Air Transportation

UPDATE: A Drone Flies in Brooklyn? Pilot Reports Unmanned Aircraft Sighting

Cue the heavy drums and eerie science-fiction score. It looks like drones have already made their way to New York City skies, according to a CNN report. The pilot of an Alitalia passenger jet heading in to John F. Kennedy Airport for landing yesterday afternoon reported sighting a small unmanned ai ... More >>

Ryanair Finally Adds Standard Porn Amenities

The Ryanair cabin, where you'll be watching porn. ​Ryanair, "bus of the sky," preferred travel mode of student backpackers and tightfisted Europeans, is adding some new in-flight entertainment. Porn. Now, you can sit next to a skeevy old man and watch him watch porn while you fly. Another bonu ... More >>

9/11 Flight Numbers Will Be Retired Forever

​United Continental will "permanently retire" flight numbers 93 and 175, Bloomberg reports, in honor of the flights hijacked on September 11, 2011. Over the past decade, the numbers have not been in use, but an error earlier this week caused them to pop up again, much to the chagrin of pilots' ... More >>

Virgin Galactic is Accepting Applications for Astronauts; We Applied

​On the Virgin careers website, Virgin Galactic has posted a want ad for Astronauts. They have three positions to fill, and we have sent in our application for consideration. They informed us via auto-reply email that if they feel we are an appropriate candidate, we will be asked to interview. ... More >>

Surprise! New York Area Airports Still Suck

​In a groundbreaking new report [pdf], the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General has discovered that flight delays at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark Airports remain terrible and make New Yorkers -- and, indirectly, people throughout the rest of the country (yes, we're t ... More >>

Uppity Flight Attendant Wants His Job Back

​JetBlue's Steven Slater, who famously bailed through the emergency slide when he felt an unruly passenger had ticked him off, now wants to put on his fabulous uniform again. You see, he absolutely loves JetBlue. He adores being a flight attendant. He's aware of the inherent problems with th ... More >>

The Newspaper Rack Victory: One Small Step for Print, One Giant Leap for Spare Change

​Eat a dick, Hudson News.

Air travellers face further restrictions after terror attempt in Detroit

​In the wake of what the Obama administration is calling a terror attempt on a Northwest Airlines jet yesterday, the Transportation Safety Administration has announced, but not released, new restrictions on airplane passengers. Not released to us, anyway. Air Canada apparently got a copy.

Computer Glitch Brings Widespread Flight Delays, Cancellations This A.M. (Update: Fixed!)

Boy, we hope you're not flying this morning: the FAA says it's having trouble with its computers, which will delay flights across the nation. The glitch, noticed around 6 a.m., has to do with flight schedules, which the agency's workers are at present doing by hand. The problem was originally detect ... More >>

US Airways Cuts 1,000 Jobs, Ground Crew Base at LaGuardia

​US Airways always comes up when we're looking for cheap flights, and there's a reason for that: like many airlines these days, it's not doing so hot. Today the troubled carrier announces it's going to cut 1,000 jobs and some flights to Europe, and close its ground crew base at LaGuardia and ... More >>

Good News: More New York Jobs! Bad News: They Pay $16-$20K

This morning's Times story on an airline pilot who was busted down from captain to first officer so ExpressJet Airlines could pay him less draws a connection between his sad case and a "steep decline" in total weekly pay for production workers. The numbers are a little abstruse there. But another Ti ... More >>

JFK Nation's Third-Worst Airport for Sleeping, Say Experts

Airport delays have become a way of life -- in fact, a new airline has made a massive delay part of its launch -- so you may be interested in The Guide to Sleeping in Airports and its just-announced best and worst airports for sleeping. As New York naturally figures in all superlatives, you will not ... More >>

High Line Park Results in New Restaurant Row; Green Roofs Everywhere

Mere months after reports claiming the exact opposite, a new study suggests that living near a fast food outlet actually does not increase weight in children, and that living near supermarkets, with their fresh fruits and vegetables, does nothing to lower weight. Go figure. [Science Daily] A survey ... More >>

What Scares You Most About Flying?

That awful Air France crash, after the plane went through thunderstorms and lightning, was horrific--as if I needed more anxiety about getting on an aircraft. Not that you asked, but in descending order, here are the things I'm most terrified of about flying:

Quick Hits

Above: A map of sitcoms that take/took place in New York. If you liked our audio of Bill O'Reilly talking dirty, you'll also enjoy the slow jam remix. A soothing demo of Brian Eno's and Peter Chilvers' ambient music iPhone app. Nudes remain hard to come by, but here's 999 Brits wearing shamrock ... More >>

Near-Bankrupt NY Waterway to Sue US Airways for Water Rescue Funds

We mentioned in January that there were signs that the heroic water landing and rescue of US Airways Flight 1549 might result in lawsuits. Now Crain's New York Business reports that NY Waterway, whose ferries helped haul Flight 1549 passengers out of the Hudson River, "is preparing a lawsuit again ... More >>

Buffalo Plane Crash Cause Debated; "Gawkers" Haunt Site

The commuter plane crash in Buffalo continues to be examined. It has been confirmed that Continental Connection Flight 3407 was on autopilot before its fatal descent, which some suggest was a "deadly error" that shielded the pilot from the severity of the situation until it was too late. Once auto ... More >>

Outcry after a Whirlybirds Firm Gets Inside Edge for Heliport

In-Flight Hanging Apparently False, But Stephen Fry Really Stuck in Lift

American Airlines flight 834, arriving this evening from the Dominican Republic, was met by emergency personnel because of a medical situation with a passenger -- not, American Airlines spokespeople insist, because the passenger had tried to hang himself, as persistent twittering had reported. The ... More >>

Passenger, Bill O'Reilly Spoiling "Miracle on the Hudson" Buzz

Remember when US Airways Flight 1549's heroic Hudson River landing made us all feel good about America and ourselves? Well, it's all going to shit. Earlier this week Chicago's Joe Hart, one of the survivors, told USA Today that he'd like to be "made whole for the incident," and we all know what ... More >>

US Airways Crash? How About a Great Feat of Aviation

photo allegedly sent by rescued passenger via twitter If what we're hearing in preliminary reports is true, the pilot of a US Airways flight that left La Guardia bound for Charlotte this afternoon found himself in a terrifying situation: the plane ran smack into a flock of geese, which apparently ... More >>

Gay Pride Was Our Umbrella Ella Ella...

Ah, Entitlement! Contrasting Two Airport Stories

Court Strikes Down NY's Airline Passenger Bill of Rights

13th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

Status Ain't Hood Podcasts 18 & 19

Trouble in the Air

Reagan's mass firing of air traffic controllers made American skies much less safe in the 1980s. Is Bush's flight plan the same?

Out of Control

When air traffic control shares blame for fatal crashes

Moussaoui's Guilt: Less Profound Than Airline's Own Incompetence?

Pensions: Why All You Whipper-Snappers Are Walking to Work

Running From the Truth

9-11 Commission dealt with several issues by simply ignoring them

FAA's Security Measures Won't Fly

Hijacking the Facts

FBI worked hard to cover up a 9-11 cover-up—and then hide it some more

Fear of Flying

Whistle-blowers say the FAA ignored a decade of pre–9-11 warnings

The 9-11 Gun

The Rushdie Connection

Yoo-hoo, Osama!

Kerry and 9-11

Jersey Girls support him, but a pre-attack warning could haunt him

Ex-Feds Blast 9-11 Panel and Bush

Government agencies roasted for screw-ups in war on "terror"

The Dayton Discord

'Undefended': A senator finally takes the government to task over the 9-11 findings

Why Were We on Our Own?

9-11 inquiry merely hints at the feds' inaction on the fatal day

Plane Truth

Among Questions Still Up In The Air Is Why Our Jet Fighters Weren't

Higher Calling

Why Do Airlines Ban Midflight Cell Phone Calls?

9-11 Questions Still Circling

Where Was the FAA? Where Was NORAD?

Nation

Knowing Much, Bush Did Little to Protect America

Pilots’-Eye View

The Crash of Flight 587 Raises Questions About Training and Air Traffic Control

What Color Is Your Parachute?

Her Boss at United Got $3.2 Million. She Got Shoved Out the Door.

Airline Safety Remains Slack

Airport '99

Get Ready For Takeoff as the Rucker Tourney Heads For Its Final