26 hurt on turbulent Continental flight

by Katie Hammel on

On most flights, turbulence is a minor inconvenience. You have to return to your seat and buckle in, and you may have to wait a little longer to get your next vodka and cranberry (oh, is it just me that needs a cocktail, or three, to relax on a plane?). Planes are generally able to avoid the worst of the bumps, thanks to radar and reports from other planes in the area. But sometimes, turbulence strikes seemingly out of the blue, and that may be when it is the most dangerous.

This could be what happened on Continental Flight 128, which hit severe turbulence on its way from Brazil to Houston and was forced to make an emergency landing in Miami early on Monday. The plane encountered the turbulence just northwest of Puerto Rico and landed at Miami shortly after 5:30 a.m.

The turbulence was so rough that it catapulted passengers from their seats, slamming them into luggage bins and bashing their heads into overhead seat controls, cracking the panels and breaking glass in the reading lamps. 26 people were injured. Four of the injuries were reported as serious and 14 people were taken to the hospital.

Passengers stated that the turbulence didn’t last very long, and that after it had passed everyone remained calm. There’s no word yet on what exactly caused the turbulence, but the FAA is investigating.

[via ABC News]

Airport security checks your luggage, carry-on and… penis size?

by Scott Carmichael on

Airport security never ceases to amaze me, every time I think things are getting a little wacky, I’m shown something new that makes everything I saw in the past suddenly seem logical.

Urinals at the Southwest airlines terminal at Houston’s Hobby airport have a sign warning peeing passengers that:

“Automatic infrared flush sensors also provide video monitoring for security purposes”

Seriously, the department of homeland security now considers male genitalia to be a threat to national security?

Now, before I blame the department for being total idiots, I can’t help feel that this entire thing is a prank, and that everyone reporting on it is part of one funny joke.

In fact, despite their track record of silly decisions, I doubt they’d do this. Obviously, someone decided to have some fun, and made some homemade stickers. If I am proven wrong, I’d be really interested to hear why the TSA is so interested in these images, and how long until we are all warned about the dangers of penis bombs.

Click read more to see a larger version of the photo.

Chattanooga, Portsmouth among top art destinations in the U.S.

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Who thought that Tennessee and New Hampshire would be some of the top towns in the country for art lovers. AmericanStyle magazine just issued the results of its twelfth annual arts destinations poll. Some spots are predictable. Others, like Chattanooga, will just blow your mind.

This is the first year Chattanooga made the list, shooting all the way up to second in the mid-sized city category. If you’ve been there, some of the surprise wears off. I hit Chattanooga back in 1999, and it was turning into a pretty cool small city. The past decade, obviously, has treated the city well. More shocking is the top mid-sized city: Buffalo, NY.

At the top of the small city list, Santa Fe is an utterly predictable #1 – like New York in the big city category. Portsmouth, NH, toward the bottom of the small city list, is a sentimental favorite. I had my first real job in Portsmouth and drank away many a Friday and Saturday (and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday) night on its sidewalks.

See the full lists after the jump.Big Cities (population of 500,000 or more)

  1. New York, NY
  2. Chicago, IL
  3. Washington, DC
  4. San Francisco, CA
  5. Albuquerque, NM
  6. Boston, MA
  7. Seattle, WA
  8. Atlanta, GA
  9. Philadelphia, PA
  10. Los Angeles, CA
  11. Portland, OR
  12. Baltimore, MD
  13. Denver, CO
  14. Phoenix, AZ
  15. Austin, TX
  16. Charlotte, NC
  17. Columbus, OH
  18. Nashville, TN
  19. San Diego, CA
  20. Tucson, AZ
  21. San Antonio, TX
  22. Las Vegas, NV
  23. Milwaukee, WI
  24. Dallas, TX
  25. Houston, TX

Mid-Sized Cities (population of 100,000 to 499,000)

  1. Buffalo, NY
  2. Chattanooga, TN
  3. Pittsburgh, PA
  4. Scottsdale, AZ
  5. New Orleans, LA
  6. Charleston, SC
  7. Savannah, GA
  8. Cleveland, OH
  9. Ann Arbor, MI
  10. Minneapolis, MN
  11. Alexandria, VA
  12. Miami, FL
  13. Tacoma, WA
  14. St. Louis, MO
  15. Athens, GA
  16. Kansas City, MO
  17. Colorado Springs, MO
  18. Providence, RI
  19. Salt Lake City, UT
  20. Honolulu, HI
  21. Rochester, NY
  22. St. Petersburg, FL
  23. Cincinnati, OH
  24. Raleigh, NC
  25. Tampa, FL

Small Cities (population of below 100,000)

  1. Santa Fe, NM
  2. Asheville, NC
  3. Sedona, AZ
  4. Taos, NM
  5. Saugatuck, MI
  6. Key West, FL
  7. Berkeley Springs, WV
  8. Boulder, CO
  9. Carmel, CA
  10. Corning, NY
  11. Sarasota, FL
  12. Beaufort, SC
  13. Chapel Hill, NC
  14. Burlington, VT
  15. Annapolis, MD
  16. Aspen, CO
  17. Laguna Beach, CA
  18. Northampton, MA
  19. Eureka Springs, AR
  20. Brattleboro, VT
  21. New Hope, PA
  22. Naples, FL
  23. Cumberland, MD
  24. Berea, KY
  25. Portsmouth, NH

Baghdad or Bust

by Mike Barish on

Here at Gadling, we often have conversations revolving around where we want to travel next. As we run through our lists, inevitably the conversation will turn towards the opposite question. Where wouldn’t you go? The usually hot spots always get named: Iraq, Afghanistan and, of course, Houston in August. But the New York Times featured a group of travelers bold enough to travel to Iraq. And they’re not just a collection of kids who are too naïve to be scared or veterans who have seen danger zones before. Nope. They’re middle-aged and older American citizens with a zest for life and a desire to see the world.

Surprisingly, they found Iraq to be much safer than expected. In fact, they reported feeling completely safe while walking back to their hotel at night without a security escort. They often eschewed the security detail in order to make travel less restrictive.

Neither the tour provider nor insurance companies would provide travel insurance for such an adventure, which is why the travelers tended to be older and financially secure enough to deal with any complications. However, the biggest problems encountered were more nuisances than dangers, such as hours lost at checkpoints.

It sounds like an incredible trip and only strengthened my desire to travel to places that most people avoid. Besides, if people are too scared to go there, you don’t have to worry about being caught in a swarm of tourists. Which means shorter lines at the bathrooms!

So what is on my list of places that I wouldn’t visit? Nothing. I’ll travel anywhere. Well, except for Houston in August. Too damn humid.

[NYT]

Man who can’t work cell phone sues Continental Airlines

by Annie Scott on

Saquib Fatah of Houston, Texas, is suing Continental Airlines because he can’t work his cell phone. Confused? I’ll break it down:

1. Fatah gets on airplane in London with his new cell phone.
2. Captain makes the usual “turn off all electronic devices” announcement and the plane begins to taxi.
3. “BEEP BEEP BEEP!” from Fatah’s phone.
4. A stewardess asks Fatah to “kill the phone.” He appears to do so. Taxiing continues …
5. “BEEP BEEP BEEP!”
6. Everything goes to Hell.

After the phone went off the second time, Fatah states in his lawsuit that “the Continental Airlines stewardess used degrading and insulting language, and then offloaded him and his luggage, and handed him over to the British police.”

Fatah was reportedly held in jail for a couple of hours, then sent along his not-so-merry way. A week later, Fatah arrived at the airport to try to go home to Houston again, but Continental turned him away at the check-in, saying he was “undesirable.” Ouch. Fatah bought a ticket on British Airways, flew home, and called his lawyer Ali Ahmed.

Ahmed has yet to serve the lawsuit, but if he’s already talking to the press about it, chances are he has every intention of doing so.

[via Houston Press Blogs]