Concerns, Fears, and Other Topics of Interest

Links to select articles by Patrick Smith on a wide range of subjects.

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FACTS OF FLIGHT

THE AIRLINES

SECURITY & TERRRORISM

AIRPORTS & TEMINALS

TRAVEL & MISCELLANEOUS MUSINGS

CRASHES & INCIDENTS

FACTS OF FLIGHT

• Turbulence: Everything you need to know


• Turbulence, part 2


• The truth about cabin air


• The facts and fallacies of "water landings"


• Oxygen and pressurization


• "Passenger Bill of Rights" and the guts of weather delays


• Weather delays, part 2

THE AIRLINES

• Why are the airlines such lousy communicators?


• How to speak airline-ese, part one


• How to speak airline-ese, part two


• Airline identity, part 4. From kiwis to salt packets: The yin and yang of airline identity


• Airline identity part 3. Slogans, centaurs, and "touch lines"


• Airline identity, part 2. The best and worst of airline names.


• Airline identity, part 1. The Generic Meaningless Swoosh Thing


• Nonstop to Africa for the first time in 15 years. Why should we care?

SECURITY & TERRORISM

• Mashed potatoes, tomato sauce, and national security


• How Ziploc bags help keep America safe


• The London liquid bombers: imminent threat or a trumped-up ruse?


• As the new security rules become permanent, where's the outrage?

CRASHES & INCIDENTS

• Fatality-free airlines and safety as a marketing tool


• Tenerife, 30 years later. Horror and absurdity on the anniversary of history's worst plane crash.


• Comair crash at Lexington, Kentucky. Regional jet safety.


• Media madness from Toronto: God, lightning, and the quasi-crash of Air France 358


• Jet Blue 292 becomes our latest media spectacle. Asks the Pilot: Why?


• The ten worst crashes in aviation history

AIRPORTS & TERMINALS

• Welcome to Dakar, home of the World's Worst Airport


• What's the matter wth airports? Noise, escalators, and plastic


• Logan redux, and the deeper meaning of airports


• Airport names: Sky Harbors, Jetports, and Tom Ridge Field


• Bangor, Gander, Mandalay, and other "internationl" airports


• Inside the giant pachinko machine that is Tokyo-Narita

TRAVEL & MISCELLANEOUS MUSINGS

• A trip to West Africa, the most "dangerous" place to fly


• Seat Pocket Rummagings: Sudoku, pillows, computer-crushing seats, airport names, etc.


• Travel Report from Chile, and the ten greatest views in the world


• Malaysia Airlines and a report from the East


• From Caracas to Angel Falls, and a ride on Aeropostal


• Remembering indie-rock's greatest album on its 20th anniversary


• Planes, pranks, and music. The Jesus and Mary Chain at 20,000 feet.


• Public address madness


• Layover hotels: breakfast in Brussels with Patrick Smith

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Last revised June 27, 2007