The Tale Of The Gimli Glider

Few sights are as thrilling to a plane spotter as the Air Canada Boeing 767 with the registration mark C-GAUN, known to the reverent cognescenti as the Gimli Glider.

At this writing, C-GAUN is still flying, nearly 25 years after it made one of the most astonishing landings in the history of commercial aviation. I’ve been reading a lot of informed speculation lately that suggests C-GAUN will be retired soon. I hope, as many do, that it will be donated to a museum, because I’d really like to see it.

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Collinsville Is Cool

I was reading a story on BudgetTravel.com about the 10 Coolest Small Towns and what do I find listed there but Collinsville, Connecticut.

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Round Trip To Amsterdam, $525

If you’ve been thinking about trying Bradley’s only trans-Atlantic flight, you might want to try after Oct. 25. That’s when the round-trip fare on Northwest’s non-stop flight to Amsterdam drops to $525, including taxes and fees, Monday through Thursday.

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Deviations From Baseline Behavior

There’s some controversy about "behavior detection," the practice of identifying airline passengers who seem suspicious and engaging them in conversation to evaluate them further.  It’s promoted as a proven and effective Israeli security tool and derided as ineffective and chillingly invasive.

I have to say, it seemed like a common-sense tactic to me. Until I read this USA Today story that said the TSA is looking for "deviations from baseline behavior."   

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Skybus Goes Point To Point

Skybus has started selling tickets for direct flights between Portsmouth, N.H., and two Florida destinations: St. Augustine and Punta Gorda. (Or, in Skybus-speak, between Boston and Jacksonville / Daytona Beach and between Boston and Fort Meyers.)

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Hotel Wireless: Fee Or Free?

I stayed in the Hilton Boston Logan Airport last weekend and paid $12.95 for 24 hours of wireless Internet access. I stayed in the Omni San Diego Hotel over Labor Day weekend and got it free.

It’s still a bit of a crapshoot, folks.

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Scorpions On A Plane!

The last thing you need when scrunching yourself into your coach seat is a close encounter with a scorpion. But why worry? What would a scorpion be doing on a plane?

Racking up frequent flier miles while waiting for someone to sting, apparently.

I confess that I did not detect the trend myself, but travel blogger Ben Mutzabaugh at USA Today has compiled one unnerving post that describes several reports of scorpions on planes. In one case, a scorpion turned up on a flight from Chicago to Vermont, not exactly scorpion-friendly climate on either end.

Which raises the question – where’s Samuel L. Jackson with a makeshift flamethrower when you need him?

(By the way, if you’ve never seen it, check out this video from The Daily Show that parodies both scare-tactic news segments and the movie "Snakes on a Plane." Skip it if you’re offended by crude language, though.)

Vague Bill Won’t Ensure Passenger Rights

Last week the House of Representatives passed an aviation bill that would require airlines and airports to have a plan to provide stranded passengers with food, water and other basic needs and to let them off the aircraft after "excessive delays."

If  the Senate should pass similar legislation and the president should back off his threat to veto it, this bill will become law. And it won’t do nearly enough for stranded passengers.

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Matt Dances On

Matt Harding is on another trip, dancing his goofy dance, according to a great piece in USA Today by Laura Bly. If you’ve never seen Matt dance, you should have a look.

Weighty Matters In The Air

There was a bit of piling on after the scantily-clad women dustup with Southwest. A passenger came out of the woodwork to complain that Southwest humiliated him by forcing him to buy two seats because he couldn’t fit into one. At the time of that event, the man weighed 435 pounds.

Sorry, guy, but no sale. This isn’t news, and it isn’t unfair, either.

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