A JetBlue flight bound for Florida ran into a bit of a messy goose problem as it took off from Westchester County Airport last night. Two geese flew straight into the plane's windshield (or the plane flew straight into them, depending on whose side you're on) as flight 571 went up at 6:52 p.m. Fortunately no geese hit the engines, but "out of an abundance of caution" the pilot immediately turned around and brought the plane back in for an emergency landing. (Here's audio of the communication between the pilot and control tower.) As you can see here, some workers were assigned the unenviable task of cleaning all the geese guts off the windshield. more ›

US Airways and American Airlines are looking to get hitched. After getting tacit union approval, CBS News is now reporting that US Airways has filed paperwork with the SEC to begin the process of taking over American Airlines, whose parent company AMR is in the midst of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. more ›

A man aboard a Delta flight out of JFK yesterday afternoon decided to videotape the takeoff with his iPad, and managed to capture harrowing footage of the bird strike that forced the pilot to make an emergency landing back at the airport. Grant Cardone, a motivational speaker, says he had a "crazy intuition" to videotape the takeoff, during which you see the birds being engulfed by the right engine, making a sound "like a smartcar being consumed through the engine," as he puts it. Here's video: more ›

A flight from Istanbul to New York's JFK Airport was diverted to Dublin earlier today, thanks to a suspicious item in the plane's bathroom. According to the Irish Times, it turns out the item was a "passenger's mobile phone plugged into the shaving socket." more ›

After a long, unpleasant flight you've landed at one of our local airports and just want to get home. You really aren't feeling our airports "mass transit" options and the line for cabs looks long. Still! Please, please, please, don't just take a ride from one of the hustlers calling out to you. Because you will get ripped off. Plus, the Port Authority would much rather arrest those guys. And then arrest them again and again and again. more ›

The JetBlue pilot whose scary and bizarre mid-flight meltdown was immortalized on YouTube appeared in court yesterday to be arraigned on charges of interfering with a flight crew. If convicted, Clayton F. Osbon, 49, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. But there's speculation the case won't even go to trial if doctors' examinations reveal he was suffering from a severe medical problem aboard the JFK to Vegas flight. more ›

The JetBlue pilot who was restrained and hospitalized after a bizarre midair meltdown last Tuesday was transferred from the hospital to the Federal Court Building in Amarillo this morning to be arraigned. Clayton Osbon faces charges for interfering with a flight crew, which could carry a 20 year prison sentence. He'll be transferred to the Randall County Jail after the hearing, the Amarillo news channel 10 reports. The arraignment comes as newly-enhanced video shows his frightening meltdown in much greater detail: more ›

Carlos Henriquez tipped us off on his video of "Fireflies in the sky"—which is actually a time-lapse of commercial flight paths from JFK and Laguardia Airports over NYC at night. And it's pretty! more ›

The JetBlue pilot who had a meltdown on a flight from JFK to Las Vegas yesterday and had to be restrained has been charged with interfering with the flight crew. According to an affidavit obtained by the Associated Press, captain Clayton Osbon told his co-pilots that "things don't matter" during a Las Vegas-bound flight Tuesday. Osbon then allegedly told the plane's first officer that "we're not going to Vegas" and began giving a sermon. Sources tell ABC News Osbon was also "flipping switches in the cockpit and appearing confused." more ›

The pilot who had a mental breakdown aboard a JetBlue flight from JFK to Las Vegas yesterday has been a pilot for most of his professional life, and flown 35 different types of aircraft. Captain Clayton Osbon, 49, is a Wisconsin native who's been flying for JetBlue since 2000. JetBlue CEO Dave Barger told the "Today" show this morning that Osbon is a "consummate professional" whom he has "personally known" for years, adding that there was nothing in his record to indicate that he would start foaming out the mouth and running around the cabin screaming about a bomb, al Qaeda, the plane going down, and the urgent need for everyone to "say the Lord's prayer." more ›

A JetBlue flight from JFK airport to Las Vegas had to make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas this morning after the captain had some sort of "meltdown." Initial reports from Fox 5 had it that "a man apparently told passengers to 'say their prayers' and tried to storm the cockpit." That man, it turns out, was the freaking CAPTAIN, who had to be subdued by an off-duty NYC cop and by an off-duty JetBlue pilot. [UPDATE: We spoke with a passenger on the flight.] Here's video taken by one passenger after the Captain was subdued—be sure to watch all the way to the end for a real New York moment in Texas: more ›

One Rhode Island family is telling the tale of how they were kicked off a JetBlue flight—headed to Boston from Turks and Caicos—because their two-year-old child didn't want to sit her seat and instead wanted to be held by mommy. See, the pilot decided to turn the plane around and return the family, Dr. Colette Vieau, her husband, 2-year-old Natalie and 3-year-old Cecilia, to the airport. And of course there were no flights to Boston that day, so they ended up spending $2,000 for a hotel and a new flight back. more ›

You know how most people pray not to be seated next to a crying baby on a flight? Well, we are now going to spend the rest of our lives praying to be sat next to a penguin. Because, yes: Penguins can fly! First class, even. Seriously, we've got your proof right here: more ›

Passengers who were on the United Express plane that made an emergency landing at Newark Airport last night were full of love for the flight crew, calling them "amazing" and "professional." But it was nerve-wracking: One passenger said, "We were saying our prayers because we just thought it was the end. I sent a text to my sons letting them know that I love them, and I hope everything works out." more ›

An airline passenger going through security at JFK airport last night was relieved of $5,000 cash by a quick-fingered TSA officer, authorities say. A TSA spokesperson tells us the employee has been working for the TSA for over four years, and she's been identified as Alexandra Schmid. She was allegedly caught on surveillance camera taking the cash from a passenger's jacket as it moved along the X-Ray conveyor belt at the A checkpoint in Terminal Four. more ›

Happy Friday, here's the story of Ripples the Cat, a freedom-lovin' feline who grounded an Air Canada flight for four hours yesterday after he bolted from his carrier and stormed the cockpit. Ripples's owner, Debbie Harris, tells the Associated Press the trouble started after she went through security and someone didn't properly close the carrier after taking Ripples out for inspection. Once inside the plane's cabin, Ripples made his move: more ›

'Tis the season for holiday air travel nightmares, from overbooked flights that prevent you from seeing Grandma to cupcakes in jars as security threats. So it shouldn't be surprising to hear that when a 9-year-old flying Southwest Airlines from Tennessee to LaGuardia Airport was rerouted, her family had no idea. more ›

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are beginning their investigation of the fatal small plane crash that claimed the lives of five people yesterday. Investment banker Jeffrey Buckalew was flying a single-engine turboprop plane, with his wife Corinne, their young children Jackson and Meriwether and the family dog, plus his business colleague Rakesh Chawla, from Teterboro Airport in NJ to Atlanta when their plane suddenly made an "uncontrolled descent," apparently exploding, and eventually hit part of Interstate 287 in Harding, NJ. A nearby homeowner said to the NY Times, "This plane was very loud because it was so close, and its engines would stop and start. And the pilot was trying to rev it to keep the engines going." more ›

Alec Baldwin may have tried to apologize to his fellow American Airlines passengers delayed by his Tuesday tantrum, but now he's offended a 9/11 widow. Cheryl McGuinness Hutchins, whose husband Tom McGuinness was a pilot aboard AA 11, which hit the World Trade Center, told TMZ that Baldwin's reference to 9/11 was "inappropriate." more ›

Three women, who didn't know each other and were not traveling together, say they were ejected, one by one, from an AirTran flight out of West Palm Beach yesterday afternoon for simply airing grievances. Marilyn Miller, a 55-year-old lawyer from Westchester, was the first to go. She says she was settling into her seat for the flight to White Plains when she observed a flight attendant indelicately shove her carry-on bag into another overhead compartment. "I said, 'Hey, I have breakables in that," she recalls. more ›

Yesterday, 85-year-old Lenore Zimmerman shared her humiliating tale of being strip-searched at JFK Airport, a TSA ordeal that included her leg being wounded and missing her flight to Florida. But now the TSA denies that she was strip-searched, which has infuriated the Long Island grandmother even more. She tells the Daily News, “Why would I make up this story? In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t think of such a thing happening.” more ›

This morning, AMR, the company that owns American Airlines, announced it would file for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. bankruptcy court in New York City, explaining, "We must address our cost structure, including labor costs, to enable us to capitalize on these foundational strengths and secure our future. Our very substantial cost disadvantage compared to our larger competitors, all of which restructured their costs and debt through Chapter 11, has become increasingly untenable given the accelerating impact of global economic uncertainty and resulting revenue instability, volatile and rising fuel prices, and intensifying competitive challenges." more ›

The front page of today's Daily News is devoted to "hero cop" Anibal Mercado, who saved a plane full of Jet Blue passengers from... a rowdy drunk guy on a flight. Mercado, a Bronx cop who was off duty and returning home from a Thanksgiving vacation in the Dominican Republic Saturday night, restrained the sodden passenger after he allegedly punched a male flight attendant. The inebriate in question, 22-year-old Antonio Ynoa, had been demanding club soda to mix with his rum, and Mercado says he flipped out when flight attendants said it was against the rules to drink Duty Free alcohol during the flight. more ›

With crowded flights on the mind of many travelers this week, as well as gluttony, one airline passenger's seven-hour flight on US Airways has struck a chord: Arthur Berkowitz says he had to stand for the flight from Alaska to Philadelphia because a morbidly obese passenger made nearly impossible for him to sit in his own seat. more ›

Yesterday, a Continental flight headed to Newark Liberty Airport had to make an emergency landing after taking off from Panama City's airport because of a bird strike. WCBS 2 reports, "According to airline officials, Flight 1022, a Boeing 737-900 with 176 on board, took off from Tocumen Airport at 10:05 a.m., but quickly ran into a trouble when the bird strike caused the left engine to catch fire." more ›

Last week a man from Michigan was busted by the Transportation Security Administration trying to smuggle 35 pounds of marijuana onto a flight inside a wrapped present. Now we ALL have to suffer... with the enforcement of a rule that's not new. more ›