In plain view, as if it’s not a big deal, Detroitnews online – OK it was a US government agent that was the smart-dressed man that led Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, or the Underwear Bomber, on to the aircraft in Amsterdam, after a month-plus of lying, and saying that no such man existed. Alex Jones, Alex Jones Show 31st January 2010
British Airways is one of the UK’s most visible brands. It sells Britishness as a mark of quality. A Very British Airline I, BBC 2014
For many of the recruits the uniform is part of the job’s attraction. ibid.
Their business and first class tickets account for only 14% of passengers. But can bring in as much as 45% of revenue. This is known as millionaire’s door at Terminal 5 for those select few who fly first class. They have access to their own lounge, restaurant, spa and champagne bar. ibid.
5,500 engineers service its fleet. ibid.
110,000 people a day on 800 flights, many of them on the Airbus fleet. ibid.
Today more people fly Easyjet than BA. A Very British Airline II
The airline’s been ferrying high-fliers to the Big Apple since the ’50s. ibid.
6A standard [first class] one-way fare from New York to London is just over $10,000. ibid.
We’ve been following some of the airline’s 40,000 staff. A Very British Airline III
Heathrow: Here 84 airlines compete fiercely for passengers and space. ibid.
225 handlers on shift today. ibid.
While you was in the air there was a military coup in your country. The Terminal 2004 starring Tom Hanks & Catherine Zeta- Jones & Stanley Tucci & Chi McBride & Diego Luna & Barry Shabaka Henley & Kumar Pallana & Zoe Saldana & Eddie Jones & Jude Ciccolella et al, director Steven Spielberg, customs bloke
Welcome to the United States. ibid.
Did you escape from the institution? ibid. her to him
We are in a dive! We are in a dive! We have lost vertical control. Flight 2012 starring Denzel Washington & Don Cheadle & Kelly Reilly & Bruce Greenwood & John Goodman & Melissa Leo & Tamara Tunie & Nadine Velazquez & Brian Geraghty & Justin Martin & James Badge Dale et al, director Robert Zemeckis, pilot Washington
Was it the fact that you got on the plane still drunk from the night before? ibid. co-pilot to pilot
I choose to drink. ibid. Washington
I've been lying about my drinking my whole life. ibid.
I drank the Vodka bottles on the plane. ibid.
There is no stopping in the red zone. Airplane 1980 aka Flying High! starring Leslie Nielsen & Robert Hays & Julie Hagerty & Peter Graves & Lloyd Bridges & Robert Stack & Lorna Patterson & Stephen Stucker & Frank Ashmore & Jonathan Banks & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar et al, directors Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry Zucker, airport tannoy
Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor? ibid. captain
You ever seen a grown man naked? Joey, you ever hang around the gymnasium? ibid. captain to young Joey
I haven’t felt this awful since we saw that Ronald Reagan film. ibid. woman on plane
Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison? ibid. captain
The automatic pilot is deflating! ibid. Elaine
Don’t call me Shirley. ibid. doctor
Bridges: Alive but unconscious.
Sidekick: Just like Gerald Ford. ibid.
Osipovich had not shot down a spy plane; in fact, it was Korean Airlines Flight 007 from Anchorage to Seoul. 1983: The Brink of Apocalypse, Channel 4 2007
This mysterious wave is called a Skyquake. But its origins are completely unknown. One theory is that these quakes are caused by a plane developed at Area 51 that flies so fast it is not called Supersonic, but rather Hypersonic. The government has never admitted it exists. But its codename is reported to be Aurora. Mysteryquest: Alien Cover-Up, History 2009
Glimpses of the Oxcart are finally coming to light. Oxcart was the world’s first stealth plane. Area 51: I Was There, National Geographic
One night in 1971 D B Cooper vanished near Aerial, Washington with $200,000 (£110,000) in ransom money after hijacking a jet. Since 1974 the town has held an annual D B Cooper party, to celebrate his claim to fame. As many as 500 fans gather to remember someone they never knew. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! 2006
He handed me a note and he kept looking at me and I just ignored him at first. He looked at me and said, I want you to read the note. It was printed: Miss, I have a bomb in my briefcase. I want you to sit beside me. Florence Schaffner, flight attendant
April 7th 1972 United Airlines Flight 855 en route from Newark to Los Angeles ... The note revealed a terrifying threat to all on board ... While FBI agents in San Francisco focused their attention on the plane, their colleagues in Colorado tried to learn everything they could about Mr Johnson in seat 20D ... Neither Federal agents nor the United Airlines crew knew enough to determine whether this was indeed the famed D B Cooper at work or a masterful copy-cat. FBI Files: Flight from Justice, Discovery 2003
He had jumped somewhere between Provo and a small town called Springville, Utah. The FBI agents in Salt Lake City were on alert: when they got word the hijacker jumped, the men took off in pursuit. If this hijacker was in fact the infamous D B Cooper, the FBI knew they had to move fast to ensure he didn’t get away the second time. ibid.
This hijacking was remarkably similar to an event that occurred four months earlier when a man named D B Cooper jumped from a jetliner with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and vanished. The FBI wanted to ensure this hijacker didn’t get away. ibid.
McCoy was free to go. He didn’t seem to be the kind of criminal they were looking for. He was a Mormon, a father of two, studying law enforcement at Brigham Young University. Agents learned McCoy practised jumping with a local sky-diving school. ibid.
Both Cooper and McCoy used false names and disguises. They both gave instructions to the pilot on FAA forms. The way the passengers were moved to the front of the plane and finally released was identical in both cases. As was of course their unusual means of escape. ibid.
But the most intriguing evidence linking McCoy with Cooper was something Cooper left on the plane. A clip-on tie and tie-clasp, both of which were identified by relatives as belonging to Richard McCoy. ibid.
For McCoy the ninetieth day of freedom was his last. The FBI caught their man, but with McCoy dead perhaps the greatest chance of learning the truth about the infamous D B Cooper ... ibid.
Of all of America’s skyjackings only one remains unsolved. On November 24th 1971 a passenger using the name Dan Cooper hijacked North West Orion Airlines Flight 305 headed from Portland to Seattle. Brad Meltzer’s Decoded s1e6: D B Cooper, History 2010
At 10,000 feet Cooper jumped from the back stairs of the Boeing 747. ibid.
New evidence that points to Christiansen. ibid.
Kenny Christiansen had the access and the motive and that shortly after the skyjacking came into a pile of money. ibid.
The hijacker left behind his tie and tie tag. He either threw out or took along his attaché case. He did leave behind two of the four parachutes. One of which he had opened on the cabin floor, and cut two of the shroud lines off with a sharp instrument probably to use to tie the money to his waist. Ralph Himmelsbach, former FBI agent
Why do you think D B Cooper has become such a folk hero? The Pursuit of D B Cooper 1981 starring Robert Duvall & Treat Williams, television interview & Kathryn Harrold & Paul Gleason & R G Armstrong et al, director Roger Spottiswoode
I feel about aeroplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on. Jean Kerr, The Snake Has All the Lines, 1958
March 2014 an airline with 239 passengers and crew on board vanishes without trace. A year on and the agony of the families of those on board goes on. Missing: Flight MH370 One Year On, Channel 5 2015
There was no distress call, and the plane disappeared from radar screens simultaneously. ibid.
Suddenly mechanical failure is looking less plausible. ibid.
I’ve done some luxury flying, which is brilliant. It has only happened once or twice, but it was nice because flying is the worst part of the holiday. But then again, if the plane crashes, you’re still dead. For that much money I’d want a little capsule that whizzed me off to safety if it was going to crash. Karl Pilkington
150 people lost their lives last week in one of the worst airline disasters of recent years. This man committed an act of mass murder. How Safe are Our Planes? Channel 4 2015
Germanwings is the low-budget subsidiary of Lufthansa. ibid.
Pilot suicide as it’s known has a rare but disturbing history. ibid.
Athens Airport Sunday June 27 1976. Victory at Entebbe 1976 starring Helmut Berger & Linda Blair & Kirk Douglas & Richard Dreyfuss & Helen Hayes & Anthony Hopkins & Burt Lancaster & Elizabeth Taylor & Julius Harris & Theodore Bikel et al, director Marvin Chomsky
Sit down and be quiet. ibid. terrorist
At least eighty-three Israelis. ibid. Hopkins
Monday June 28 1976: Uganda Welcomes You. ibid. airport
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. ibid. camp bloke
The Israeli citizen is always considered a front-line soldier. ibid. Lancaster