I'd love to move on from the Air France crash, but the media insist on getting things wrong again
By Patrick Smith Jun 26, 2009
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Flight 447 shouldn't have gone down, but it did. Were normally non-dangerous phenomena the culprits?
By Patrick Smith
June 2, 2009
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Do pilots have a "romper room"? Do they fly the same routes over and over? Those questions and more
By Patrick Smith
May 22, 2009
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It would be easy to miss those seven simple words next to the flush button in the airliner bathroom. Pay attention, or ruin your life!
By Garrison Keillor
December 17, 2008
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The smell of smoke in the cockpit, and it's back to Boston for a planeload of fixated Japanese tourists.
By Patrick Smith
June 13, 2008
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How did a suicidal passenger get the door of a pressurized plane open? Plus: Can't any pilot fly most planes? And: The autopilot was on during landing?
By Patrick Smith
May 1, 2009
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The Buffalo crash revisited. Plus: Landing in the water, idolizing Sully and selling books.
By Patrick Smith
April 10, 2009
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Did a stupid, inexplicable mistake cause the crash near Buffalo, N.Y.? Plus: The weird hell of working for a regional airline.
By Patrick Smith
April 3, 2009
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Planes crash. The media descends. But why can't reporters get their facts straight? Plus: Kudos to an outstanding exception.
By Patrick Smith
March 27, 2009
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Malcolm Gladwell claims cultural issues can play a big role in plane crashes. The pilot begs to differ.
By Patrick Smith
December 5, 2008
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I'm planning my summer vacation. Is it more ecological to fly or drive?
By Pablo Päster
June 9, 2008
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When a routine flight is plunged into weirdness after the crew smells smoke, how to deal with a possible emergency -- and a plane full of foreign tourists.
By Patrick Smith
June 6, 2008
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As we inched through the airport security line, I seemed to be the only one grinding my teeth. Would anyone have defended me if I'd spoken up to the shirts?
By Garrison Keillor
April 30, 2008
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From cockpit check to walkaround to stocking the galley: The Zen of preparing the "Monster" to fly.
By Patrick Smith
April 4, 2008
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If I've flown into the Port-au-Prince airport, does that mean I've been to Haiti? What, exactly, constitutes a trip to another country?
By Patrick Smith
January 18, 2008
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Kyla Ebbert, famously told to cover herself on an airplane, poses for Playboy.
By Tracy Clark-Flory
November 16, 2007
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Oversized and overhyped, the world's biggest plane is here. Is the Airbus A380 the "most hideous airliner ever conceived"?
By Patrick Smith
November 9, 2007
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The worst thing about hotel rooms? It's not the ugly carpeting. Plus: Why don't planes carry parachutes for passengers?
By Patrick Smith
October 19, 2007
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Airport congestion and flight delays are making travelers insane. A look at what will and won't solve the problem.
By Patrick Smith
October 5, 2007
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What have we come to when foreign airlines tout around-the-world travel that avoids the U.S.? Plus: Make your own airline route maps. And: Wizz Air?
By Patrick Smith
August 10, 2007
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As delays hit record levels, a closer look at how airline scheduling practices are killing travel.
By Patrick Smith
July 13, 2007
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What happens when you have more -- but smaller -- planes, flying to more cities, more often? Can you say "gridlock"?
By Patrick Smith
June 1, 2007
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From giant pillows and computer-crushing seats to sudoku mania and quartz porcupines: Musings on the state of air travel.
By Patrick Smith
April 13, 2007
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Remember the sense of awe you used to feel on an airplane ride? Where did it go? Plus: The lowdown on that "filthy" and "germ-laden" cabin air.
By Patrick Smith
March 9, 2007
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How safe are those old Russian jets Cubana flies? Why don't people clap on landing anymore? Plus: Stowaways, oxygen deprivation and more!
By Patrick Smith
February 16, 2007
Some stories just won't fly
Why the Air France plane crashed
Ask the pilot
"Do not flush while seated on toilet"
Ask the pilot
Ask Pablo
Ask the pilot
Ask the pilot
Southwest: Cover up! Playboy: Take it off!
Ask the pilot
Ask the pilot
Ask the pilot
Ask the pilot
Ask the pilot
GigaOM Network
Joan Walsh