Ted B.
My emotional reaction isn't "OMG THEY WERE FLYING DRUNK!" It was, OMG they were prevented from flying drunk.
I would see firing as more of a punishment if I weren't aware of how many terminations get overturned under arbitration. Plus, their conduct potentially put the pbuttengers of that airline, and anyone in the flight path of that craft, in danger.
Bo is absolutely correct with his drunk driving analogy. Some crimes only require a demonstrable attempt to complete them. Should they have been allowed to take off just so you'd feel better about the sentence?
You're crossing the line when you say "go to prison based on speculation." What speculation? When the plane is being pushed away from the gate, it's extremely logical to buttume that the pilot and co-pilot are planning on flying it. Are you truly going to argue that they weren't going to fly? Even the defense didn't go that far - they just argued that the crime hadn't been commissioned yet, not that there was no attempt to commit the crime.
I have always thought that sentences for attempted crimes should be comparable to sentences for "successful" crimes. It's usually not the will of the perpetrator that keeps the act from being completed. (I have a great story about a former co-worker of mine that involves a dress, a large butcher knife, an attempted home invision, and a hero cat that I could use to entertain and outrage you.)
scooter34
