Literature
This is a report on the end of airports.
Today two 737s clashed their wings on the taxiways of LGA.
One was a Southwest plane, the other American Airlines.
Pictures snapped and tweeted by passengers showed the broken winglet of the Southwest plane, and stupefied workers ambling around the scene, dragging the shorn part across the tarmac.
This was the moment they'd all been waiting for. The moment they'd trained for.
But it was over so soon. No injuries, no fiery crash.
One passenger reported it felt like a car sliding on ice.
It is likely that this incident will turn out to cost several hundred thousand dollars in repairs, rebooking, & investigation. But insurance policies and corporate redundancies will surely mitigate any losses.
The collision will be chalked up to holiday travel, taxiway congestion, and perhaps an air traffic controller (or crew) having taken on an extended shift.
For the affected passengers, it will likely recede into a good holiday story, a not-quite airplane disaster, a mere brush with terminal mortality.
Many years from now, this event may emerge as a key entry in the index of the end of airports. A cracked winglet, amused passengers, gaping ramp workers, eager social media audiences.... Another weary delay in the daily life of air travel.
- What Is "airport Reading"?
Dominique Browning has a fascinating piece in the New York Times today called "Learning to Love Airport Lit." The article is a persuasive (and also humorous) take on the most effective kinds of airport reading. In Browning's words, the ideal airport...
- The Tug
While cleaning my office today (an end-of-semester ritual), I stumbled upon this photo that I took in 2001 when I worked at the airport near Bozeman, Montana: This was my work vehicle. It is the standard diesel "tug" that you see airline workers driving...
- Book Work
I have not been posting to my blog as regularly these days, as I'm busy completing my book The Textual Life of Airports. My book explores how airports appear in literature and culture, with an eye toward the interpretive demands made on passengers,...
- Airport Paradoxes
I took the above picture sometime in the Summer of 2002, when I worked for SkyWest Airlines at the airport near Bozeman, Montana. Sometimes I would take a camera with me when I went to work at the airport, and between flights I'd take pictures like...
- Strange Plane Events
My colleague Mark Yakich and I have posted several excerpts from our current book project on flight. The book is a collaborative travel memoir of sorts that moves between two narratives: Mark's fear of flying, and my experiences working at an airport...
Literature
Minor Collision
Today two 737s clashed their wings on the taxiways of LGA.
One was a Southwest plane, the other American Airlines.
Pictures snapped and tweeted by passengers showed the broken winglet of the Southwest plane, and stupefied workers ambling around the scene, dragging the shorn part across the tarmac.
This was the moment they'd all been waiting for. The moment they'd trained for.
But it was over so soon. No injuries, no fiery crash.
One passenger reported it felt like a car sliding on ice.
It is likely that this incident will turn out to cost several hundred thousand dollars in repairs, rebooking, & investigation. But insurance policies and corporate redundancies will surely mitigate any losses.
The collision will be chalked up to holiday travel, taxiway congestion, and perhaps an air traffic controller (or crew) having taken on an extended shift.
For the affected passengers, it will likely recede into a good holiday story, a not-quite airplane disaster, a mere brush with terminal mortality.
Many years from now, this event may emerge as a key entry in the index of the end of airports. A cracked winglet, amused passengers, gaping ramp workers, eager social media audiences.... Another weary delay in the daily life of air travel.
- What Is "airport Reading"?
Dominique Browning has a fascinating piece in the New York Times today called "Learning to Love Airport Lit." The article is a persuasive (and also humorous) take on the most effective kinds of airport reading. In Browning's words, the ideal airport...
- The Tug
While cleaning my office today (an end-of-semester ritual), I stumbled upon this photo that I took in 2001 when I worked at the airport near Bozeman, Montana: This was my work vehicle. It is the standard diesel "tug" that you see airline workers driving...
- Book Work
I have not been posting to my blog as regularly these days, as I'm busy completing my book The Textual Life of Airports. My book explores how airports appear in literature and culture, with an eye toward the interpretive demands made on passengers,...
- Airport Paradoxes
I took the above picture sometime in the Summer of 2002, when I worked for SkyWest Airlines at the airport near Bozeman, Montana. Sometimes I would take a camera with me when I went to work at the airport, and between flights I'd take pictures like...
- Strange Plane Events
My colleague Mark Yakich and I have posted several excerpts from our current book project on flight. The book is a collaborative travel memoir of sorts that moves between two narratives: Mark's fear of flying, and my experiences working at an airport...