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The cellphone video was grainy but its contents were compelling enough to inspire both NBC and ABC to use it as their lead item. The runway collision at JFK Airport between the wing of an Air France super-jumbo jet and the tail of a Delta Connection commuter jet was Story of the Day. No one on board either plane was injured yet the shocking visual contrast of the giant plane gliding by and the small one being spun around like a toy made up for the lack of any actual harm. On a light news day ABC used George Stephanopoulos as its substitute anchor. CBS opened with an investigative feature by Armen Keteyian into toxic pollution from leaks and spills by the oil and gas industry.

All three newscasts had a correspondent at JFK Airport. NBC and ABC both used their DC-based transportation specialists, Tom Costello and Lisa Stark respectively. Both networks followed up with an airline-related story. NBC's Pete Williams used a yet more handheld amateur video, to show how child passengers are patted down as potential terrorists by TSA airport screeners. ABC's Jim Avila took a ride on an airline simulator in New Jersey to reassure us that fear of flying is all in our brains, with no basis in statistical fact. CBS treated the JFK Airport story least seriously, slotting it in later in its rundown with Elaine Quijano, a general assignment reporter from New York.
Andrew Tyndall 4/16/11 3:49:34 pm

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