A Time to Kill
So, you just finished getting the last of your troublesome “hangar queens” out the door, and you and your fellow mechanics want to celebrate. What do you do?
Why, you sacrifice a camel on the airport tarmac of course.
At least that’s what a group ot Turkish aircraft technicians did. They were so happy to be rid of the last of a batch of troublesome aircraft that they sacrificed a camel. You see, Turks have traditionally sacrificed animals as an offering to God when their wishes come true. These mechanics killed the camel right on the tarmac of Instanbul’s Ataturk International Airport.
Well as you can imagine, the press had a field day with the story. They were all over the story like vultures on road kill. Images of a mechanic standing on the tarmac and holding up a piece of bloody camel meat was on the front page of several Turkish newspapers. The images angered transportation authorities and led to the firing of the senior mechanic on duty that day. I guess his termination was appropriate. After all, he broke the law. You see, in Turkey, you are only allowed to slaughter (ahem, sacrifice) animals in designated facilities. Apparently the tarmac of Turkey’s busiest airport isn’t on the list of designated facilities.
To read the full story, click here .
Gee, I’m almost finished writing my latest blog. Afterwards, I think I’ll celebrate by killing something — a beer!
I think firing the guy was a bit harsh. Granted, I would prefer they sacrifice something a bit smaller than a camel (they are huge!), like a chicken, but thats beside the point. The point is, it is natural for them to do this. It’s part of their culture, as strange as that may seem to us. Make them clean it up (if they havent already) and take off a week without pay. It’s not like they did it in the hangar or on the runway. Nobody was endangered (except for the camel). Shame on the British for selling them such crappy planes to begin with.
Reports are conflicting after doing some research on this. AP says he was sacked, other reports say he has been suspended during the investigation. The 1500 pounds(!) of camel meat was distributed amongst the workers for them to eat. It is reported that they all chipped in to help pay for the camel. The airport is all pissed off because they didnt ask permission to perform the ritual.
In order that I don’t find myself on the front page of a tabloid, I must stress that the beer I killed yerterday afternoon to celebrate my latest blog was done after work in a designated drinking establishment. The first killing went so well, I killed another one before going home.
Joe
The Avro RJ100 is a popular plane in Europe. The Turks inability to maintain it raises a lot of questions of their overall operation. Firing the senior tech only serves to mask the real issues.
I have to admit - there are days where I thought “I wish I had a camel to kill.” But I’ve refrained myself and figured it was more important to act professional. Not that I could even find a camel in Wisconsin. I guess I’ll just have to find an Editor to sacrifice next time I get the urge!
Y’know, I’ll bet that this stuff goes on all the time over there; just happened that someone had a camera handy. It was obviously not expected that anyone would object, that being the culture. Hey, now sacrificing beer…we do a lot of THAT in Wisconsin !