… I couldn’t let it pass
I’ve been an editor all my life so things like this quote from a CNN story about an airliner fire tend to get my attention: Who talks this way?
“Upon arrival, we observed a heavy smoke condition in the entire cabin,” said Bob Donahue, chief of the Massport Fire Rescue Department. “We found a fire condition about midship in the avionics compartment underneath. …”
Obviously, Chief Donahue talks this way, but would any regular person ever talk about “a heavy smoke condition” or “a fire condition” when “smoke” and “fire” work just fine all by themselves.
Fortunately, the plane was on the ground and empty when this happened, so no one was injured by either condition.
And I’ll get back to my regular work now.
(Update: Looks like the 787 has a wiring condition, according to the Wall Street Journal.)
(Update 2: And a fuel leak condition. I think I’ll fly the older models until they get this Dreamliner nightmare squared away.)
