 |
         
|
Airline travel may have grown more irritating this summer but that is still no excuse for NBC's Rehema Ellis to mangle Department of Transportation statistics. "If you are hoping to get somewhere from an American airport on time, the odds are against you," Ellis misled NBC's substitute anchor Ann Curry. In fact the odds are in your favor. In June, 32% of flights were delayed, a terrible performance perhaps, the worst record in 13 years--nevertheless, it means that 68% of flights are on time, favorable odds of almost exactly 2:1. We advise Ms Ellis that her next flight should not be to play the tables at Las Vegas.
CBS' Nancy Cordes observed that delays are most severe at New York area airports, leading the state to require that flights trapped on the tarmac provide passengers with beverages, snacks and fresh air: "Congress is considering similar legislation." Of all the delays, ABC's David Kerley (subscription required) singled out NWAirlines Flight 656 from Detroit to Newark, late 100% of the time in June. Yet 656 was not late today: "It was canceled."
ABC followed up with Pierre Thomas taking A Closer Look at the airline crisis of last August--the suspicion in London that a terrorist cell was planning sabotage by carrying on liquids that, once mixed on board and detonated by an electric current, would produce a "catastrophic" explosion in flight. Thomas revealed that chemists at the Sandia National Laboratories had managed to replicate such an explosion using readily available household products. Even though there is "some question" as to whether the suspected terrorists had the "skill to properly mix and detonate their explosive cocktail in flight," the labs calculated the quantities required for success--and that is why three ounces is the maximum volume of carry-on gels and liquids allowed to this day.
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
