A Plane Crashes in Rockaway

This morning the media reported a tragedy very similar to another one that happened not long ago. You guessed it: the Concorde crash in Paris. Most of you immediately thought of September 11, I'm sure. And that's a good thing. I don't know what I'd think if the immediate response was not to compare this to 9/11 and start looking for Uncle Osama's fingerprints. My heart has started to thaw towards New Yorkers just a little. I kinda feel a little bit of survivors guilt as a Bostonian that our abysmal airport security led to thousands of deaths in another town... And this latest hit must make New Yorkers feel like they have a target painted on their backs. It's just a little too much for one town. It should have happened - if it had to happen - in Houston, Tampa, or Minneapolis or somewhere. Or Boston. I don't know if I hope this was the result of terrorism, poor maintenance, or a freak accident. If it's terrorism we have a clear enemy, but we're more scared than we were. And our security is essentially not working. If it's poor maintenance the upside is that maintenance will be upgraded at least on one airline, but the downside is that we have unsafe airways. If it's a freak accident, then we might as well all start wearing grounded lightning rods. Here's an exercise: Write down a list of all the plane crashes you remember. Our minds are so conditioned to think "AIRPLANE - TERRORISM" that we lose sight of 'normal' dangers. I didn't think of the Valujet crash till just now. Concorde in Paris came easier. Egyptair wasn't long ago, though that may have had terror connections. There are more, but they're hard to remember. Drop me some comments on plane crashes you remember. And on my new comment system - comment frequently, since it's the only way I know people are reading this.