Readin' Researchin' Writin' and the Tools to Make it Happen

Nils Haupt hosts salon on MH 370 mystery

Last month at the invitation of Nils Haupt, Lufthansa's former head of North American PR, I spoke to a small group of aviation and business writers about the book I have been contracted to write about the disappearance of MH 370 and other aviation mysteries. It was thrilling to be questioned about my theories and my experiences covering the story for ABC News from Malaysia, by people who had given the subject a lot of thought. 

With me that night, was Emily Baker, the acquisitions editor at Penguin who purchased the book and who, to my delight, is a big aviation geek. Don't ask her about Amelia Earhart unless you have a lot of time on your hands. 

Boeing, FAA Don't Understand 787 Battery Shortcomings, Japanese Say

Far from dismissing three safety events on Japanese Boeing 787 Dreamliners as mysteries that will go forever unresolved, the nation's safety authority has issued a series of recommendations to Boeing, and the Federal Aviation Administration that suggest the two entities don't fully understand the ways the volatile lithium ion batteries and their chargers can fail.

Australian Adventurer Illustrates Flying's Glorious Contradictions

I spend so much time writing about the safety and economics of aviation every now and then its good to go back and remember that flying was pioneered by risk takers who were motivated by many things, convention and common sense not among them.

The role of adventurers in aviation was very much on my mind while reading Dick Smith's thrill-a-page book, The Earth Beneath Me, the story of his solo helicopter flight from Fort Worth, Texas to Sydney, Australia in 1982.

Ryanair Bad Boy Michael O'Leary Gets Christmas Gift from Boeing

An Irish friend of mine told me many years ago to think twice before dismissing Michael O’Leary, the face and chief executive of Europe's largest low-cost carrier, Ryanair.  At the time, O'Leary was relatively unknown outside of Ireland. And while I took that advice, I have over the years, poked him for his headline-grabbing antics and the ridiculous, combative and sometimes even vulgar comments he is wont to make.

Flight attendants should learn how to land airplanes so Ryanair could eliminate the second pilot was one outrageous idea he championed. Standing seats should be installed on airplanes in order to make room for more fare-paying passengers was another. His proposal to eliminate  the potty on board or charge for its use made O'Leary air travel's bad-boy as the idea ricocheted around the globe.

Aviation's Effort Combating Laser Attacks Hashtag #Ineffective #Insane

FBI video of laser illumination of an airliner cockpit

No less a brainiac than Albert Einstein could have weighed in on the phenomenally ineffective efforts of American aviation and law enforcement to combat laser attacks on airplanes. The German American physicist defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."