Scudrunners

So earlier this evening I get call from Matt Maisano the pilot of the Bonanza in the clip I shared a few days ago. He seemed sincere and said he would like a chance to explain his side of this story, especially since this post had gotten so many shares that he was getting hate mail from around the US and outside the US, 1 star reviews on his business listing, as well as several calls from the FAA and the local FSDO (flight standards district office) about what happened. The first thing he wanted me to know is that the clip that I had posted was edited down and a timeline of 30+minutes edited down to just a few. He sent me the unedited audio and it was true. There was a lot missing from the edited clip. Posting something like this out of context was not my intention and I told him that I would gladly post the original audio in place of the edited version. He said he regrets speaking the way he did, swearing on the radio, and that he could have handled it better. He said he wasn't aware that the pilot was a student until long after he had departed (and the audio confirms this) and that he didn't know it was his first solo until the next day. He explained that he had idled in the run up area for over 10 minutes waiting for the traffic on 19 to quiet down before departing. He said it wasn't his intention to announce as if he was entering runway 1 (and did not enter runway 1 until long after the student pilot had departed) , only that it was his intention to use it (though I can see how that could have been more clearly communicated). No matter what it seems there still is a good discussion amongst pilots in the interest of safety and learning without judgement. Here is the complete version and I encourage you to listen (especially fellow pilots).

https://archive-server.liveatc.net/…/M5 ... -16-2020-1…

I think it's important to admit when you're wrong. I appreciated Matt calling me to explain his side with humility. Everyone has bad days that they wish they could have done differently. In turn I admit that posting something like this out of context was not my intention. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt when I can.

Original Post:
"Overheard on the common traffic advisory frequency at M54 (Lebanon, TN) my home airport today. Two planes about to take off from opposite ends of the same runway. The other plane was a student pilot on his first solo. Could have turned out much worse. Bonanza (57W) insisted on taking off to the north (runway 1) while all the other aircraft in the pattern were landing and departing to the south (on runway 19). Generally when winds are relatively calm the preferred runway at Lebanon is 19 because in the event of engine failure on takeoff, your emergency landing options are much better (less populated) to the south."