This is my favorite feature in Salon, and thanks to the author for bringing common sense and rational speculation to a potentially sensational subject.

To tell ME you work for an airline. I might rip your head off and shove it up your ass.

I was interested to hear about your top concerns as a pilot:

I'd put cargo fires, flight control failures, bombs and ground collisions at the top of my list. But birds too are something to think about.

I'd love to read a bit more about why these particular scenarios are frightening (and, I imagine, somewhat more likely than the average passenger's doomsday scenario). Particularly, what is a "flight control failure"?

Thanks again for a great column.

"The last crash involving a major U.S. air carrier occurred in November 2001," writes Captain Smith.

Does Comair, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Airlines, not qualify as a major U.S. air carrier? "On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191 operating a Bombardier CRJ-100ER aircraft, crashed while taking off from Lexington's Blue Grass Airport. 49 of the 50 on board, including all 47 passengers, were killed."

You forgot the most famous bird-related plane crash of all time: when Indiana Jones' father (Sean Connery) intentionally ran at a flock of seabirds while wielding his umbrella in order to cause the birds to fly into the attacking Nazi's propeller. “Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky.”

CNN is the most trusted name in news.

MSNBC is the most trusted name in news too.

And FOX NEWS of course, is as infallible as the Pope.

ABC? CBS? All dedicated to bringing you all the news you need.

That's why they hire those women with the helmet hair and the botox chins and boob jobs to inform us of the intricacies of compressor stalls and wake turbulence. They squint into the TelePromTers and read directly from a news feed typed by a college freshman journalism school student who, I'm very sure, has a degree in aerospace engineering.

So before their heads explode, they have to find a reasonable explanation for what went wrong with the 777. The pilot's complexion was a little off. Then throw in the gratuitous references to both God and Mother Nature.

You see, it was that evil pagan woman "Mother Nature" who must have caused this near-disaster, but it was God who swooped in and saved all the passengers.

You just have to know how to approach the news these days Patrick. You're living in the past. Like when we had Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley and guys who were fact-based journalists. Now we've got Kira and Moira and meteorologist Bozo the Clown all bringing you the daily load of happy slappy crappy junk newz.

Facts don't enter into it. Facts are boring. Let's talk about the pilot's hair! What was his hair like?

How on earth could your friend, who is presumably a commercial pilot if not an ATP, come out of airline training not knowing that 757s have unusually strong wake turbulence for their size? Not only was this emphasized in my private training and reinforced in biennial flight reviews, it's spelled out in section 7-3-9 of the AIM (Aeronautical Information Manual), an official reference every pilot should be familiar with.

A couple weeks ago an Airbus A-319 flying from Victoria, BC to Toronto hit some severe turbulence over the Rockies and had to land in Calgary because several passengers were injured:

Air Canada Flight 190 not only lost altitude but also pitched violently from right to left before dropping 900 feet.

"The aircraft rolled to the right to about 35 degrees of bank and rolled to the left about 50 degrees of bank and effectively the auto pilot was disconnected," said Nick Stoss of the Transportation Safety Board.

The flight, en route from Victoria to Toronto, made an emergency landing in Calgary. Two crew members and eight passengers were admitted to hospital, most with soft tissue injuries, and released later that night.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/01/11/flight-calgary.html

They are now saying wake turbulence is the likely cause:

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether a United Airlines aircraft, flying just ahead of the Air Canada Airbus, created "wake turbulence" that caused the plane to sway and plunge. Wake turbulence is a powerful vortex of air that trails behind an aircraft as it flies. It can last up to two minutes after a plane has passed.

The United flight, which was flying just ahead of the Air Canada Airbus - perhaps as close as 12 kilometres - had the potential to create wake turbulence that could have caused the Air Canada plane's plummet, said Canadian Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson...

www.canada.com/topics/news/national /story.html?id=c8d743e2-bed8-4543-b60d-beb88e275010

I've actually started to not completely hate flying since I started reading your column. I still hate being squeezed like a herring, and don't even get me started on airline security! But... I no longer fear turbulence. I can enjoy taking off and landing, like I used to when I was a kid. I'm not terrified to fly in snow. Flying is not frightening, just uncomfortable. Thanks for that. Now... could you please go back to being reassuring and informative instead of scary and informative? Thanks.

I think the FAA/NTSB is now looking into the fuel system. This is not the first incident of this type with this aircraft.

approximate number of deaths each year in the USA (per CDC) due to:

any reason... 2.4 million

car accidents... 40,000

other accidents...60,000

heart disease... 650,000

homicide... 17,000

suicide... 32,000

AIDS... 13,000

and what are we as a nation most worried about?

terrorism, airplane crashes, bird flu and the occasional mad cow.

Let's all put everything into perspective....but then again saying that here at salon.com is probably preaching to the choir.

Be kind to the customer service agent next time you're stuck in a flyoverland hub. Good karma, pass it on!

Of course you're right, Patrick, that the inevitable next crash will be given appalling media coverage. The poor press hasn't had a real blue-veiner since 9/11 and they're desperate. The American public, a remarkably terrifiable population -- one that almost seems to get a thrill out of existing in a state of Terror -- will eat it up, too, you damn betcha.