Today’s headlines include news of the crash landing of a Flying Vikings, Inc. Cessna 172 in Oakland, California.

The San Jose Mercury News earlier reported that N61736 ”had a gas leak,” but now is going with ”mechanical problems” as the cause of this incident. KCBS, which labels this single engine plane the KCBS Radio Traffic Plane, is reporting the pilot claimed the oil pressure guage plummetted just before the engine conked out. This aircraft, built in 1974, suffered “substantial damage” during an incident in 1981.  

The following language, written before today’s accident, appears on the Flying Vikings website:

Since Flying Vikings also has a contract with local news gathering organizations, students are offered opportunities to build time that no other school can. Fly 3 to 6 hours a day and get paid.

A visual aid to help imagine yourself staring at a motionless propeller low over the Bay Area. Click to expand:

The dash of a Cessna 172 and a view of Candlestick Park, from the incredible Telstar Logistics Flickrstream

Here’s a photo of a different Flying Vikings aircraft, a Piper that suffered a fatal accident in 2006. Readers may find this link, relating to the Piper crash, of interest, however, it might lead you to unproven speculation about the cause of that tragedy.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Cal OSHA should be able to determine the cause of this forced landing fairly easily.

A relatively happy ending to a scary situation.