When a Celebrity Clunk on the Head Becomes a Bright Idea

At first glance it might not seem that President Obama and kid-rocker Justin Bieber have much in common. But both men had just a tad too much altitude going through the doorway of aircraft and - boom! the celebrity noggins got a good crack while the paparazzi snapped photos.

Yep, it is fun to put America's president and its most adorable heart-throb together in the same sentence and call them klutzes, but there's more to the story.

Etihad's Next Play- Daily Flights to Dulles

Hogan at an event in Paris last fall. Photo courtesy Etihad

That' was some big swingin' party at New York's 21 Club last night, as Etihad chief executive James Hogan - grin all over his face - confirmed what he'd spent the last few years promising anybody who would listen, the Abu Dhabi-based airline would end 2011 in the black.

Miracle on the Hudson Co-Author Jeff Zaslow Dead at 53

Jeff Zaslow photo courtesy jeffzaslow.com

This is the truth, Jeff Zaslow knew how to tell a story. This is critical skill for journalists to be sure but Jeff elevated it to award-winning levels and I mean that literally.

I met Jeff in 1987 when he was the surprising winner of a Chicago Sun-Times competition to select a successor to the internationally known advice columnist Ann Landers who was retiring. At the time, my husband worked at the Sun-Times and I was a television reporter at WGN-TV. Jeff was at the Sun-Times and married to a television journalist. For a while we both had commuter marriages and we laughed at the parallels in our lives.  

Globe is Shrinking and So Are Some Airlines

Spanair and Hungary's Malev are kaput. Like reluctant shadows, Cyprus Airways, Air Zimbabwe and India's Kingfisher lurk nearby. 

The list of airlines in bankruptcy or struggling  with life critical issues would consume my precious word count, so let's just say, "Hello American, Qantas, Air India."

When Stupid is Criminal

Photo courtesy Greenfield District Court

This afternoon, 57-year old Steven Fay will appear in court in Massachusetts to face criminal charges for being supremely stupid, recklessly stupid, deadly stupid. In what some aviation attorneys say is extremely unusual, a private pilot has been indicted for involuntary manslaughter for unintentionally crashing his airplane and killing his daughter.