Thursday, August 19, 2004

Corporate Cover-up!!!

Not really. The story is here. A DHL plane went down a few nights ago on a golf course near the airport here in Cincinnati, Kentucky really. The co-pilot was killed; the pilot survived. An investigation was launched. However, that didn't stop DHL from sending out someone to paint over their logo so it wouldn't show in the media.

This is standard operating procedure - SOP as the article's headline states. I never would have thought that airlines did this. Isn't it a bit like taking off a fallen soldier's rank insignia?

The other thing I find strange is the painter. Who is he? I would think a crash site investigation would be a sensitive place? Do they just send out some intern with a bucket of paint and a brush? That doesn't sound smart. The kid could make a day of it with his buddies, get drunk, strap each other in the seats and slap each other with barf bags. Maybe it's just some union guy who wants a day out of the hanger. But who gives the order? Who thinks, "We have a plane on the 9th hole, get me a cleaner before the press arrives!" Maybe there a professional whose job this is? Is there one located at each airport ready to go paint "fallen birds?" Or is this a guy who anonymously travels the country, maybe a pilot himself, that takes care of these things when he sees them on the news on a contract basis with the airline industry? Possibly his pay is based on how fast he can get logo's painted over. Possibly he's a "cleaner" like Jean Reno in Le Femme Nikita or Harvey Keitel's "cleaner" roles in Point of No Return and Pulp Fiction.

There's a book here somewhere.