[Mangoman]

What was that old commercial? "Something Special In the Air"

October 19, 2005
Airlines Sign Deals for Water Safeguards
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:56 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Twenty-four airlines have signed agreements with the government subjecting the carriers to fines of up to $27,500 if they fail to adopt tougher safeguards for monitoring and disinfecting the drinking water served to passengers.

The deals with 11 major domestic airlines and 13 smaller airlines are intended to reduce disease-carrying bacteria in drinking water on planes, the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.

An EPA investigation last year found total coliform bacteria in 15 percent of the 327 airlines the agency reviewed at 19 airports. Total coliform is usually harmless, but it is an indicator that other disease-causing organisms could be in the water.

The administrative order says the airlines have failed to fully comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Failure to comply in the future could mean penalties of up to $27,500 for each violation.

While most of its members signed the agreement, the Air Transport Association said drinking water found on airline is generally as safe as the municipal water sources that supply it.

''We think the drinking water on aircraft is safe to drink and has been,'' said Katherine Andrus, a spokeswoman for the airlines' trade group. But she said the airlines, while seeking improvements, partly wanted to set the record straight.

''It will generate a tremendous amount of monitoring data, which we believe will establish that there is no systematic problem with the aircrafts' drinking water,'' she said. ''We don't think that EPA's sample results provided enough meaningful data to draw any conclusions.''

The agreements require the airlines to regularly monitor their aircraft by collecting total coliform samples from at least one galley and one bathroom from every aircraft at least once a year. At least 25 percent of an airlines' fleet must be monitored every three months.

The airlines must provide, within 45 days, details of all their drinking water operations for each aircraft, and then regularly disinfect those water systems and water transfer equipment. Each of the airlines signed a separate 60-page agreement with EPA.

Disinfecting the water systems must be done at least once every three months. Water trucks, carts, cabinets and hoses must be cleaned at least once a month. After disinfection, airlines must wait until after a day of flight services before checking for bacteria again.

Test results showing total coliform and other bacteria such as E. coli or fecal coliform that cause diarrheal illnesses must be reported to the EPA no later than 5 p.m. EST of the following business day.

The agreements cover AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, Aloha Airlines, American Airlines, America West, ATA Airlines, Champion Air, Continental Airlines, Continental Micronesia, Falcon Air Express, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Miami Air International, Midwest Airlines, North American Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Pace Airlines, Ryan International Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, USA 3000 Airlines, and World Airways.

The agency said it was still negotiating agreements with Omni Air International, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest airlines.

[Stivenslivakovishhhs]

Woman, 44, Dies on Plane With 2 Empty Oxygen Tanks

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 25, 2008

A passenger returning home to New York from Haiti collapsed and died aboard an American Airlines flight after a flight attendant first told her that he could not give her any oxygen, and then brought her an oxygen tank that was empty, a relative said on Sunday.

American Airlines confirmed the flight death and said medical professionals had tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, 44, of Brooklyn.
Ms. Desir, who had heart disease, died of natural causes, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office, Ellen S. Borakove, said on Sunday.

Ms. Desir complained of illness and extreme thirst on the flight from Port-au-Prince on Friday after she had eaten a meal, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother Joel Desir. A flight attendant gave her water, Mr. Oliver said.

A few minutes later, Ms. Desir said she was having trouble breathing and asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Mr. Oliver said in a telephone interview.

After the flight attendant refused to administer oxygen to Ms. Desir, she became distressed, pleading, “Don’t let me die,” Mr. Oliver recalled.
He said other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated over the situation, and the flight attendant, apparently after phone consultation with the cockpit, tried to administer oxygen from a portable tank and mask, but the tank was empty.

Mr. Oliver said two doctors and two nurses who were aboard tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which was also empty.

Sonja Whitemon, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, would not comment on Mr. Oliver’s claims of faulty medical equipment aboard the plane.

Ms. Desir was placed on the floor and a nurse tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail, Mr. Oliver said. “I cannot believe what is happening on the plane,” he said, sobbing. “She cannot get up, and nothing on the plane works.”

Mr. Oliver said he then asked for the plane to land right away, and the pilot agreed to land in Miami, 45 minutes away. But before the plane could land, Ms. Desir collapsed and died, he said.

“Her last words were, ‘I cannot breathe,’ ” he said.

Ms. Desir was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued on to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Her body was moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Mr. Oliver said.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company.

[Mediconlinee]

Would O2 have helped, or was she having a heart attack?

I am confused....

[zatronanec]

I'm no expert, but does this clear up anything.

Medical

Uptake of O2 from the air is the essential purpose of respiration, so oxygen supplementation is used in medicine. Oxygen therapy is used to treat emphysema, pneumonia, some heart disorders, and any disease that impairs the body's ability to take up and use gaseous oxygen.[62] Treatments are flexible enough to be used in hospitals, the patient's home, or increasingly by portable devices. Oxygen tents were once commonly used in oxygen supplementation, but have since been replaced mostly by the use of oxygen masks or nasal cannulas. Hyperbaric (high-pressure) medicine uses special oxygen chambers to increase the partial pressure of O2 around the patient and, when needed, the medical staff.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, gas gangrene, and decompression sickness (the 'bends') are sometimes treated using these devices. Increased O2 concentration in the lungs helps to displace carbon monoxide from the heme group of hemoglobin. Oxygen gas is poisonous to the anaerobic bacteria that cause gas gangrene, so increasing its partial pressure helps kill them. Decompression sickness occurs in divers who decompress too quickly after a dive, resulting in bubbles of inert gas, mostly nitrogen and argon, forming in their blood. Increasing the pressure of O2 as soon as possible is part of the treatment.[62]
Oxygen is also used medically for patients who require mechanical ventilation, often at concentrations above the 21% found in ambient air.

[DoctorGordanBens]

Not 100%.

It may help, but I am thinking of it this way. If it is a blockage or occlusion of the heart, the O2 might make it easier to get additional, well, O2 to her heart.

Also, if she was only able to breathe a little, the O2 would make it so that little might be enough. But it depends on if her lungs were filling with fluid, or having swelling due to an allergic reaction, or something else.

I am not excusing the airlines for this, but this could make the difference between denial of a service and incidental manslaughter (negligence).

[Adimonnna]

AA in-flight death: Airline disputes cousin's claims

By RICHARD PYLE | Associated Press Writer 2:00 PM EST, February 25, 2008

NEW YORK - American Airlines on Monday insisted it tried to help a passenger who died after complaining she couldn't breathe, and disputed the account of a relative who said that she was denied oxygen and that medical devices failed.

The airline said the oxygen tanks and a defibrillator were working and noted that several medical professionals on the flight, including a doctor, tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, 44, who had heart disease.

"American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working, and the defibrillator was applied as well," airline spokesman Charley Wilson said Monday.

Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty on the Friday flight home from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after she ate a meal, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother, Joel Desir. A flight attendant gave her water, he said.

A few minutes later, Desir said she was having "trouble breathing" and asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Oliver said.

"Don't let me die," he recalled her saying.

He said other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated over the situation, and the flight attendant, apparently after phone consultation with the cockpit, tried to administer oxygen from a portable tank and mask, but the tank was empty.

Oliver said two doctors and two nurses were aboard and tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which also was empty. Desir was placed on the floor, and a nurse tried CPR, Oliver said. A defibrillator, which he called a "box," also was applied but didn't function effectively, he said.

Oliver said he then asked for the plane to "land right away so I can get her to a hospital," and the pilot agreed to divert to Miami, 45 minutes away. But during that time Desir collapsed and died, Oliver said.

"Her last words were, 'I cannot breathe,"' he said.

There were 12 oxygen tanks on the plane and the crew checked them before the flight took off to make sure they were working, Wilson said. He said at least two were used on Desir.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial flights to carry no fewer than two oxygen dispensers. The main goal of the rule is to have oxygen available in the event of a rapid cabin decompression, but it can also be used for other emergencies.

It is up to the airlines to maintain the canisters.

Wilson said Desir's cousin flagged down a flight attendant and said the woman had diabetes and needed oxygen.

"The flight attendant responded, 'OK, but we usually don't need to treat diabetes with oxygen, but let me check anyway and get back to you."' Wilson said the employee spoke with another flight attendant, and both went to Desir within one to three minutes.

"By that time the situation was worsening, and they immediately began administering oxygen," he said. Wilson said the defibrillator was used but that the machine indicated Desir's heartbeat was too weak to activate the unit.

An automated external defibrillator delivers an electric shock to try to restore a normal heart rhythm if a a particular type of irregular heart beat is detected. The machines cannot help in all cases.

Wilson said three flight attendants helped Desir, but "stepped back" after doctors and nurses on the flight began to help her.

"Our crew acted very admirably. They did what they were trained to do, and the equipment was working," he said.

Desir was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued to John F. Kennedy International Airport, without stopping in Miami. The woman's body was moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Oliver said.

Desir died of complications from heart disease and diabetes, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office.

Shulkin, through his attorney, Justin Nadeau, declined to comment on the incident.

FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said the agency was closely following the details of the incident.

Copyright 2008 AM New York.

[poRmawayncmop]

Well, this can't be safe.

Pilot's Gun Fires on US Airways Flight

DENVER (AP) — A gun belonging to the pilot of a US Airways plane discharged as the aircraft was on approach to land in North Carolina over the weekend, the first time a weapon issued under a federal program to arm pilots was fired, authorities said Monday.

The "accidental discharge" Saturday aboard Flight 1536 from Denver to Charlotte did not pose a danger to the aircraft or the 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants aboard, said Greg Alter of the Federal Air Marshal Service.

"We know that there was never any danger to the aircraft or to the occupants on board," Alter said.

The firing is the first time a pilot's weapon has been fired on a plane under a program created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to allow pilots, for example, to use a firearm to defend against any act of air piracy or criminal violence, he said.

The Transportation Security Administration is investigating how the gun discharged and is being assisted by the Air Marshal Service, Alter said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said his agency is also investigating to make sure that the plane is safe. The aircraft has been removed from service, the airline said.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

[swoluelvede]

Idiot.

Was this one of the famous Northwest pilots?

[abOfU9nJ]

How does that even happen?

[Bugamerka]

In the cockpit:

Pilot to copilot, "Wanna see my rod."

"Woops"

Accidental discharge.

It used to happen all the time to this deputy.

[LesLattis]

April Fools

April 9, 2008
by Becky Akers

Initial reports made it sound as though April 1 was the day the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has so eagerly awaited: airport screeners caught a real, live, honest-to-goodness terrorist! At Orlando International! With "materials… that could have been used for an explosive device" in his bag! Those "materials" weren’t the TSA’s usual trophies, either, of excess baby food or veterans’ commemorative lighters. No, here were "two galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers carrying BBs, batteries, two containers with an unknown liquid, and bomb making literature." Finally, vindication! The $40 billion the TSA has sucked from taxpayers’ pockets since 2001 as well as seven years of warrantless searches and frustrated passengers were suddenly justified. Even better, screeners detected the bomber thanks to one of the TSA’s most anti-Constitutional and controversial programs: Behavior Detection, a.k.a., SPOT [Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques]. Now SPOT, too, was validated!

Alas, later reports chipped away at the victory. Turns out "terrorist" Kevin Brown had packed the "materials" in his checked bag, not his carry-on. Air Jamaica, Kevin’s carrier, hastened to assure customers that "the items could not have caused an explosion and the aircraft and its passengers were never at risk." Talk about taking the wind out of the TSA’s sails. Further deflating those jibs was Kevin himself. He "first told authorities he wanted to detonate the materials on a tree stump in Jamaica..." That’s harmless enough, so naturally the story changed: Kevin "later said he was going to show friends in his home country how to build explosives..." How many alternative interrogation techniques did the new and improved confession require?

Far from a terrorist, Kevin is one of those sad, injured folks on which our neoconservative rulers in general and the TSA in particular prey. A US Army veteran who was never the same after his deployment to Iraq, Kevin’s "been in and out of hospitals" with "a history of mental illness." His mother's murder in 2005 didn’t help. The lawyer representing the family in the murder case considers Kevin "a bit unstable. I think the mother's death would have been on his mind." It’s easy to see why: Kevin was a baby when his father died, so his mother raised him and his brother on her own. "[She] was the breadwinner for the family," the attorney added. "She was always there for them." I suppose Kevin should count his blessings that he’s merely in jail instead of murdered himself: the TSA doesn’t usually deal gently with depressed, distraught people.

But Kevin’s tragedies don’t shame the TSA from its crude crowing. You would think screeners had bagged Osama himself with the latest technology instead of hocus-pocus they call SPOT.

SPOT sends screeners into concourses to spy on passengers. Those whose comportment doesn’t meet the TSA’s top-secret definition of "normal" are pulled aside and interrogated. Yep, this is as abusive and arbitrary as it sounds, though the TSA pretends that it’s science.

SPOT combines the police-state tactics Israel uses in its airports with "microexpressions," looks we supposedly flash "in about 1/30th of a second" to reveal our innermost thoughts. Paul Ekman, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, claims to have discovered microexpressions decades ago when he and a buddy sat around making faces at one another, photographing themselves, and then studying the pictures. If you think that sounds like a couple of grad students who’ve swilled their fair share of beer, you’ve got more sense than the TSA. Meanwhile, even researchers at the TSA’s parent bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security, admit SPOT is "unproven and potentially ineffectual." The manager of its "Project Hostile Intent," Larry Willis, says, "We're trying to establish whether there is something to detect."

Ekman himself pretty much established that there isn’t when SPOTters under his guidance at Boston’s Logan International saved us from another 9/11: "The man in the cheap brown jacket stood slumped in line, staring at the ground. His hands were fidgety, reaching repeatedly into his inside jacket pocket, or patting it from the outside." Ekman sagely suggested that "repeated patting of the chest…might mean that a bomb is strapped too tightly under a person's jacket," while terrorists often manifest "slumped posture." Sure enough, when Ekman and his acolytes accosted the man, he promptly confessed: "He was on the way to the funeral of his brother, who had died unexpectedly. That was the reason for the bowed head. The frequent chest-patting was to reassure himself that he had his boarding pass." Neither Ekman nor the TSA see anything wrong with a country in which government agents harass grieving people.

SPOTters have been spying on passengers since January 2006. As of September 2007, they’d fingered 43,000 of the approximately 1.3 billion people who had taken to the skies in that period. They called the cops on 3,100 of those 43,000 victims, with 278 people arrested for guns, drugs, fake ID, or immigration problems – not terrorism. SPOT’s rate of "success," if we’re judging that by number of arrests, is .0000002%. And that sinks even further, to 0%, if we’re picky enough to demand that the arrest be for terrorism. SPOT clearly fails at finding terrorists in favor of simply detaining folks. Fortunately for passengers, it isn’t even good at that: "It doesn't seem like a lot of arrests, given how easy it is to arrest someone," says Barry Steinhardt of the ACLU. Meanwhile, critics contend that "any random sweep of 43,000 passengers might have turned up as many criminals [sic]."

"There's always a reason why you're exhibiting that behavior that catches our attention," opines one of the TSA’s SPOTters. "Maybe it's just because you're having problems at home." Actually, it’s because we’re having problems with a totalitarian government.

[Peretool]

I know this isn't generally airline "safety" but honestly, what is happening to American Airlines?

AMERICAN AIRLINES CANCELS 1,000 FLIGHTS
ESTIMATED 100,000 PASSENGERS STRANDED

April 9, 2008 --

American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights today, more than one-third of its schedule, as it spent a second straight day inspecting the wiring on some of its jets - the same issue that caused it to scrub hundreds of flights two weeks ago.

The nation's biggest airline had already canceled 460 flights on Tuesday, including 34 out of LaGuardia, stranding thousands of travelers. Federal inspectors found problems with wiring work done two weeks ago, although the airline says passenger safety was never jeopardized.

Airline officials said the flights would have averaged more than 100 passengers, meaning that more than 100,000 travelers could have been left scrambling to book new flights.

Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American, said the cancellations could continue beyond Wednesday as the airline works on its fleet of 300 MD-80 jets. By Wednesday morning, only 30 of the planes were back in service.

American uses the MD-80s mostly on mid-range flights, particularly from hub airports in Dallas and Chicago. Wagner said 208 of Wednesday's cancellations would occur at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 138 at Chicago O'Hare.

At LaGuardia Airport, hundreds of passengers stood in a check-in line. The airline offered free doughnuts, coffee and orange juice, but there were few takers.

Bishop Bernard Jordan, a Harlem minister, was in a first-class line trying to catch a flight to Atlanta, where he was scheduled to preach Wednesday night.

"It would have been good to know in advance," said Jordan, who said he has 4 million frequent-flier miles with American and flies to Atlanta every other week. "I would have booked with another airline."

Laura Goodman, whose flight home to Dallas from LaGuardia was canceled, said, "They should be able to predict these kinds of things."

She said she had been away a week and had an important meeting, which she would miss because the airline couldn't rebook her until Thursday.

The airline issued a fresh apology today from Gerard Arpey, the chief executive of American and its parent, AMR Corp. Arpey said American "will do whatever it takes" to help affected customers, including compensating those who stayed overnight somewhere other than their final destination.

Despite the inconvenience, passengers at LaGuardia generally displayed patience.

Wren Quesada, whose flight to Orlando, Fla., was to be rerouted through Dallas and then canceled altogether, said American should have foreseen the problem.

Copyright 2008 New York Post

[Aw1HhC0m]

American has be nursing along that ancient fleet of MD80s for way too long. Now those planes are turning around and biting them. That should teach AA a lesson (if it survives).

[RG3rGWcA]

Upside:

The limits on certain airports should be easily accomodated with so many canvelled AA flights. I am wondering if other airlines were allowed to do so.









Probably not. Free market, at a price.

[chuecaloversvvp]

Today at school, I noticed that AA cancelled another, I think, 900 flights today for maintenance and then I saw this after school:

Flight Delays Likely to Continue
By DAN CATERINICCHIA
AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The air travel misery will probably get worse.
Massive flight cancellations by American Airlines are likely to spread to other carriers as federal regulators step up their scrutiny of aircraft inspections after years of more lenient enforcement.
And as oversight tightens and Congress puts its glare on the airlines, passengers are paying the price.

Flying on U.S. airlines has never been safer. But mutual trust between the Federal Aviation Administration and carriers was undermined by last month's revelation that Southwest Airlines flew planes that had missed inspections - a violation of federal standards.

Since then, the FAA has played hardball - auditing carriers' maintenance records and promising a less cozy relationship with the industry. And the airlines only have to look at Southwest's $10.2 million fine to recognize the cooperative spirit may be over.

"There's always going to be extremes, just as there are in politics, and to some extent this is a political issue," said Bob Harrell of New York-based travel and aviation consulting firm Harrell Associates.

The broken trust between airlines and regulators has created scheduling misery for the flying public. And as scrutiny of safety procedures rises, flight delays and cancellations could soon get worse, particularly for carriers with older fleets, Harrell said.

Roughly 250,000 passengers have been affected by the American cancellations this week so that its mechanics could inspect wiring in hundreds of jets. Thursday was the third straight day of trouble for customers of the nation's largest carrier, particularly in New York, Chicago and Dallas, where bad weather magnified delays.

Alaska Airlines and Midwest Airlines also canceled flights Thursday to inspect their Boeing MD-80s, while Delta Air Lines said it was likely to ground "a handful."

Perhaps the worst part for travelers: There's no way to know which carrier will be affected next.

Stacey Pillman, 42, of Miami, said she couldn't help but keep glancing at the American Airlines departure board every five minutes Thursday at Miami International Airport. She stayed behind as her family left to buy magazines and snacks for the trip to Mexico City.

"I just want to stay here and see what happens. I am not one who likes surprises," Pillman said.

In Washington, Nicholas Sabatini, the FAA official who ordered stricter compliance with federal safety standards after the Southwest debacle, faced tough questions from Congress about his responsibility for the lapses.
He told a Senate subcommittee he was accountable for the recent breakdowns in compliance, and blamed the Southwest incident on the failure of both FAA and airline employees.

Another sign of the political stakes: The Senate confirmation process for acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell, who was nominated by President Bush in October, has been put on hold.

Before the latest turmoil, the industry could point to a solid record of safety in recent years, a laurel the FAA could also rest on. The last U.S. crash of a jumbo jet was in November 2001, when an American Airlines flight plummeted into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people.

After a ValuJet flight crashed in Florida 12 years ago, some in Congress questioned the FAA's dual mission of aviation regulation and promotion. But there has not been today's level of government scrutiny on airlines since the industry was deregulated about 30 years ago, said Daniel Petree, dean of the College of Business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

FAA spokeswoman Lynn Tierney said the agency is simply doing its job.
"We are aware and sympathetic ... but the role is clear, it's a regulator's role," Tierney said. "We understand the disruption this causes, but (the airlines) had 18 months to complete the work."

Tierney was referring to the safety order issued on the Boeing Co. MD-80 aircraft that recently have been grounded. The FAA ordered visual inspections of certain wire bundles on those planes after reports of shorted wires, evidence of worn-down power cables, and fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. The order was effective Sept. 5, 2006, and the airlines had 18 months to comply.

Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III on Thursday repeated his findings about the FAA's inspection office responsible for Southwest Airlines having "developed an overly collaborative relationship" with the carrier.

The FAA last week announced a new reporting system designed to make it easier for inspectors to raise concerns and said it was strengthening ethics policies aimed at easing potential conflicts of interests.

"The FAA needs to do more than just trust these airlines," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said to conclude the hearing. "We have some good ideas on the table, but we need to go beyond the letter-writing back and forth and into action."

Copyright 2008 New York Post

[rionetrozasa]

Op-Ed Contributor

Don’t Ground the Safety System

Harry Campbell

By PATRICK SMITH
Published: April 13, 2008
Boston

ON March 6, Southwest Airlines is hit with a $10.2 million fine for neglecting to perform fatigue crack inspections on its Boeing 737s. Days later, American and Delta remove dozens of MD-80 jets from service for wiring modifications. United Airlines follows with a two-day grounding of its Boeing 777s. And last week, in the industry’s largest-ever grounding, American Airlines again pulls its MD-80s out of service and cancels some 2,000 flights. The traveling public is confused, frightened and perhaps angry.

While all of this unfolds, the Federal Aviation Administration becomes the target of intense scrutiny. Critics point to the agency’s conflicted role as both a promoter and regulator of commercial aviation. The agency is beholden more to the financial interest of the airlines, we are told, than to the safety of passengers. Why weren’t these problems tackled sooner? What, exactly, have federal inspectors been out there inspecting?

Those are fair questions, and indeed the agency needs to be held accountable. But the dynamics of commercial flying are highly unusual, and a close, working relationship between airlines and their regulators will remain essential to the evolution of air safety. A more hostile or antagonistic relationship would stifle research and is liable to encourage, rather than prevent, more serious lapses and scandals.

The Federal Aviation Administration has worked with airlines and pilot unions very well over the years, studying problems and developing new technologies and protocols. The cargo-fire suppression systems developed after the ValuJet crash in the Everglades in 1996 and the Traffic Collision and Avoidance Systems hardware that monitors airspace to avoid mid-air collisions are two good examples in which carriers, pilots and Washington worked together to improve safety.

Granted, changes don’t always come as quickly as they ought to, and the government has an irritating fondness for enforcing regulatory minutiae. But on the whole the system works. Airlines have spent tens of billions of dollars complying with thousands of agency mandates and directives, few of which ever make the newspapers, resulting in what is arguably the safest transportation system in the world. For the average traveler, unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of airline operations (pun intended), it’s easy to misconstrue these recent events as indicators of danger and crisis. Airline scandals have a unique way of stoking people’s anxieties by preying on an innate fear of flying that is shared by virtually everyone. Had the planes not been grounded, the thinking goes, a month from now they’d be bursting into flames and dropping from the sky.

The truth is much more complicated. None of the grounded aircraft, it seems, was in a dangerous condition, and it’s extremely unlikely that lives were ever put at risk. The planes were taken from service as a preventive measure, not to ward off some impending catastrophe. Thus these incidents are less a portent of disaster than a preventive shake-up that can help us avoid one. A bit of controversy can be helpful, lest we grow complacent.

Lost in all of this is an acknowledgment of just how safe air travel has become — a reality seldom mentioned in the news media, but especially pertinent at a time when conventional wisdom holds that flying is increasingly dangerous. In the United States, there has not been a large-scale accidental crash involving a major carrier since November 2001, the longest such streak in the modern history of civil aviation — despite enormous financial pressures at almost every carrier.

If, by that measure, the airline business is a hive of negligence and poor regulatory oversight, then perhaps all industries should be so corrupt.

Patrick Smith, an airline pilot, writes the “Ask the Pilot” column on Salon.com.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times.

[E4qC1qQ5]

Praying Passenger Ejected From Jet for Failing to Return to His Seat

By KEN BELSON
Published: April 18, 2008

A passenger praying in the back of a plane shortly before it took off from Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday evening was ejected from the flight for failing to follow the flight attendants’ orders to return to his seat.

The passenger, a bearded Orthodox Jewish man wearing a black hat and a long black coat, went to the back of a United Airlines jet with a small prayer book and started praying, according to a witness who was aboard. Two flight attendants tried to get his attention, but he ignored them, according to the witness, Ori Brafman, who was sitting a few rows away.

The flight attendants returned with a third attendant, who also failed to get the passenger to return to his seat on Flight 9, which was scheduled to leave for San Francisco at 9:15 p.m.

Two friends traveling with the man explained to the attendants that once the prayer is started, it must be finished without interruption, Mr. Brafman said.

The man returned to his seat after he finished the prayer, which lasted about two and a half minutes, Mr. Brafman said, but the attendants had called a customer service agent.

“He was sitting in his seat, and said, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ to his friends,” Mr. Brafman said. “He had an oy vey moment.”

The agent ejected the man from the plane. There were no raised voices during the incident, and no other passengers complained, Mr. Brafman added.

Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United Airlines, said that the man was put on another flight Thursday morning. She said that flights cannot depart until all passengers are in their seats, and that passengers must follow the flight crew’s instructions.

“Even when the doors of the plane are not closed, if the crew says you should take your seat, you have to, so they can proceed with preparing the flight for takeoff,” said Ms. Urbanski, who added that the flight was a few minutes late in leaving. “It’s important that the customers listen to the flight crew’s instructions, especially safety instructions.”

Ms. Urbanski said that the airline had tried to contact the passenger, but did not receive a reply. The airline said the passenger had a Colorado address.
Ephraim Sherman, a Torah student at the Chabad at New York University, a Hasidic group, said the man was probably saying the Amidah, an all-encompassing prayer that religious Jews say three times a day, while standing, rocking back and forth, while facing toward Jerusalem. The prayer is supposed to be said uninterrupted and typically lasts three to four minutes.
“It says in the Talmud that even if a snake curls around your ankle, you shouldn’t give up,” Mr. Sherman said. “Barring a humongous catastrophe, like if someone has a gun to your head, you don’t stop.”

But he added, “If I didn’t know what it was, I would be scared.”

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company.

[orison]

Maybe he should have waited.

It does not seem like there was any specific time that this needs to be said.

Also, if he were to do something like this, he should have TOLD someone before he did it. Assuming that you have the right to disrupt everything because YOU feel you need to pray.....

I think this was done in really poor taste. I do not think he should hav ebeen kicked, but it should be used as an example of behavior that will not be tolerated in the future. You can prey, they will accomodate you (within reason), but not everyone on the plane is an Orthodox, so do not force all of them to wait for you to be finished with your religious observances.


BTW, what does this have to do with airline safety?

[Anatolii]

I thought it was basic safety, but I thought he was treated harshly for the sake of a couple of minutes.


“It’s important that the customers listen to the flight crew’s instructions, especially safety instructions.”

[NutChusty]

If he was not told specifically beforehand, they had no right to chuck him for the sake of 3 minutes.