Thursday, February 05, 2009

By Air or Sea, Airline Travel Hits High Marks for Safety

It was announced today that U.S. based airlines have gone two years without a fatality, the first such stretch of that duration since the dawn of the jet age. I'm not sure whether to be comforted or alarmed.

In other flight safety news, Cap'n Sully and his crew will appear on Larry King's show tonight in their first public interview since their US Airways Airbus ditched in the Hudson last month. I confess to being very impressed with Captain Sullenberger. The man was top of every class, a highly skilled military aviator, and an experienced consultant on airline safety. When the chips were down, he exhibited every bit of the cool, collected demeanor that you could hope for in an airline pilot (and then some). Since he lives about 10 miles from us, he is quite the local celebrity as well.

I look forward to hearing his thoughts about the whole adventure. I expect his recounting of the story to be remarkably undramatic.

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