Do two distracted Northwest pilots portend a frightening breakdown in air safety? No. Plus: A personal note
By Patrick Smith Oct 29, 2009
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View the landing of a Boeing 767, from the cockpit. Behold the glory of approach lights at dawn. Plus: A tutorial
By Patrick Smith
October 16, 2009
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What is proper etiquette during an emergency evacuation? Plus: Confused pilots and angry readers
By Patrick Smith
October 9, 2009
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Plus: What happened to "The Simpsons"? And REM? The weird phenomenon of pop-culture tailspin
By Patrick Smith
October 2, 2009
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Why do people keep insisting that pilots manipulate the air supply in planes? It ain't true, folks
By Patrick Smith
September 25, 2009
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We're still looking for pointy objects when we should be looking for bombs. Time for a leaner, meaner operation
By Patrick Smith
September 11, 2009
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Severe turbulence, a midair collision and the latest stuck-on-a-plane horror story
By Patrick Smith
August 14, 2009
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Airworthy planes, "dangerous" airports, and baby talk from the cockpit
By Patrick Smith
July 31, 2009
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Already in 2009, 11 major accidents involving commercial jets. We're in trouble, right?
By Patrick Smith
July 24, 2009
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Plus, a crash in Iran spotlights the safety of Russian-built planes, and the latest misinformation from the press
By Patrick Smith
July 17, 2009
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Two Airbus crashes in two months: Should we worry? Plus: Welcome to the Six Continent Club!
By Patrick Smith
July 10, 2009
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I'd love to move on from the Air France crash, but the media insist on getting things wrong again
By Patrick Smith
June 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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From swine flu to malaria, how jetliners can spread disease. Plus: Is the air on planes really as dirty as we think?
By Patrick Smith
May 8, 2009
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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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Is pilot fatigue a menace to airline safety?
By Patrick Smith
April 17, 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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If you're a pilot, no matter how much skill you have, or how many lives you've heroically saved, the only thing that matters is seniority.
By Patrick Smith
March 20, 2009
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Will the airlines' current financial troubles affect safety? "Sully" Sullenberger thinks so, but I'm not so sure.
By Patrick Smith
March 6, 2009
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What makes a plane stay in the air, anyway? And what happened the night Flight 3407 fell from the sky near Buffalo, N.Y.?
By Patrick Smith
February 27, 2009
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JetBlue is touting its fancy new terminal, but it just makes me wonder: Why can't Americans build better airports?
By Patrick Smith
February 6, 2009
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There's more than one way to define "hero."
By Patrick Smith
January 30, 2009
Boredom and fatigue at 35,000 feet
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