Comments on: Billy Mays dies after US Airways flight — is there a link?

By: BucksterSF

BucksterSF — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:41:17 +0000

But seriously, probably had more to do with cocaine than a rough landing.

By: BucksterSF

BucksterSF — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:40:19 +0000

I’m guessing God blew in a sudden wind shear in a subtle way of saying “Enough of the screaming infomercials…”

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:19:58 +0000

As a follow-up since things have obviously changed a lot on the ground since this story ran: I think now we know that Billy Mays’ death had nothing to do with being a U.S. Airways passenger and a lot to do with being a cokehead.

As much as I despise US Airways (and they’re very, very high on my list of despicable companies), for once I think we can say “not their fault.”

By: ed

ed — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:14:03 +0000

Uh…what was Billy Mays doing flying on a commercial plane anyway? Billy and Sully have a fractional ownership through Avantair which was made quite obvious in several episodes through product placement! This just goes to show…if you own a plane (even fractional ownership) then fly it!
Ed

By: Douglas

Douglas — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:54:15 +0000

Really strange how some people make all these pronouncements
before anyone knows anything. This morning’s news reported
that the man had an enlarged heart, a condition that can, and in
this case was, fatal. Coincidence that he had something fall on
his head the day before? Maybe. But the night before my father
passed away he stubbed his toe. We can speculate from now
until the cows come home that his stubbing his toe caused his
demise. Let’s get a grip, folks. Let autopsy results be broadcast
before going off half-cocked on subjects not full understood.

Second, ‘Sully’, you’ve betrayed yourself. You cannot possibly be
the pilot of US Air 1549. Pilots can spell and write English
correctly and grammatically. Your use of the language is an
absolute disaster. And no airline pilot, no matter what airline
he flies for or used to fly for, would EVER make a remark in
public that it should be sued out of existence.

By: James

James — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:17:59 +0000

Shouldn’t we wait until all the evidence is in before making accusations and speculating? We may all have our gripes against airlines, but let’s be fair here.

By: tripso.com | FAA official: “There was no mention whatsoever of the possibility that Billy Mays wasn’t wearing a seatbelt”

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:02:43 +0000

[...] Over the weekend, there was speculation that Billy Mays had died because of injuries to his head during an emergency landing. However, a preliminary autopsy suggests the cause of death was heart [...]

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:44:20 +0000

CNN is currently reporting that he had heart disease and was likely killed by a sudden cardiac event in his sleep. At this point, I’d say the air travel connection is a strange coincidence, but not a factor.

By: Sully Sullinberger

Sully Sullinberger — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:29:46 +0000

It is obvious to me that my landing went so good due to the massive computer network found on the Airbus 320 but other piulots fling older 737 aircraft that have far less electronic aides have to rely on their own abilities. USAirways – America West should be sued out of existence I can say this since I no longer work there.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:14:47 +0000

I was shocked to see what had happened to Billy. Everytime I’ve been on a plane the attendants always check to make sure you have your seatbelts on before take off and landing. And what diffenence would it make if you did or not when sometime falls and hits you in the head? The seat belt isn’t going to help you then. My son and daughter-in law just flew on US Air and they also had very ROUGH landing coming and going. Maybe the pilots need a little more training in that area. Thank mine children are ok and alive. My prays go out to the Mays family

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:04:18 +0000

If US Air has so little money that they’re landing planes with bald tires, can’t imagine there’s going to be much for Billy Mays estate to sue for.

By: mike

mike — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:35:23 +0000

FAA got caught with their pants down. Injuries in a plane accident and NTSB probably wasn’t called in by the FAA.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:34:25 +0000

I still fail to see why Mays wearing/not wearing a seatbelt would make a difference in this case. Couldn’t something have fallen on his head if e was safely strapped and sitting in his seat?

By: flyr4life

flyr4life — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:10:56 +0000

Brian your an Idiot if you think us air killed him. Your prob one of the nutcases that are talking away while the saftey notices are going on in the airplane then first to sue when u dont know what to do. Any buddy remember valuejet now that was a crappy airline full of mistakes. Airtravle is dangerous why dont u stick to the ground dip^&^&@##

By: Charlie Z

Charlie Z — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:43:12 +0000

Chris – In fact, I do think that there may well be a connection, ala Natasha Richardson’s tragic case where her seemingly minor head injury turned out to be fatal.

My main concern was with the original title of your post, which has now been changed to something I think is more representative of the situation. It’s better to question whether there was a link between events from the flight and his death, rather than whether an airline “killed” someone, which many might interpret as implying possible criminal negligence (or worse, intent).