This article is all the proof I need that the NYT spends about two minutes researching articles and even less time understanding them.
For the record, the 104 aviation accidents it cites for Alaska in 2007 include every single aircraft accident - meaning any fool who has a plane and crashes in it. This is not the number of actual professional pilots, but any person with a plane. Heck - some of the people who crashed these planes might not even have pilot's licenses. (I'd have to read every accident report to know for sure.)
And as for passengers who load their own baggage? I've never seen this - it sure didn't happen at the places where I worked. (Why on earth would you want passengers to load their bags? What exactly do you expect them to know about weight and balance?)
The biggest question though is why any pilot would let a photographer take a picture like this. Talk about unprofessional.
Sigh. Back to the book........
