Airport noise ignites tempers, sparks obscene sign on homeowners’ roof

by Catherine Bodry on

Before the FAA changed Philadelphia’s flight plan a month ago, Michael Hall and his girlfriend, Michaelene Buddy had no issues sleeping. Their home was quiet. Then came the flight pattern change, and with it the constant roaring of commercial jets overhead.

Hall and Buddy have tried contacting the FAA’s noise disturbance hotline, but claim that the voice mailbox is always full. So the duo took matters into their own hands: in 7-foot letters the couple spelled out “FU_K U FAA” on their roof — in plain sight of any jet flying overhead.

The sign might not spark any changes, but I imagine it felt good for the two to say what they wanted so say and know that someone will hear (or see) it.

Loaded gun makes it through airport security

by Catherine Bodry on

Ben Stiller’s friend on “There’s Something About Mary” wouldn’t let Ben go out with a loaded gun, and perhaps that’s a lesson we should all take to heart. But should you accidentally take your loaded firearm through airport security, you might not get caught. The TSA seems to be great at detecting your shampoo or engagement ring, but agents failed to detect a gun this past Sunday.

According to CNN, Gregory Scott Hinkle went through airport security at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with a loaded weapon. After he made it through the checkpoint, he remembered that he had the gun, and returned to security to disclose it.

Rather than commend Hinkle for being honest, airport security instead called the police, who charged Hinkle with the crime of “possessing or transporting a firearm into an air carrier terminal where prohibited,” a misdemeanor. Hinkle was released that day, but is scheduled to appear in court on April 2.

The TSA claims that this incident is “not a systemic problem in that our testing indicates TSOs [Transportation Security Officers] have a very high success rate at finding firearms.”

It seems there’s no shortage of people who hate the TSA. Here are some other reasons to be annoyed with the agency:

What to do?

Gadling’s worst five US Airports for public transportation

by Grant Martin on

Earlier this week we wrote up a brief article rating some of the best connected airports in these great United States. What’s the value of a top five list without the sadistic benefit of a bottom five list though? Fear not Gadlingers, it was easier to create this list then the top five, with these airports rated above and beyond the worst connected to public transportation. Again, we’ve not only ranked them by accessibility but also cost and proximity to the city in question.

  • Detroit: We can thank the automotive lobby for this one. With barely any train service in the city and a metropolitan airport halfway between downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor, nobody can easily get to DTW. There are a couple of public buses, but they only appear to run in specific directions and to be honest with you, I’ve never seen one on the grounds.
  • Newark/New York: While EWR is connected to NJ transit, it costs freaking 14$ to get there from Penn Station and THEN you have to take the stupid airtrain around the airport. Half the time the latter train is broken down, and if you forgot your ticket from NJTransit you have to pay extra for the privilege to transfer to your dumpy terminal. Terrible.
  • Los Angeles: SoCal vehicle mentality seems to require people to drive everywhere in the city. The lackadaisical subway system doesn’t even consider coming close the airport and even then most people are afraid to use it.
  • Las Vegas: Nevada seems to think that if people are going to Vegas to gamble that they have enough money to pay for a cab into town. Not everyone comes to the city to gamble!
  • Washington DC (Dulles): IAD has the Washington Flyer, which will at least connect you to the Orange Line in NOVA, but it costs nine bucks and takes an extra half hour to get there. Transferring downtown takes even longer and the Flyer can be affected by traffic. With all of those stipulations, the 2$ I pay for the New York Laguardia bus looks like a dream.

Don’t agree or think that your city belongs on the list? Let us know!

Lost kitten survives flight in luggage hold

by Grant Martin on

Late last week, a south Florida man headed for the airport accidentally zipped up his cat into his luggage, headed out and checked the bag all of the way to Texas. TSA apparently failed to notice a live animal in their x-ray screening process and let the baggage handlers load the poor cat into the belly of the American Airlines jet. Thirty thousand vertical feet, subzero temperatures and half a country later the bag emerged in Dallas, where in a further stupefying turn of events, the wrong passenger picked up the man’s luggage and took it home. Imagine not only finding the wrong belongings but a CAT inside of the bag that you brought home from the airport.

Amazingly, the cat survived the entire affair. The ride to the airport, checked into luggage, through two airline baggage systems out of the carousel and home with the wrong person. No word on how many times the cat relieved itself in the bag.

Meantime, the man’s wife in Florida was searching high and low for the kitten, to the point of putting up lost signs out on the street. She was probably pretty surprised to locate the cat in Texas. If only I could do that to some people I know.

Cell phone abusers on plane now being arrested

by Grant Martin on

One of my biggest pet peeves is the jokers on the airplane who talk non stop on their phones before departure and practically need to have them wrestled away when the cabin door closes. In addition to the potentially dangerous effect of mobile phone signals on aircraft navigation, its rude to be jabbering away with a ton of cramped unhappy people all around you.

The problem is particularly egregious in business class, where I frequently see passengers hiding their Blackberries when the flight attendant passes by, only to pull them back out and start sending emails right after.

Well apparently the industry is starting to take things more seriously. This past week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that three Italians departing out of Milan were kicked off an airplane and arrested for refusing to get off their phones prior to departure. Even last week on my girlfriend’s flight between New York and Detroit a guy was booted for talking after the door was closed (as if LGA didn’t have enough delays).

So try to give the crew and your fellow passengers a break if you have to use your cell before departure. Be courteous, keep your voice down and when they close the cabin door, for the love of all that is holy, please turn off your phone.

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