Las Vegas Radio Hosts Laugh About Steve Fossett Missing – Show Ignorance Regarding Subject Matter

I was cruising the world wide web this morning with the radio on for comfort noise when my ears perked up at the mention of the search for Steve Fossett. I expected to maybe hear some news and a bit of discussion about the dangers of flying in desolate places. What I actually heard nearly made me turn the radio off in disgust. Instead of turning the radio off I called into the show to correct some factual errors and express my opinion. I didn’t have time to say all that I thought while I was on the air.

The sad and sickening thing about this morning’s “Jody and Friends” show on KXNT was that the problems didn’t end with factual errors. No, the factual errors and overall ignorance evident in the hosts’ portion of the discussion were just the beginning. It got much worse when both Jody and Angel were laughing and joking at the situation.

Thankfully, this is the age of the Internet and getting the message to management is much easier than it once was. All I had to do was to go to the KXNT website and click on the “Contact KXNT” link under the “About Us” menu item at the top of the page to get to a list of managment with their email addresses.

I was so mad that I spent close to three hours writing an email addressed to Program Director Jack Landreth and Assistant Program Director/Executive Producer Patrick DiFazio. I advised in the email that I would post the letter on my blog, included a link to Parrothead Jeff, and advised that I would be happy to post thier reply not only on the same page as this post, but also in its own post to ensure maximum visibility.

I wish I had some way for my readers to hear the actual broadcast, but the site only appears to have links to podcasts and to listen to the live broadcast. In any case, here’s the email exactly as I sent it. I don’t know if KXNT will have any way for you to listen to the broadcast so that you may form your own opionion, but I look forward to their response and will post it as promised.

Dear Mr. DiFazio and Mr. Landreth,

I am writing to you because I think KXNT could air much better programming than it did today, September 9, 2007 with the “Jody and Friends” radio show’s discussion of the search for Steve Fossett. I called into the show because I could not believe what I was hearing – the hosts, Jody and Angel, were displaying astounding ignorance of the subject matter in what I consider to be a light-hearted, comedic attitude towards a subject which is the cause of grief for the friends family and fans of someone who is missing and may very well still be alive. I am one of those fans, but even if I were not my reaction would be the same on principle.

Jody and Angel displayed a shocking ignorance of the subject matter. They had obviously not done any research on the watch Mr. Fossett was wearing. Yes, it transmits a signal, but not GPS as Jody and Angel had said on the air – a fact which I corrected them on while I was on the air. If you go to the Breitling web site you’ll see that the watch only transmits a beacon for searchers to home in on. That signal is only strong enough to be received for a distance of 100 miles assuming flat land and calm seas (it’s line of sight) and then only at that range if the receiver is at 20,000 feet. The watch only has enough power to transmit for 48 hours. To activate the beacon, the user has to unscrew the cap over the wire antenna and pull it out to its full length. Either Angel or Jody (I can’t remember which) asked what good it was. I explained that it’s good over water or would have been good if he had made an emergency landing on a dry lake bed for example. What they still didn’t seem to grasp is that it’s better than nothing.

Second, Angel said on the air that because no beacon from the aircraft was detected that the beacon was “obviously turned off” because it could be activated or deactivated by the pilot. There are any number of reasons which would account for the beacon not to be heard such as a battery failure, terrain blocking the signal (the signal is line of sight), aircraft fire, etc. Both hosts seemed incredulous that an airplane could crash without bursting into flames or that someone would have taken off without filing a flight plan which are both quite common. Filing a flight plan is like telling someone in the FAA where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Mr. Fossett was on a flight which was to end at the same place it began and was not expected to last more than a few hours. This is like you or I driving out to the Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel for lunch. I tell people where I’m going when I do that because of the desolation and long distance. Mr. Fossett did the same thing when he told his friends at the airport where he was going and what he was doing. In any case, filing a flight plan is not mandatory, nor is deciding not to file one negligence.

I can’t remember if it was Jody or Angel who said, “Maybe he decided to do a loop.” While the aircraft he was piloting (a Super Decathlon) is aerobatic and capable of performing a loop, it further showed a lack of understanding of Mr. Fossett as an aviator and a person. He is highly mission oriented as evidenced by the fact that he holds so many records which require precision flying. Someone out on a scouting mission who reportedly had extra water and food on board in case of emergency in such a desolate place, especially if they have Mr. Fossett’s experience, does not suddenly perform a loop on impulse. I am not a pilot, but I have flown several aircraft with a pilot or instructor in the plane and I have been an aviation enthusiast for my entire life. I know quite a few pilots. I may not know everything, but I will say what I don’t know and I will acknowledge when I’m wrong.

Another issue I have with this morning’s show prep was the way that both Jody and Angel assumed that because Mr. Fossett has set many records and failed in some of the attempts and had to be rescued that he was just out being a daredevil again and maybe should be left to contemplate his fate and learn from his mistakes. If they had even been just watching the news, they would have known that he was on a scouting flight to look for places to break the land speed record. I’ve come to expect better than this from KXNT based on your other on-air talent such as Casey Hendricson and Alan Stock. I may disagree with both of them from time to time, but I have never heard them state opinion as fact. At least they say that they don’t know and ask the listeners if someone does.

Last, but certainly not least, Jody and Angel seemed to have no idea of the vastness and desolation of that part of northern Nevada when I spoke with them. They were trying to equate a search for a missing woman to the search for Mr. Fossett. To do so shows ignorance of the basics of the types of searches being conducted. You don’t search for a missing person whose belongings are found intact with an all out aerial search for several reasons. Urban areas offer too many places to be out of sight and too many ways to exit the search area rapidly such as taxis and buses. Another reason you don’t do such a thing is that the person’s time of departure and their direction and speed of travel are unknown. You need as many aerial assets as possible to search the tremendous tracts of barren land in northern Nevada due not only to the distances which need to be covered but also because of the rugged, inaccessible nature of the terrain. They did not seem to understand the frequency that the Civil Air Patrol is brought into search efforts for missing people (quite often in wilderness or over water searches) whether or not they go missing in an airplane, nor did they seem to understand that the Civil Air Patrol members are volunteers who do this for no pay and that the only thing being paid for by the government is the cost of operating the aircraft which with the Cessnas the CAP flies would amount to between $50 and $100 per aircraft (you can rent a similar airplane for around $100 per hour). The CAP members even buy their own gear such as uniforms and GPS receivers that are not mounted in the airplane.

The second part of this email concerns the manner in which the subject matter was handled.

The situation is that there is a person who has gone missing. Family, friends, and fans are all worried for the welfare of Mr. Fossett. A recent occurrence comes to mind which bears many similarities – the Utah mine collapse. In that case there were six people missing instead of one, but they were missing with grieving families looking on. I have to say in the interest of disclosure that my roommate and her family are from that part of Utah and that one of those six lost in that collapse was a friend of her mother from back in school. The first reports of that mine collapse also had us very worried because her dad had worked in coal mines in that area and her uncle still does – we thought relatives and friends might be trapped. I can understand exactly what Mr. Fossett’s friends and relatives are going through right now.

What I’ve been leading up to is that I find Jody and Angel’s overall attitude this morning disgusting. I can stand a frank and honest discussion on just when to call off a search. I can also handle a discussion on whether or not a search is being conducted because of the celebrity of the person who has gone missing. Want to discuss why so many older crashes are now being found that were missed in previous searches or if more resources should have been directed towards the woman in Las Vegas went missing? No problem.

I do have a problem when these discussions are conducted with a joking, laughing, comedic attitude. I think the first comment that set me off was when Angel just came out and said, “He’s dead” in the manner she did. It’s like saying that the miners in Utah were dead after a week. Many pilots and miners have survived for more than a week in the wake of an emergency or cave-in. I also have a problem with the way both Jody and Angel were saying that because he has had to be rescued before that maybe he needed to learn his lesson and that these are the breaks if you’re a “daredevil” doing daredevil things. That’s like saying that the miners knew the risks and should suffer for risking their lives as they did. Mr. Fossett is still human beings for one thing and was doing nothing different than any other private pilot at the time just as the miners are people who were doing their jobs of their own free will in spite of the risks. Even if Mr Fossett was doing something in a daredevil manner or the people trapped in the mine were in there playing around out of stupidity, the very idea of abandoning anyone to the desert or a coal mine for any reason is repugnant out of sheer decency and humanity. Death by exposure, dehydration, starvation, or asphyxiation is horrible – just ask a doctor. Joking about such subject matter or even finding humor in it is sub-human and shows a profound lack of empathy. I could even equate it to saying that a person deserved to be injured or die on our roadways because they know how bad the drivers are and the risks they pose, had been in accidents before so had required rescue, but decided to drive anyway and then joking about it.

I am still so angry I’m shaking. Rarely have I heard such something so disrespectful and unprofessional on the radio. I am having trouble finding the words to express my disgust. I cannot believe that KXNT would have no problem with this. Whether or not Jody and Angel would have had the same attitude when discussing the coal miners in Utah I cannot say, but I would hope that they would not. I hope that you will review the recording of this morning’s broadcast and consider this email in the light of what you hear. I would have brought this up on the air, but I sensed my time was running out and wanted to stick to the facts in the interest of an informed discussion.

I moved to Las Vegas in October of 2004 and have found KXNT to usually be my favorite AM station – initially because of Rush Limbaugh. I continued listening because I found another one of my favorite programs on your station – Coast to Coast. I found Alan Stock and Heidi Harris later on and then Casey Hendricson when he was hired. I was very happy listening to KXNT. I can’t listen to Rush now due to work and I’m asleep when Coast to Coast is on, but I still tune into Casey and Alan. That I was tuned in on a Sunday morning should say something.

Here’s what it all boils down to. I would hope that Jody and Angel would do some better show prep if they are going to discuss serious issues about which they do not already know. Doing otherwise reflects poorly not only on them, but also on those who have given them airtime. I would hope that they would attempt to use Google and do some research so that they do not appear to be so ignorant in the future. I would suggest that KXNT spend $50 each and send them on an introductory flight lesson at the North Las Vegas Airport – I took mine at West Air Aviation there. Maybe you could play the tape of the show for some of the pilots there to check my thinking against theirs? Maybe the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) or Civil Air Patrol (CAP) would be willing to assist them with gaining some aviation knowledge? I understand that KXNT is affiliated with CBS and that the local CBS television affiliate, KLAS, has a helicopter piloted by Ken Smith. It doesn’t seem like it would be too much trouble for Jody and Angel to sit down with Mr. Smith and discuss aviation as he is a licensed commercial pilot.

I would also hope that Jody and Angel apologize for their conduct and attitude concerning this matter in a very public manner. To be so flippant regarding this subject matter is analogous to using that same attitude when discussing the trapped miners in Utah. It is disrespectful to all those who are concerned for his well being and inappropriate, especially when they have no idea if someone who knows him is listening as they may well have been. That person may have turned off the radio rather than calling in out of disgust. I almost did. For all you or I know they may have decided to tune out from KXNT for good.

I also have to tell you that I am a blogger. My site is www.parrotheadjeff.com. I will post this email in its entirety on my blog. I look forward to your reply and would like to post that as well if you wish. If you do want me to post your reply, I would be happy to append it to the post containing this email as well as giving it its own post for maximum visibility. You should also feel free to comment on the post by using the comment function at the bottom of the page. I may not have a chance to check back for replies tomorrow until my lunch break due to work, but I will check and follow up.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Jeff Hollenbeck
Las Vegas, NV