Air Travel

Nutty as trail mix

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:01:00 PST

No, Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., doesn't make our Crazy List because of that press conference, the political apologia to end all apologias. Of course, it was great theater: the admission of an extramarital affair by a conservative politician who, while in Congress, voted for the impeachment of Bill Clinton because of the president's "reprehensible" relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The Faulkner-cum-Fellini spectacle of this Southern presidential aspirant, flailing wildly on national TV without a script about his Argentine tryst, as curiously jubilant-looking young women beam in the background. The endearing performance by a tearful man who blamed it on "that whole sparking thing."

The inside story of Northwest 188

Patrick Smith — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:10:00 PST

When, back in October, a Northwest Airlines flight went AWOL over Minnesota, dropping out of radio contact and wandering off course, I had the same reaction as most people. What happened was shocking and unacceptable, I felt. It was embarrassing to pilots everywhere. Moreover, I had a difficult time imagining how two professional airmen could allow such a bizarre thing to happen. How was it even possible? The majority of my colleagues felt the same way.

Whatever you do, don't dis Brazil

Patrick Smith — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:03:00 PST

Let's start with a new video. In September I wrote a column on the facts and fallacies of air quality on commercial planes. I explained how cabin air is considerably cleaner than the traveling public assumes, and I went after the myth that pilots tinker with oxygen levels during flight. If you're still skeptical, I've uploaded a five-minute demo, taken in the cockpit of a 767, showing how air conditioning and pressurization are controlled. You can watch it here.

Who's flying this thing?

Patrick Smith — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:20:00 PST

William Langewiesche has a new book out, exploring last January's crash landing of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River. "Fly by Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the 'Miracle' on the Hudson" is hailed by Publishers Weekly as nothing less than a "masterpiece of modern journalism," and "an enduring work of literature."

Is your pilot drunk?

Patrick Smith — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:13:00 PST

First up, a brief statement regarding the United Airlines pilot detained in London after failing a Breathalyzer test. Erwin Washington, 51, was one of three pilots scheduled to operate United Airlines Flight 949 from Heathrow to Chicago's O'Hare airport when he was detained by authorities who were alerted by another United employee.

The real distractions for pilots

Patrick Smith — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:05:00 PST

For those of you who live in a cave and didn't catch it, back on Oct. 21, both pilots of Northwest Flight 188, an Airbus A320 bound from San Diego to Minneapolis, went mentally AWOL somewhere over Minnesota -- distracted by their laptop computers, so they say -- missing a series of air traffic control calls and straying off course. The incident sparked a media frenzy that lasted nearly two weeks.

Screaming toddlers on a plane!

Kate Harding — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:03:00 PST

Last week, Pamela Root and her 2-year-old son were booted off a Southwest Airlines flight because the boy wouldn't stop shouting, "Go, plane, go!" and "I want Daddy!"

Boredom and fatigue at 35,000 feet

Patrick Smith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:30:00 PDT

I know what you're wondering. How could a pair of experienced airline pilots allow their $50 million Airbus A320 to wander 150 miles off course, totally overflying its destination, before realizing the error and cowering back to land. So it went, for reasons not yet understood, with a Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Minneapolis last Wednesday.

Watch the pilot!

Patrick Smith — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:07:00 PDT

Something new this week: videos! This lofts us to a whole new level. For nearly a tenth of a century, Ask the Pilot has virtually defined the vanguard of artistic and technological innovation on the Web, but always it lacked a certain visual flourish. Starting today, my usual savvy explanations are enriched by the thrilling accompaniment of choppy, low-resolution video, coming to you live, as it were, from the cockpit.

Ask the pilot

Patrick Smith — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:07:00 PDT

I was on a US Airways flight from Phoenix to JFK. There were a dozen planes ahead of us waiting to take off. Suddenly we crossed the active runway, turned onto a parallel taxiway and proceeded straight to the front of the line! Two minutes later we were airborne. What circumstances might have caused this?

All your questions about in-flight horrors

Patrick Smith — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:06:00 PDT

Not that my single-topic essays aren't brilliant, but keeping this column grounded (if you'll pardon the unfortunate pun), requires that it be periodically turned over to the readers, in the form of an old-timey Q&A session.

Airplanes, oxygen and the media

Patrick Smith — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:08:00 PDT

Annoying fallacies about the air quality on commercial planes simply will not go away. And it's especially regrettable when our most august and reliable news sources become part of the problem.

The somber beauty of air crash memorials

Patrick Smith — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:18:00 PDT

The Tenere region of Niger, deep in the Sahara, is one of the most remote and inhospitable areas on earth – not the kind of place where you'd expect people to trudge hundreds of miles to construct a memorial.

Are we safer than we were eight years ago?

Patrick Smith — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:17:00 PDT

I'm old enough to remember Moammar Gadhafi being interviewed by Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes." It was the late 1970s. I was 13, maybe 14. Then and now, the thing about Gadhafi is that you want to like and respect him. If nothing else, his posing and preening add flash and charisma to the world stage. And how can you not appreciate a world leader so true to his Bedouin roots that he conducts state business in a tent?

How we're blowing airline security

Patrick Smith — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:11:00 PDT

Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, sentenced to life in prison for his role in the bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds last week. Granted passage back to Libya, al-Megrahi, 57 and terminally ill, was given something of a hero's welcome. Many in Libya -- indeed many in the West, including several families of Lockerbie victims -- have never been convinced of his guilt.

Airtime

Patrick Smith — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:15:00 PDT

Plenty of front-page fodder these past couple of weeks.

Information: The good, the bad and the ugly

Patrick Smith — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:30:00 PDT

After landing, our flight was met by a fire engine and ambulances. The pilots offered no explanation, and we never learned what had happened. Is there a protocol against telling passengers about certain malfunctions or emergencies to avoid causing alarm?

Crash

Patrick Smith — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:23:00 PDT

First it was the Hudson River crash. Then Colgan, Air France, Yemenia and Caspian. Airplanes are dropping like flies, are they not? A radio station called me the other day wanting to discuss this sudden flurry of accidents: signs, in the host's opinion, that air safety is beginning to unravel worldwide. He made reference to a recent USA Today story that seemed to back up his assertion.

Why are airline passengers such slobs?

Patrick Smith — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:18:00 PDT

Dear passenger: Look, I know it's a long flight, and I realize that, at least in your mind, commercial air carriers are the most malevolent entities the universe has ever known, fully deserving of your disrespect. But must you? Must you throw your damn garbage all over the floor?

Is the Airbus a lemon?

Patrick Smith — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:10:00 PDT

Last week's crash of Yemenia Airways Airbus A310 in the Indian Ocean was the second major accident in two months involving an Airbus. The other, of course, was the crash of Air France Flight 447 near Brazil. Several e-mailers have wondered if this pair of disasters hints at some widespread danger specific to planes manufactured by Airbus. Are they in some way defective?