It’s amazing people still fly anywhere.
* * *
Awaiting my flight at the Ottawa International Airport, I passed by a drink stand and asked for a bottle of orange juice.
“Sure,” said the cashier. “But because of the new restrictions, I’ll have to pour it out of the bottle and into this cup before I can give it to you.”
“Um, okay.” I replied.
The cashier pulled the bottle off the shelf and began pouring the contents into a plastic cup. She looked up and smiled.
“Don’t worry, we’re fighting terrorism.”
* * *
I can’t bring deodorant on a plane, but I can bring a Dell laptop that may explode.
* * *
An Iraqi American was refused entry onto a flight because of Arabic writing on his t-shirt.
The story: Arabic T-Shirt Sparks Airport Row | BBC News
The personal account: Back from the Mideast | Raed in the Middle
* * *
Panic erupts on a flight bound for Ottawa because of a flushed iPod.
The story: iPod prompts airport scare in Ottawa | Ottawa Citizen
The reaction: Flying the Paranoid Skies | Ottawa Citizen
The personal account: I played a game, I became a terrorist | World of Warcraft Forums
* * *
A pilot flying from Ottawa to Winnipeg locks himself in the toilet in the middle of a flight.
The story: Canada pilot in toilet trip drama
* * *
There were six well-publicized crashes in August 2005, making it one of the worst months in commercial flight history:
- Air France Flight 358
- Tuninter ATR-72
- Helicopter Crash near Talinn
- Helios Airways Flight 522
- West Caribbean Airways Flight 708
- TANS Peru Flight 204
August 2006 began with the uncovering of an alleged plot to blow up a number of commercial aircraft at Heathrow Airport. There were two major commercial airline crashes in August 2006, followed by another on the first of September.
And yesterday, a British Royal Air Force plane crashed, killing all twelve soldiers on board.
* * *
Well, at least we won’t be subjected to the threat of an Arabic t-shirt on a flight.
Update 9.06.2006: Another amusing story out of Ottawa:
Speeding Driver blames lack of goats | Reuters
Not related to this post or worthy of it’s own blog entry, but I just had to put it somewhere.