kalyx522

I don't think someone who is capable of beating up a woman goes 47 years without doing so and then just "snaps" one day. Think about all the times you may have wanted to smack the sh!t out of your girlfriend or wife. Did you do it? No, because most men have the conscience and restraint not to. If he really did what he is alleged to have done, I doubt that it was a one time thing. For people who abuse others (domestic violence) it is habitual behavior. Also, about this pilot being nice. A lot of times you could never tell that a wife beater is who is really is because he is so charming in public.

Obviously none of us are in the position to say if this guy is guilty or not. But IMO, IF he IS guilty, it's not the first time he hit her.

acl65pilot

They are getting a divorce.

rickair7777

In a divorce, anything is possible. His ex might have snapped and assaulted him, resulting in various injuries to both parties. It would then be routine for the woman to cover her tracks by fabricating some abuse allegations...throw in some child abuse to seal the deal. Any divorce lawyer could have coached her through that. The jury's still out in my book.

moonkey

I condemn his behavior but in most cases people only judge the physical violence when there is a great deal of psychological violence before that happens, I don't justify it, but there might be more to the story and how much a person can put up with... How do you feel when somebody starts messing with your career?

Pilots are problem solvers who don't deal very well with emotional issues... It is sad that in this case, things ended the way they did. Please don't be so quick to judge, people end up in the wrong situation and then somebody starts pushing the wrong buttons...

syd111

I know some don't like even seeing this subject here but I for one am glad it is on the site. It should remind us that our industry has been through quite a few tough years recently and it has been tough on many of our friends and co-workers. Hopefully whatever happened in this situation serves as another wake up call to all of that if we are in a bad situation get help through friends family or any other resource available to us. I have flown with many guys in the last few years going thorugh some tough divorces by lending some support you can help some of these guys out. I don't know for a fact but I would think the way the industry has gone for a while can contribute to some of these divorce situations at home. JMHO

acl65pilot

Quite true, and there is a lot to this story.

moonkey

I've been through a divorce and sadly, when it rains it pours... Your life can crumble really quick as your future ex-wife happily takes everything you worked so hard for...

Whistlin' Dan

The Duke LaCrosse case was unusual in that it was one of the few cases where prosecutorial misconduct was both acknowledged and punished. More often than not, such prosecutors are merely "reassigned" to less-public positions or allowed to "resign"

Let's not forget the Tawana Brawley/Al Sharpton fiasco, or the McMartin pre-school case.

If any of you DAL types know this guy personally, this might be a real good time to call him up and offer your support. Just the call will mean a lot to him. A similar call to his attorney may also be useful, and may keep this from going to trial.

As pilots, we know how "wrong" the press often gets it when commenting on [lane crashes. Let's give this guy a break until ALL the facts come out.

acl65pilot

I know. It gets real ugly most of the time.

kalyx522

I'm not judging him (yet). What I'm saying is IF he did what he is accused of doing, it's likely that he was a habitual abuser. Because a man who is not capable of hurting a woman isn't suddenly going to beat and rape her. It's just not what a normal man does even in bad situations. I see what you mean about getting pushed to someone's breaking point... but I just don't think that most men are capable of beating and raping a woman (this is a good thing), regardless of far they are pushed. Let's take it to the extreme and say hypothetically this wife killed the pilot's parents. This could push the pilot enough to actually kill the wife. But the act of rape, that takes a different kind of violent mind. Anybody who's saying he might've just snapped... ask yourself if you could ever picture yourself breaking your wife (or exwife)'s bones in front your kids, and/or raping her???? Would you ever actually do it? I believe most men would say no, because they know that is just sick and unacceptable behavior.