Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Putting the Scare in US Airways
It's been a difficult couple of days for US Airways. Already burdened with a not-so-good reputation, two unrelated events definitely didn't help matters today, giving the beleaguered carrier another black eye, or two.
First, a piece of a wing fell off a US Airways flight, cracking a passenger's window. The 757 lost about eight square feet of wing in mid-air while en route to Philadelphia. There was some minor damage to the tube, a cracked window, but ultimately nothing terribly serious - although extremely scary. The flight didn't even cut itself short, electing not to divert to BWI. There were no injuries, although at least one passenger did lose her cookies in fright, according to some news reports.
However, the other piece of scary news involves a pilot mistaking his cockpit for a firing range, accidentally shooting a gun while landing in Charlotte this Saturday. Seriously. Nobody injured here and pilots are allowed to carry arms, thanks to some panic legislation in the wake of 9/11. There was no danger to the aircraft as a result of the discharge, according to officials, but the A319 has been taken out of service, at least temporarily.
Does this mean US Airways is unsafe? No, of course not. These are both freak accidents. But having them happen so close together is more than a little unsettling. For the nervous flier, it's not a good sign and just another reason to avoid an airline that doesn't generally have a lot to attract fliers with to start.
First, a piece of a wing fell off a US Airways flight, cracking a passenger's window. The 757 lost about eight square feet of wing in mid-air while en route to Philadelphia. There was some minor damage to the tube, a cracked window, but ultimately nothing terribly serious - although extremely scary. The flight didn't even cut itself short, electing not to divert to BWI. There were no injuries, although at least one passenger did lose her cookies in fright, according to some news reports.
However, the other piece of scary news involves a pilot mistaking his cockpit for a firing range, accidentally shooting a gun while landing in Charlotte this Saturday. Seriously. Nobody injured here and pilots are allowed to carry arms, thanks to some panic legislation in the wake of 9/11. There was no danger to the aircraft as a result of the discharge, according to officials, but the A319 has been taken out of service, at least temporarily.
Does this mean US Airways is unsafe? No, of course not. These are both freak accidents. But having them happen so close together is more than a little unsettling. For the nervous flier, it's not a good sign and just another reason to avoid an airline that doesn't generally have a lot to attract fliers with to start.
Labels: fear of flying, planes, travel, us airways
Sunday, January 27, 2008
This Week in Links : Best of the Web
I'm growing to love Gridskipper. Every single week, they come up with some off the wall guide that you know people want to have but are afraid to ask. This week, it's all about the best ummm... happy endings in NYC.
What are you scared of on a plane? For me, it's turbulence. For Salon's Patrick Smith, it's birds. And his fear is way more realistic than mine.
On a long trip and need to stay in shape? Vagabondish has got you covered.
What are you scared of on a plane? For me, it's turbulence. For Salon's Patrick Smith, it's birds. And his fear is way more realistic than mine.
On a long trip and need to stay in shape? Vagabondish has got you covered.
Labels: fear of flying, health, new york, travel
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Thursday is a getaway day!
Sorry about lack of updates for the last couple days. Been getting ready for a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio. We're flying Jet Blue and this will be my second experience on the airline within a month. I have to say that my first experience was really quite positive. Good TV, pleasant seatmates, nice assortment of snacks. The only downside is a 6 hour flight with just potato chips and cookies to eat can be a bit long. Especially when House Hunters is a rerun. But still, I was very impressed with the service and me and a friend got a great deal to fly to Ohio for a weekend.
I went to college there and am looking forward to it. As for the flight, not so sure. Flying a smaller jet than their Airbus, and Turbulence Forecast has alerted me to possibility of up to moderate turbulence. Moderate turbulence never feels moderate to me. But with a five dollar beer, I'm sure I'll be just fine. Catch you on the flipside!
Sorry about lack of updates for the last couple days. Been getting ready for a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio. We're flying Jet Blue and this will be my second experience on the airline within a month. I have to say that my first experience was really quite positive. Good TV, pleasant seatmates, nice assortment of snacks. The only downside is a 6 hour flight with just potato chips and cookies to eat can be a bit long. Especially when House Hunters is a rerun. But still, I was very impressed with the service and me and a friend got a great deal to fly to Ohio for a weekend.
I went to college there and am looking forward to it. As for the flight, not so sure. Flying a smaller jet than their Airbus, and Turbulence Forecast has alerted me to possibility of up to moderate turbulence. Moderate turbulence never feels moderate to me. But with a five dollar beer, I'm sure I'll be just fine. Catch you on the flipside!
Labels: airports, fear of flying, jet blue, turbulence
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Tackling Your Fears
I've drifted asleep over the coast of Venezuela last summer. It was a red eye taking me back to New York from Brazil when suddenly our plane flew into the chop. Maybe we were passing over a storm, maybe we just hit a current of something, I'm not really sure but the plane started bouncing. Just enough to wake me up. And just enough to make someone accidentally hit a button that would reset all the flight attendant call lights. The first thing I saw as I woke up from what I'd hoped to be a long nap.
I panicked. I bit my fingers and must have turned pale white. Scared enough to freakout the guy at the window. I hit the call button and the nonplussed flight attendant said "Everything's fine, the Captain has told me I can't stand up right now though." Needless to say this didn't help my sudden panic. A few minutes later as the turbulence calmed somewhat, she came back, with some water and talked me off the ceiling. I spent the next five hours all but bracing for a crash that was never going to happen. I didn't really get back to normal til the distance maps showed us over Bermuda.
Fast forward to three months later. I'm visiting my family in Chicago and flying back. Flying on miles, I have a stopover in Cincinatti. As I'm on the plane, they announce that they are delayed due to a mechanical issue. OK, I thought. No big deal. The pilot then says "Evidently, a piece of the engine fell off, either in the air or was sheared off by a service vehicle here at the airport."
Wait, what?
A piece of the engine fell off???? Again, all I needed to hear. Panic attack starts - now! Next thing I know, I'm back in the gate, they're trying to show me the teeny piece that got sheared off and convince me that its safe to get on that plane. I wasn't having any of it. I couldn't stop hyperventilating or crying. I stayed in Ohio that night. Got on a much smaller plane back and did alright.
But I remained nervous for my next flights, I've developed this fear of flying recently. I've gotten on planes on three separate trips since this last freakout with little problem. I think its because I'm using some things online to help me. These tools are really the geekiest of geek stuff, but it helps convince me that my plane wont just drop out of the sky.
The first is http://www.flightaware.com. This website lets you track flights as they make their way across the country. It even keeps a sixty day log of previous flights and can show you that these trips are run safely day after day. http://www.flightstats.com goes one step further. It will even take a specific flight and tell you how often the flight arrives on time, how long the average delay is and often has more up to date information about what time the flight is scheduled to take off and land that day than the airlines do! Like I said, total geek-out stuff.
The other thing that I'll look at frequently is http://www.turbulenceforecast.com. This is a website solely devoted to forecasting turbulence during flights. He focuses mostly on domestic US flights, and the owner of the site "tb_neg" will even offer personalized turbulence forecast for flights coming up in the short term. He's been pretty spot on with my flights to California.
These things don't quell the fear completely, but they help. Well that, and a few glasses of wine. Nothing like flying a little lubricated.
I've drifted asleep over the coast of Venezuela last summer. It was a red eye taking me back to New York from Brazil when suddenly our plane flew into the chop. Maybe we were passing over a storm, maybe we just hit a current of something, I'm not really sure but the plane started bouncing. Just enough to wake me up. And just enough to make someone accidentally hit a button that would reset all the flight attendant call lights. The first thing I saw as I woke up from what I'd hoped to be a long nap.
I panicked. I bit my fingers and must have turned pale white. Scared enough to freakout the guy at the window. I hit the call button and the nonplussed flight attendant said "Everything's fine, the Captain has told me I can't stand up right now though." Needless to say this didn't help my sudden panic. A few minutes later as the turbulence calmed somewhat, she came back, with some water and talked me off the ceiling. I spent the next five hours all but bracing for a crash that was never going to happen. I didn't really get back to normal til the distance maps showed us over Bermuda.
Fast forward to three months later. I'm visiting my family in Chicago and flying back. Flying on miles, I have a stopover in Cincinatti. As I'm on the plane, they announce that they are delayed due to a mechanical issue. OK, I thought. No big deal. The pilot then says "Evidently, a piece of the engine fell off, either in the air or was sheared off by a service vehicle here at the airport."
Wait, what?
A piece of the engine fell off???? Again, all I needed to hear. Panic attack starts - now! Next thing I know, I'm back in the gate, they're trying to show me the teeny piece that got sheared off and convince me that its safe to get on that plane. I wasn't having any of it. I couldn't stop hyperventilating or crying. I stayed in Ohio that night. Got on a much smaller plane back and did alright.
But I remained nervous for my next flights, I've developed this fear of flying recently. I've gotten on planes on three separate trips since this last freakout with little problem. I think its because I'm using some things online to help me. These tools are really the geekiest of geek stuff, but it helps convince me that my plane wont just drop out of the sky.
The first is http://www.flightaware.com. This website lets you track flights as they make their way across the country. It even keeps a sixty day log of previous flights and can show you that these trips are run safely day after day. http://www.flightstats.com goes one step further. It will even take a specific flight and tell you how often the flight arrives on time, how long the average delay is and often has more up to date information about what time the flight is scheduled to take off and land that day than the airlines do! Like I said, total geek-out stuff.
The other thing that I'll look at frequently is http://www.turbulenceforecast.com. This is a website solely devoted to forecasting turbulence during flights. He focuses mostly on domestic US flights, and the owner of the site "tb_neg" will even offer personalized turbulence forecast for flights coming up in the short term. He's been pretty spot on with my flights to California.
These things don't quell the fear completely, but they help. Well that, and a few glasses of wine. Nothing like flying a little lubricated.
Labels: fear of flying, offlying, statistics, travel, turbulence, websites
