Keep it off. First, unless I missed something there is only one episode about the Tenerife crash. Second, if memory serves he was not portrayed as a villain at all.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I suppose Captain van Zanten as portrayed in "Crash of the Century" would fall under Hair-Trigger Temper.
The answer to life and everything is in this place As are the numbers most favored by Two-Face
There are two episodes now. "Crash of the Century" is a special. "Disaster at Tenerife" is episode 3 in season 16. Both are based on the facts of the investigation rather than Jan Bartelski's whitewash, which seems to have influenced some of the contributors here. YMMV, of course, but Mayday (the show's official title, which should be corrected; ACI is an alternate name) interviewed Bob Bragg, one of the surviving members of the Pan Am crew and I think he has a little more insight into the crash than Jan Bartelski.
I studied this crap and I can't even use it.
On the other hand, the PanAm crew may have a reason to pin the blame for the disaster on the KLM crew.
I do not agree with having the Historical Villain Upgrade trope either way; that trope relies on a contrast between Real Life and fictional deeds and I think that here there isn't much if any contrast.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I'm trying to be tactful because you're a moderator, but your comment about the crew of the Pan Am flight is in poor taste and demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge about how aviation accidents are investigated.
Taken together, the individual events and errors of the day would not have caused a disaster had it not been for the actions of the KLM captain. The CVR transcripts bear this out. There is no blame to pin. That's not how the NTSB works. They assign primary causes and contributing factors and make safety recommendations.
In the end, Bob Bragg held no ill will toward Van Zanten. I realize this has nothing to do with the almighty trope, but I couldn't let the comment stand.
And for Christ's sake, ATC was *not* watching a soccer match. That's a myth and someone needs to fix it.
I studied this crap and I can't even use it.
Unless I missed something, the opinion of the Spanish and Dutch investigators did implicate the Pan Am crew's decisions. Their opinions also matter if they are referenced in-story.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I'm tempted to do a terrible thing and necro this thread to say that I still believe the trope applies, even if it's in a YMMV sense.
For one, "villain" in the trope name doesn't have to mean "actively malicious". If Historical Hero Upgrade applies to whitewashing things other than heroics, then the same should realistically apply to its counterpart. Verbal unprofessional jerkassery should count, if there was no evidence for it in the investigation materials and the only believable motivation for it to be added to the script appears to be a desire to make the perpetrator unambiguously unsympathetic.
For another, I am not so willing to dismiss Mr Bartelski's characterizations of the men he knew personally simply because he was (self-admittedly) biased in favor of his former employers and colleagues. I am aware that "he would never" is a common reaction to every accusation of someone committing horrible crimes, including criminal negligence, and their actions beforehand. But dismissing this account outright sounds like a waste to me.
On a personal note, I find it an important fact that it doesn't take jerkassery or villainy to make the absolutely unthinkable happen. "Communication breakdown", dismissed as a cause in a thread next to this one, was definitely a factor in the tragedy.
Again, if the rules of YMMV allow it, I would like to assert that this trope entry (edited and de-nattered) can have a place there.
It is ABSOLUTELY FALSE that the air traffic controllers at Tenerife were listening to a soccer match. This needs to be removed, but the user-unfriendly platform prevents me from doing so. Do you need a dozen or so sources? Because there's enough whitewashing of Tenerife on this page. It wasn't the result of a "communication breakdown." YMMV needs to be added to half the entries, and that's being charitable.
I studied this crap and I can't even use it. Hide / Show Replies
I guess this is going to get ignored, since it's impossible to send a message to the guy who wrote the entry and I can't figure out the user-unfriendly markup language.
I studied this crap and I can't even use it.
It is possible to message someone by going into the page history and clicking on their name.
However, I have to stress that the page is solely about what is shown in the TV series. Not about what happened in Real Life.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I think we should add a "Fridge" section of this show. Who's with me?
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Pulled this example because I couldn't figure out if it was an example or not thanks to the ridiculous amount of natter. If it is, could someone please clean it up and read? Thanks.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them. Hide / Show Replies