JetBlue's fancy new Queens headquarters is just missing one thing: a massive illuminated sign letting everyone for miles around know about JetBlue. more ›

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 ›

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that the $45 million Queens Plaza Improvement Plaza has wrapped up. The result is a newly landscaped 1.5 acre park with 489 newly planted trees, and the mayor's office says it's got non-invasive and drought-tolerant native plantings, wetlands, artist-designed benches and interlocking / permeable pavers to direct storm water to these plantings. This new open space is now called "Dutch Kills Green," which was one of 600 entries submitted in a naming contest. Translation: the goal was to transform Queens Plaza into a place people where people don't hate being. 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 ›

The next time you're squeezed between Kevin Smith and Jonah Hill on a flight, be grateful: in the event of an emergency, they could come in handy with such tasks as restraining a delusional pilot gone berserk. Look no further than David Gonzalez, the retired NYC Corrections officer who's in the national spotlight after he brought down JetBlue Captain Clayton Osbon on Tuesday. Gonzalez and other men tried to restrain Osbon with flex-cuffs, but the pilot broke them. They tied him with belts, but that still wasn't enough. Somebody need to be the hero and sit on him. more ›

Yesterday, Carson Daly discussed Jet Blue Captain Clayton Osbon's mid-flight freakout during his radio show, saying, "On this particular flight, most of the people were on their way to some sort of security conference in Las Vegas. It was a bunch of dudes, and well trained dudes...If that were me, I mean, my luck? It would be like, 'this is the flight going to Pride in San Francisco.' I mean, that would be my colleagues," implying that the gay passengers wouldn't act in a similarly brave manner (and he said that while affecting a gay stereotype lilting tone!). Of course, this has made the mother of a gay 9/11 victim very angry. 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 ›

[Update below from another passenger who was in the eighth row.] Grant F. Heppes, a Brooklyn-based marketing director, was seated about halfway back during this morning's crazy JetBlue flight from JFK to Las Vegas. About halfway through the flight, he started to hear a commotion. Heppes tells us, "I saw a JetBlue employee walk from the front of the cabin to the back, and then from back to front. Later I found out that was the pilot who was freaking out. Once he was up front I heard him banging on cockpit door, screaming, 'Let me in!' " 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 ›

Making it past airport TSA screening with that illegal substance that does not harm your lungs and has never killed anyone, is difficult but not impossible. But 43-year-old Adam Blumenkranz was arrested on a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to Newark for allegedly smoking dope. Crew members told the AP that they gave Blumenkranz the stink eye after he "dropped a clear plastic bag in the cabin." more ›

The TSA, flush with change from your pocket, has finally gotten around to apologizing to the elderly women who were strip-searched at the JetBlue terminal at JFK over the Thanksgiving holiday. Well, sort of. more ›

Yesterday the Daily News was all about "hero cop" Anibal Mercado, who subdued a drunk and belligerent (allegedly punchy and bitey) 22-year-old on a flight from the Dominican Republic to JFK this weekend. It seemed like a simple, feel-good narrative: police officers doing their job off-duty! But now there's a new twist, because it turns out the drunk man, Antonio Ynoa, suffers from mental problems related to a severe head injury caused by the police. 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 ›

The Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection division is investigating Jet Blue's handling of Flight 504, which was left for dead on a snowy tarmac in Hartford, Connecticut for seven and a half hours on Saturday. Passengers on the plane included a paraplegic from Staten Island who had to use urological supplies to relieve himself because the bathrooms were clogged, a diabetic, and several unhappy children. Good times! LiveATC.net obtained the cockpit recording, in which you can hear the pilot desperately pleading for help, at point begging: "We just need a tug and a tow bar. If you just give me a welding shop, I'd be happy to weld one myself." more ›

Yesterday's freak snow storm threw air travel along the East Coast for a loop. Flights were stopped for hours at JFK, Laguardia and Newark. And for one Newark-bound Jet Blue flight from Miami, that meant its 200 passengers were stuck on the tarmac at Bradley International in Hartford, Connecticut for eight hours. A Miami Sun-Sentinel sports writer, on his way to today's Giants game versus the Dolphins, Tweeted, "Lady on board just broke down. Like that guy who cried in his cell at the beginning of Shawshank. Can someone sneak me in Rita Hayworth?" more ›

The veteran New York Post copy editor and the author of the famous headline, "Axis Of Weasel," died on Thursday from complications related to a recent stroke. Joseph Cunningham was 43 years-old. more ›

Some new details have emerged in the unusual urinary in-air incident involving a drunk teen skier and an unwitting 12-year-old girl. Okay, there's only one new detail about Robert "Sandy" Vietze's alleged pissing-while-in-a-passenger row on a JetBlue flight bound for JFK, but it's a big one: The girl's dad says she wasn't peed upon. more ›

The saga of the 18-year-old who, during a drunken stupor, then urinated on the 12-year-old girl on his flight continues. Robert "Sandy" Vietze was hit with a federal indecent-exposure charge. The charges detail that he was drinking before he ever got to Portland International Airport (therefore JetBlue did not serve an underage passenger!). more ›

The JetBlue redeye from Portland to JFK made a strong bid for Worst Flight Ever yesterday, when a drunk 18-year-old boy allegedly peed all over a 11 year-old girl in her seat, which did not go over well with her father. Oh, and then someone puked. more ›

In this grainy photo, you can see what Harlem financial consultant Malinda Knowles was wearing just before she headed to LaGuardia Airport to catch a JetBlue flight to Florida last year. It seems Knowles's attire just wasn't modest enough for the pilot, who allegedly refused to fly the plane with her on board. She says it's because somebody thought she wasn't wearing anything under her baggy T-shirt, and after dragging her off the plane for a degrading underwear inspection, the pilot still wouldn't take off. more ›

Great! Just over a week after it was revealed that a man without a valid ID (or valid boarding pass) managed to get on a JFK-LA flight, now it's reported that a stun gun was found in a seat on a Jet Blue plane that landed at Newark Airport on Friday. My Fox NY "obtained" the Striker 1800 stun gun from sources who "say they suspect that the stun gun got through screening at Logan Airport in Boston." This really bodes well for body bomb screening. more ›

After being sucked into a plane that took off from JFK, another bird has gone up to the big…sky in the sky. The Post reports that passengers on the aircraft started salivating shortly after takeoff: "Suddenly the plane smelled like chicken," one woman said, "I thought, 'Wow! They have hot food on the plane!'" Don't give the airlines any ideas! more ›

The newish JetBlue terminal at JFK airport—the first new terminal at the airport since 9/11—boasts a 55,000-square-foot retail area with 22 food concessions, dozens of specialty retail stores, a children’s play area, and free Wi-Fi. There's even a free "Live From T5 concert series," which kicked off with Grammy award-winning recording artist James Blunt! They've thought of everything at the "state of the art" 26 gate terminal, except for one teensy detail discovered by the NY Post: it's a "dead zone" for police radios. more ›

Steven Slater's 15 minutes have stretched into 2011, and New York magazine has a profile on the former Jet Blue flight attendant and very momentary folk hero. The quirky quitting tactic Slater took is always worth revisiting, so here we go (again). Last year, at his wit's end, Slater announced over the intercom on a JetBlue flight: “To the passenger who called me a motherfucker: Fuck you. I’ve been in this business for twenty years. And that’s it. I’ve had it. I’m done.” He then grabbed two beers, slid down the emergency chute to his freedom, and a hero was born... until all the other sides of the story came out. But let's not go there again. Instead, a look at that profile, which manages to fill in some blanks (such as Slater and his partner Rochelle weren't having sex when authorities showed up). more ›

Sure, pilots may be able to pack heat when they are flying...but shouldn't they keep track of their guns when they've landed? A JetBlue pilot is under investigation after losing his government-issued gun at JFK Airport yesterday. According to the Daily News, Michael Connery Jr. "placed his bag down and chatted up another pilot," when a passenger mistakenly took his bag on her flight to West Palm Beach, Florida. more ›

While he's not Time's Person of the Year, former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater did own this year's spare 15 minutes of fame. TIME explains: "Fifteen-minute fame is not like the regular kind. The celebrities it creates are sticks in a stream, suddenly aswirl in a dizzying current. When JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater was hit on the head by a passenger's bag in August and had what he describes as the 'hissy fit heard around the world,' ending in a dramatic exit via an emergency chute, he was not expecting to become a folk hero to overworked, stressed-out employees everywhere." more ›

Former JetBlue flight attendant, and fleeting folk hero Steven Slater was back in court yesterday meeting with Judge Marcia Hirsch. In October Slater pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal mischief after having a Falling Down moment on the job, telling off a passenger, activating an emergency chute, and sliding to his freedom with two beers in hand. He has agreed to get mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment, as well as pay JetBlue $10,000 for the chute. Yesterday Hirsch warned him to stay on the wagon during the stressful and spirited holiday season, the Daily News reports. more ›