DMN Aviation Reporter Alexandra Skores

Alexandra Skores jumps on the phone to celar up our questions about the chaos in the air!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is the downbeat on ninety sevento one The Freak. We started at
six am. If you didn't know, I'm Kevin Turner, Danny Baylist,
Mike's Roy and JJ Jackson. Covereda lot of things today, including the
insight on the new Apple VR headset, some of the sports stuff, including
the search for the Cowboys new defensivecoordinator after Dan Quinn took the commander's job.
Learned more about the toxicology report onthe KC Mystery Three Dudes. We

(00:24):
found out they had a lot ofcocaine THHC and triple the amount of fentanyl
to kill a person in their system, and learned a little bit more about
Jordan Willis, the guy who wasthe homeowner at the time. Billboard Bayless
at eight caught us up on hotmusic trends two days ahead of the Grammys,
and then we just told you abouthow drinking could change. Two stories

(00:44):
of flight. I'm gonna do minefirst, Danny real quick, before we
talked to DFW aviation reporter Tales ofFlight Alexander Scores. Just see the Mark
Andrews story I did. Ladies,He's on a flight and this lady is
kind of trickled in it out ofconsciousness and found out that she was diabetic.
Well, he is type one diabetictoo, and he helped stabilize the

(01:07):
situation because he had a diabetes testingkit on him and he stepped into action
and found out what she needed andthat she needed to have some sugar in
her system and she was passed outand he saved the flight right there,
saved the lady on the flight.So good job, Mark Andrews. You're
a Baltimore Raven player of the day. Have some wings. Have some wings

(01:30):
from water Burger. We get morethan some get. The whole party.
I told you unbelievable, honey,butter boneless. Okay, yes, they
brought it to us, and there'snot like an agreement, but there's a
lot of food out there and theycertainly would appreciate it if we mentioned that
it's delicious. We don't have toforget all that. That was amazing,

(01:51):
honey, butter boneless wing. I'mso full and I'm gonna go have an
It hits good too when you havelike a hot one too after that and
then you go back to it andthen you just get a fry or too.
Oh my god. That is ina world of wings that we live
in where they're everywhere, those areefing no cap speaking of being in a

(02:15):
world of wings. What happened inFlorida? Danny Well Mikey The FAA reported
that a small aircraft, under unknowncircumstances, crashed into a mobile home park
in Clearwater, Florida. The smallplane smashed into this mobile home park.

(02:40):
Not only did it kill the pilotof this small aircraft, who was the
only person on board, but italso killed two people that were in mobile
homes on the ground. It turnedinto a big fiery situation. There was
a post crash fire. They don'tknow why this happened, but it's just

(03:00):
another story in what seems like oneevery day of these small planes, single
engine planes that are just dropping fromthe skies. Not to mention all the
other big airline stories, the doorplug flying off, the lady that said
that it wasn't a real person onthe plane from last year. I mean,

(03:22):
it seems like it all started withher. Yeah, And it seems
like every day or every week,we've got some big top of the headline
story about some wild ass aviation stuff. We've asked this question a lot with
ourselves, like is this a mediathing where this is a thing where media
companies that are saying, look,really be looking for airline news because that's

(03:44):
popular now. And obviously we haveour occasional stories of an unruly passenger here.
There just another one today that's someoneon a Jet Blue flight. One
thing we've really asked multiple times.I feel like in the last month on
the show, as we've been likediscussing is it happening more often than usual?
Are we just seeing it more oftenthan usual because of our phones and
timelines and on the internet all thetime. It's just like anything else.

(04:09):
You know, you you you buyone pair of plaid pants from Instagram,
and then your entire feed is filledwith different companies that sell plaid pants.
It's the same way with news stories. I see that on Google, and
when I go to Google and Iopen up my news page and I've reported
on something two days ago, there'stwo or three stories that are related to
that, it is self fulfilling.Yeah, but you look incredible in those

(04:30):
plaid pants you have on Thank youyou do, thank you so much.
It's a wild choice on our phone, so a wild choice. But he
pulls it off. He does pullit off. Hot forever plaid pants.
But this is won't believe it?Why to get the answer. We have
our suspicions on what might be goingon, but let's get an answer from
an expert. Joining us now inthe Freak Hotline, the home of the
Dallas Maths and Inside Sports Medicine withtoo sorrel ninety seven to one the Free

(04:54):
k E g LFM. We're joinedby Dallas Morning News d FW aviation reporter
Alexandra Scores. Good morning, Alexandra, Good morning, Welcome to the Freak.
Have you ever have you ever beenon the radio before? I've done
a couple of little hits here andthere, but not not recently. Actually,

(05:15):
don't be nervous hands. What stationshave you done hits on before?
A couple with KR and then TexasStandard, So those are all good stations.
I don't even view them as competitors. So that's good you didn't name
any of the enemy. I havesomething for Alexandra for number one. I
was kind of surprised, more ofa statement than a question. I was
surprised that the Morning News actually hada created job for someone with your credentials.

(05:43):
The question is what what qualifies youas someone that expertly reports on these
items, right, I think it'sa We're in a huge aviation market right
now, Southwest and American or headquartershere and so there's a lot of a
lot of poll for aviation and folksthat are just genuinely interested in what's going

(06:06):
on. So I've covered business inNorth Texas almost a little over two years
now, but I jumped into thebeat about a year a little over a
year ago now, and it's amonster of a beat when you have two
major airlines here and then Dallas FortWorth International Airport, which is massive and

(06:31):
the second busiest airport in the world. So it's a lot to learn,
for sure. But we've been chuggingalong. Alexander, your right about it?
Talk about it. Have you everactually been on an airplane? Question?
Yes, I'm originally from Chicago,so definitely fly back home every now

(06:51):
and then, and you know,I fly for you know, vacation,
and you definitely try to get outand see airlines that I cover and be
ingrained in the communities that I cover. All Right, we got a lot
of questions for you. MUSA startwith this one because this is what led
me to finding you in emailing youfour days ago. Dallas Morning news headlines

(07:13):
small planes are crashing almost once amonth and Dallas Fort Worth killing flyers.
Right, why is this happening andis this happening more often than usual or
is this just something that's in thenews more often than usual? Right?
Right? I mean, statistically speaking, it's going down. If you look

(07:34):
at the National Transportation Safety Boards data, we are seeing a decrease. However,
you know, when these things happen, it's reported, you know,
if it's fatal. There was areally tragic incident with a father and his
two sons that left for a tripand never came back. Yeah, he

(07:54):
was in North Texas surgeon. Soagain, these horrible they're horrible tragedies,
and it's just you're inclosed on asmall plane, there's less protocols compared to
you know, a standard commercial fightwhich may have more over one hundred passengers
on it. You know, there'sa lot more that the FA makes those

(08:15):
flights do. So that's why wedon't see you know, commercial commercial airlines
are safe. You know, theyhave protocols, there's a lot of checks
that they need to run before theyrun one of those flights. But smaller
aircraft. It's just you. Obviously, you still are working with air traffic
controllers. You know, there's stillrules, but it's it's smaller and there's

(08:37):
more opportunities for something to go wrong. Alexandra Scores from Dallas Morning News joining
US now on ninety seven to one. Okay, so let me ask you
this. You said that statistics aregoing down as far as these smaller aircraft
incidents happening, But I feel likethe amount of these stories has increased.
Is it due to a the factthat I've clicked on a couple of these

(09:00):
stories and now the algorithms are areassuming that I want more of these stories,
or has there been some kind ofdirective from possibly publishers or editors across
the board that are saying, hey, we need to make sure that these
airplane these aircraft stories are being reportedon with maybe a higher frequency than normal,
Like it's the hot topic right now, so therefore it gets more attention.

(09:24):
You know, I don't. Imean, I'm sure the algorithm thing
is definitely there, but I don'tthink it's necessarily coming from media outlets.
I mean, I know at theMorning News, you know, if there's
a fatal accident or you know,it's something that impacts our community, We're
going to report on it because Ithink people have a reason to know there

(09:46):
was a crash that in Plano,and you know, it was really obvious.
People saw the plane. You know, people ask questions. So I
think we have a duty to kindof the public and our readers to tell
them what happened, investigate, findout what we can because they're incredibly tragic
situations, especially when they're fatal.So there's definitely that kind of you know,

(10:13):
fear amongst people, like why whydid this keep happening? But again,
it is our job to get thatnews out and make sure that folks
know what happened. We had oneof your colleagues, Jason Janic along time,
a long time friend of mine,that was actually on site at the
small plane that crashed in front ofthe mother's daughter diner. I guess not

(10:37):
a minor ago, yeah, abouttwo months ago, and it just seemed
like right around that time, boy, it's like every day more airplane stories,
and that led to obviously, Imean, look, look we can
say, like Tiffany Gomez, theyou know that m effort is not real.
Crazy plane lady is what she's beendubbed as online or whatever. That
did almost start. But planes areinteresting inherently because they're huge things that fly.

(11:01):
It's kind of always awesome. Buthere's my question for you now.
But yes, are you gonna askAlexander to explain lift to Mike? Uh,
don't make her do this. I'mnot ask her to explain it,
Alexander. My question is would youfeel safe flying in a Boeing seven eighty
seven Max nine hundred at this point, that's a great question. I actually

(11:26):
to the Boning Boeing earnings call thisweek, and you know, the FA
has done a lot to make surethat folks are flying. Those are flying
again. So I think you knowwhat our government and what our elected officials
are saying is, you know,air travel is the safest form of travel

(11:48):
ultimately in the US. And youknow you can see that. The proof
is in the statistics if you lookat we haven't had a major air crash
since two thousand and nine, andyou know it is a safe way to
travel. The FA has done alot of checks on those planes. Again,
it's you gotta go with what they'resaying, and you know, at

(12:13):
the end of the day. Thisis the largest manufacturer. They've run the
checks, and you know, Ithink it is the safest form of travel.
Do you cover hot air balloons?I don't. I don't, but
it would be that would be cool. That would be an interesting a whole
separate wing of the Dallas Morning Newswith all the disasters and hot air balloons.

(12:37):
Alexandra have a question, So theaftermath of a major plane crash has
got to be one of the mostdevastating events to have to investigate. Have
you You said, you've only beendoing this for about a year, but
God forbid, if anything like thathappened, would you have any type of

(12:58):
access to be able to report onthe I hate to say it, but
just that that that whole scene ofcarnage, because that's a that's something that
we never see. We see filmsof on on YouTube or whatever, of
the aftermath of car accidents. Wesee war footage, but that way.
Yeah, but that mystery of theimmediate aftermath and investigation of a plane crash

(13:20):
has always just been kind of likesomething that better better reported on and never
seen. Is that something that wouldever peak your interest at all to to
to get, you know, tobe privy to what actually goes on in
those investigations. Oh, of course, of course, you know, we're
always trying to investigate. Even lookat like the near miss calls and the
runway incursions that are happening. Ithink the probably the one that hoot headlines

(13:46):
the most in the rate last yearwas probably the south Last jet and the
FedEx jet in Austin last year.So when those sorts of things happen,
obviously we're looking for investigative reports.I hope you know that. You know,
we don't have to report on thosethings, right, we want to
hold our elected officials accountable that thisis the safest form of air travel.

(14:09):
And you know those incidents don't happen, you know, but when they do,
of course you know we're looking intoit. Given that you're an aviation
reporter, this might be This willbe my last question. If the guys
have anything else that's on them isyour favorite alcoholic beverage aviation gin? You
know, I can't say I've actuallyever had it. It's Ryan Reynolds,

(14:31):
right, I think it's Ryan Reynolds. She's a ten ger ay girl.
Come on, nah, Yeah,you do any stuff with drones like the
delivery stuff we got or the futureof personal drones because I'm waiting on that.
We've got a retail reporter. She'samazing, Maria Halkias, who's covering
Walmart's introduction of drones. I actuallycovered a drone museum in Cato Mills last

(14:56):
year and they have some cool historicdrones over over there. Well, thank
you Alexander for your time this morning. We appreciate it, and you kind
of cleared up the question we'd beenasking asking. You know, this is
kind of just it's algorithm based,man, yea truly, numbers say it's
safe for a number numbers say it'ssafer than ever. Just like, thank

(15:18):
you Alexander for your time. Youcan find Alexandra's scores over at the Dallas
Morning News. For ant of yourplane based in inquiries, just log onto
Dallasnews dot com and find out Alexandra'sstories. Bye, Alexander, thank you
for your time this morning. Thankyou have a nice weekend. You two
there, she goes, Alexandra scores. What score? That's k oh r

(15:43):
E S y S. Kris.There's the answer. We've been asking to
ourselves for a month and none ofus did anything about it. She said,
you were right. I said itwas not clear. It was it
was clear. Just because you didn'tdidn't land was confirmation you didn't get the
points for it. We're we're prettymuch doing better at about most things,
but it feels like we're doing worseat all of them because every single time

(16:06):
it's on Twitter and everyone for free. Microcosm of the way this business works,
this business of this world, thisworld and the media and how things
are reported, and the and thefact that that we show interest a little
bit of interest in one subject andthe next thing. You know, you're
led to believe because of the waythat the algorithms are designed to give you

(16:26):
what they think you want, thatthe sky is falling. Well, how
are we going to take it back? Turn off your cookies? I don't
know, Kevin, I don't knowthe answer, but I'm tired of it.
I want to tired of it too. On a playcepthing for you guys
here, all right, this isthis could be your challenger for the Olympics.
This is the Enhanced Games. Andthey a billionaire, Peter Thiel,

(16:52):
is funding this thing called the EnhancedGames, and it could be a rival
to the Olympics. And they're goingto allow athletes to use performance enhancing drugs,
which they should have baseball on theiron their list of games that they're
going to do that. Here's thetrailer for the Enhanced Games. I am
the fastest man in the world ofbroken Usain Bolt's world record, but you've

(17:15):
never heard of me. I ama proud enhanced athlete. Now we have
important allies in our battle for bodilyfreedom as we build the first sporting event
that allows performance enhancements and pays allathletes. When we first announced the Enhanced
Games, the Olympic Committee said wewere a joke, an idea that couldn't

(17:40):
be taken seriously. But venture capitalistsknow that the future isn't a joke.
Today, I'm proud to announce seedfunding from investor Christian Angermeyer, PayPal co
founder Peter Thiel, former coinbased CTEOBology, Strivivasen, in many other leading

(18:00):
investors. Okay, name the otherleading investors. Okay, then one of
the one of the coin guys orcoin base guys. It's not going well
over here for me. Let's advanceand steroid on my picks. Oh,
this is pretend pretend commercials does soundlike a bayliss Bit pro PD competition featuring

(18:22):
five events swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, track and field, and combat,
which I think they're just gonna shooteach other. Combat that was the free
game you got with Atari twenty sixhundred. I need to hate combat that
game. Yeah the tanks, right, yeah, find like two tanks.
But then as I matured, Istarted liking a little more more a pitfall

(18:42):
guy. It's just pa, that'sall it is. Okay, this sounds
dumb. It does sound real dumb. But when you let it simmer for
a minute, because what's their tagline, Uh, we support science, you
know, they kind of trick youat the end. I don't know.

(19:03):
I don't know. I mean,look, I'm not gonna want to.
You know, we barely watch andcover the Olympics. But why why are
we all so steadfast on that?Now? If you're talking about like anabolic
steroids that kill people young, like, I get that, but there's probably
some yeah, probably some middle groundof enhancing one's performance to make you better

(19:29):
at it, and I don't likeit. It seems like no why because
no, why? Okay, becauseit's not good for the body and people
die Okay, that's a good reason. No, But if that is as
science advances being eliminated, then whynot in a world of more choices?
Well that sounds weird. In aworld of more choices, yes, Like

(19:51):
think, for example, Live Touryou can go get and there's a money
element there. So it's not adirect comparison here. But if you want
to go play sports that will allowyou to do steroids, that there could
be money there if enough people andenough funding was behind it, and enough
people were like I wanted to godo that. But who's going to break
the seal two to cover this stuff? To carry it? You know?

(20:15):
I mean there's such a dark cloudthat that that kind of looms over the
whole idea of performance enhancing has gotanything that's labeled with that, No,
no legitimate network is going to touchsomething like that, right. This would
have to be some online only streamingthing that you know that which you can
be PayPal guy gets supports and that'sthe thing. It could be more profitable

(20:37):
there and then maybe not have thewide Baseball Like, look, these sports
that I mentioned out there, butif a big sport were to dip their
toe into that, Baseball was nevermore exciting than what everyone was roided up
and bashing home runs now wrong,right, well, agree, wrong to

(20:57):
do that, cheating, unfair,We all get all that, well let
off. All the guys are like, yeah, I'll do that, and
I have success, and then somenetwork did take it. I mean,
the Lift Tour is still trying tofigure out how to get more broad appeal,
you know, and the CW iscertainly not it like they're still trying
to figure that out. But ESPN'sprobably gonna bite on that at some point.

(21:21):
If someone like that was gonna biteon the Lift Tour at some point.
The problem is you're going to haveto get exceptional athletes to take part
in this, because if you getguys that are, you know, Class
A baseball players that probably were nevergoing to reach the majors and they have
to take steroids just to get asgood as somebody that's already in the majors,

(21:42):
there's no interest in that. You'vegot to get record like this guy
claims I'm faster than Hussein Bolt.You're gonna have to get that. You're
gonna have to got I hit eightyeighty seven home runs at one hundred and
sixty two game season, I'm fasterthan you know what I'm saying. You're
gonna have to get somebody that's alreadyaccept and then take them above to be
better than the guys that are doingit clean. Otherwise there's no there's no

(22:04):
interest. Yeah. And if you'rewatching a one hundred yard dash or one
hundred meter dash, which every onewhich one is it? Hundred yard meters
und right, and the winner runsit in eight eight second whatever the record
right in the record mid to highnine seconds, and some guy runs the

(22:25):
sub nine right, I don't know, I don't do math. Is that
awesome? And you know that they'recompletely Ben Johnson juiced up? Like okay,
I guess he's running a little fasterthan I saw Bolt run, Like,
what's the real value there? Orif they break Sergey Boupkaz or whoever's
got the pole vaulting record and theybreak it by a foot like that just

(22:45):
hit me? Oh cool? Likethat just hit me. The only people
would be interested in this are peoplewho are doing steroids themselves, because it'll
be very relatable. And I guessto think in scream that you ran one
hundred meters yards faster any human everhas done it. Yeah, okay,
there's that's somewhat interesting. But I'mtalking more overall, made sure our professional

(23:07):
leagues. How is this monetized?That's what it all comes down to.
Can you make money off of it? If you can, it'll probably happen.
Damn. Well, there's the enhancedgames will be on top of this.
Not about the penis coming up next. You got your birthdays you can
get to that. Your talkbacks andthe red microphone button on the iHeartRadio and
I do have an update. Itjust dropped about ten minutes ago on the

(23:27):
big stolen vehicle car chase in Dallason thirty five. Next on Nice seven,
won the free