While the Transportation Security Administration may or may not be making old ladies take off their Depends during screening, there's this: A Nigerian man managed to board a Los Angeles-bound flight at JFK Airport without a valid boarding pass or valid identification. Olajide Olwaseun Noibi used a fake ID and an expired boarding pass to get onto Virgin America Flight 415. more ›

Should flight attendants have to be fluent in religious rituals? We wonder because for the second time in a little more than a year a flight has been disturbed when Orthodox Jews praying with tefillin were confused with terrorists getting ready to terrorize. Last January a flight out of LaGuardia was diverted to Philly over the prayer ritual and then yesterday a similar confusion struck an Alaska Airlines flight from Mexico City to LA. After concerns were raised the airplane was swarmed by police, FBI and customs agents when it landed at LAX. more ›

The NTSB says that the cockpit fire that forced a United flight from JFK to LAX to be diverted to Dulles on Sunday may have been caused by a "recurring issue" in Boeing 757 planes. Investigators are inspecting the plane and the NTSB cautions, "We haven't narrowed down what the issues are with this incident yet." more ›

So that United JFK-LAX flight that was diverted to DC last night due to a fire (possibly electrical) in the cockpit? The celebrities on board include Ashley Olsen and her boyfriend, Justin Bartha. But don't fret—they are "safe," as were the other hundred-some passengers. Phil Lobel, a LA-based publicist, said, "The people that were sitting in first class had taken pictures and seen the flames coming out of the cockpit actually, when the door was open. Smoke was coming out and they saw that the front windshield was completely shattered from the heat of the fire. Everybody had masks on - the pilot and co-pilot had masks on breathing oxygen." more ›

Last night, a fire broke out in the cockpit of a United Boeing 757 headed to LAX from JFK Airport. The plane landed safely at Dulles at 9:36 p.m. Passenger Phil Lobel, told the AP that 30 minutes in, "he detected an electrical burning smell. He said flight attendants began going over emergency instructions with passengers in the exit rows and someone brought up a fire extinguisher from the back of the plane to the cockpit." Other tidbits: Some passengers took pictures of the flames, some passengers were celebrities, and "About an hour after the plane landed, Lobel received an e-mail from United apologizing for the 'experience' he had on the flight." more ›

Virgin America has been winning over their customers for the most part, with WiFi and (allegedly) hot flight attendants... but now the airline is under criticism after it took 16 hours to travel from LAX to JFK. Or rather, from LAX to Stewart Airport in Newburgh, 90 miles north of JFK. more ›

Yesterday on her way from Los Angeles to New York, Rihanna was the subject of a random security search at LAX. The random selection had her out in the open stripping down to a T-backed tank top, and according to the NY Post, "it gave airport gawkers an eyeful of her body and the tattoo that runs down her back." The singer reportedly looked cold and unhappy. She's now safe and sound in NYC—performing at Hammerstein Ballroom last night, and slated as the musical guest on tomorrow's SNL. more ›

Dennis Farina, two seasons as Detective Joe Fontana on Law & Order, was arrested at LAX Airport when security found a loaded .22-caliber pistol in his briefcase. Oops! more ›

New York City, which has very high cigarette taxes, has filed a complaint against Otamedia, which has had trouble with tobacco giant Philip Morris for selling cigarettes online. Mayor Bloomberg wanted people to "blow the whistle" on the local bodegas that sell them ciggies without tax. And here's the city's Everybody Loves A Quitter program to stop smoking. more ›