Airborne onanism is costly these days! Alleged wanker Kyle Pearce, a 25-year-old Floridian (Go Gators!), was arrested on May 19th after witnesses saw him remove his penis and masturbate "to the point of ejaculation" during a United Airlines flight to Denver. An 18-year-old woman sitting across the aisle from Pearce told police, "I heard a noise and looked over and saw his penis. He was wearing jeans tucked into cowboy boots... He told me his name was Kyle. He ejaculated & got some on the seat." Wow, that Kyle sure knows how to break the ice! more ›

Since the "Miracle on the Hudson" two years ago, we've grown increasingly wary of birds, whether they're loitering in Central Park, hanging out in Fairway, or just dropping from the sky ominously. Now we have a new reason to be anxious around our winged skymasters: birds are more likely than ever to attack airplanes. more ›

Some pretty shots of the flyover from this morning—apparently it was the Brazilian Air Force Smoke Squadron! If you have photographs, you can share them by sending them to photos@gothamist.com or tagging them "gothamist" on Flickr. more ›

Unlike your flight to visit grandma in Boca Raton, the huge $376 million project to renovate JFK Airport's busiest runway is running right on schedule. Jim Steven, the Port Authority manager in charge of the project, took us on a tour of the job on Wednesday and seems very optimistic the Bay Runway will reopen on July 1st, just as planned. "They gave me 120 days, not 121 days," says Steven bluntly. He isn't the only one motivated to finish on time, as contractors will earn bonuses if they complete the job early—or face stiff penalties for every hour they're late once the calendar hits July. more ›

Starting tomorrow, the Jets will be holding Flight Crew tryouts for their cheerleading squad, but it seems like they should consider real-life flight instructions for their players first. New Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes reportedly refused to take off his iPod on a plane ride last night from Newark to Pittsburgh, and authorities at Pittsburgh International Airport filed an incident report (but no charges). What will this do to his sterling reputation??? more ›

Pilots from the Northwest flight that overshot its Minneapolis destination overshot by over 100 miles spoke to investigators and, according to the Wall Street Journal, told them "that a bathroom break, chatting with a flight attendant in the cockpit and then taking out their laptops to discuss work schedules created distractions that led to more than an hour of radio silence with air-traffic controllers." Apparently the laptop use violated Northwest policy, though the federal rules don't ban them. Well, at least Pansing, Gooch, or Bumpus was involved. more ›

If you're still searching for something to do this weekend, don't forget the New York Air Show at Jones Beach. We were fortunate enough to get a little preview of the show yesterday and head up into the sky in a P-51 Mustang with Ed Shipley of The Horsemen. Shipley, along with Jim Beasley and Dan Friedkin make up the only world's only P-51 aerobatic team. While we highly recommend heading out to Jones Beach to check out the air show and The Horsemen in action, you can keep up with the group on ASB.tv. more ›

The FAA made immediate changes to the take off and landing procedures at JFK Airport, after two jets came within 600 feet of crashing into each other yesterday afternoon. The incident was the second near collision at the airport in a week, and personnel from the National Transportation Safety Board were at JFK investigating the circumstances of the first incident when the second occurred. more ›