Jam71

My city (Christchurch, NZ) was badly hit by an initial 7.1 quake in Sept 2010, then even more damaged by a 6.3 quake right that was part of the aftershock sequence but was almost right under the city in Feb 2011...

Overall, despite the incredible damage here, we had 'only' 185 fatalities most. I was told by a seismologist who had been in Haiti just prior to our quakes that one of the reasons for the large loss of life was that homes there were built to withstand regular hurricanes and therefore were very top heavy and prone to collapse in large EQ's- is that correct?

great AMA! I'm a glider pilot, and love to fly as a passenger anytime - but ATRs make me nervous!

I actively avoid flying on them whenever possible. Not always easy as they are the dominant turbo prop where Iive. I fly as a passenger frequently in an area adjacent to a large mountain range which creates a lot of mechanical turbulence including rotors. My flight tomorrow is on an A320 which I'm looking forward to, whereas if it was on an ATR I would be feeling slightly nervous right now.

I see that you flew this type, am I being irrational in not wanting to fly through mild to heavy turbulence in this aircraft?

I read the GQ article, it was very good.

I am a 44 year old who suffered an event in my early adulthood that resulted in the loss of vision in one eye, and the end of a very brief flying career.

I can understand the fear and panic that Lubitz must have felt regarding real or imaginary visual problems, but thereafter my understanding of him evaporates....

I guess my question would have to be around the suicide/murder itself. In two well known cases - Silk Air 185 and Egypt Air 990 - the pilot simply pushed the nose of the aircraft into a very steep high speed almost vertical dive, yet Lubitz chose to dial up a relatively steep descent using the autopilot, which meant that those in the cabin had plenty of time and ability (no zero or high G) to attempt entry.

An 8 minute descent. What are your thoughts on the "slowness" of this when compared to a vertical dive which other pilots have used at this horrific time? Did he want others to suffer for longer? Was he leaving himself a way out (very unlikely to recover from a vertical dive in an airliner)??

Thanks - it seems we were relatively safe here in Christchurch because of the building standards. I read that the peak ground accelerations during our Feb 2011 quake were amongst the highest recorded (http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Earthquakes/Looking-Closer/Canterbury-earthquakes)

Certainly we have now had to demolish a large percentage of the buildings in the city, but those buildings did their job other than one or two failures (which accounted for nearly all the fatalities), and nearly all residential houses survived, damaged but with little loss of life.

I have been in California several times since 2011, and I am somewhat reassured by the stringent codes whenever I stay in a multi story hotel there.

I feel so bad for the people of Haiti who have had to endure such a terrifying experience but with an outcome that is so much worse....