The History of Airliner Safety

Throughout history, the world has developed various forms of technology to protect airliners from terrorist attack or the attempt at such. On November 23, 1996 the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 occurred. The cause of the crash "was no accident". A history channel television show states "it's (flight 961) was being hijacked by three desperate Ethiopian men seeking political asylum. They have stormed the cockpit and claim to have a bomb." The video also mentioned "before 9-11, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was the deadliest hijacking in aviation history. The video also points out "at that time (November 23, 1996) cockpits were much more accessible. Now, they are protected by bulletproof doors with keypad entry locks. Flight attendants (and/or air marshals) also stand guard, making it much more difficult to get to the pilots."

In airports, their security armament is various and sophisticated. They have metal detectors to check for weapons or suspicious items. The documentary on flight 253 (Christmas Day bombing attempt) states "when a passenger enters a metal detector arch, it sends pulses through the body creating a magnetic field that reflects back a signal. If the pulse meets anything metal, like a knife or the wires and components of a bomb, an opposing magnetic field is created, which triggers an alarm." Aside from metal detectors airports also have x-ray scanning machines to ensure that there are no dangerous ordinances in it. People are told to put their shoes through the x-ray scanner after the shoe bomb plot by Richard Reid.


Thanks to this technology the world has developed over the years, the security makes sure that flying is an incredibly safe experience.


                    


Liam Neeson as an Air Marshal (Bill Marks) in Non-Stop                     chinametaldetector.com

The Power of the Brown Snake's venom

The Brown Snake from Australia is one of the most venomous snakes known in the world. The Wikipedia article mentions that "The eastern brown snake is considered to be the second most venomous terrestrial snake." The PBS show The Venom Cure also states "it (Brown Snake) has a venom 12 times more powerful than the deadly Indian Cobra and a reputation to match." To be precise, this reputation as stated by the wikipedia article is "although the brown snake tends to flee when confronted, it can be highly aggressive when provoked." The article also mentions "When highly agitated, they hold their necks high, appearing in an upright S-shape." This means that if aggravated to its core, the Brown Snake will become aggressive.

The venom of the Brown Snake is highly toxic. The Wikipedia article mentions "the venom mostly of neurotoxins and blood coagulants." Therefore, the bite of a brown snake must be taken seriously. The article also mentions that "without medical treatment, bites can be fatal."

As a result, when one sees a brown snake, one must leave it alone and run away.

Fascination with fluctuating flight costs

There are so many things in life that fascinate people. One of my fascinations is with the fluctuating costs of flights to various destinations. It does not matter if one is planning on flying to Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami (Florida), Pensacola, Orlando, Saint Augustine (Florida), Galveston, Texas, San Diego, and so on. The cost of these flights are constantly going up, going down, or staying the same. Some of the factors that may contribute to these changes include (but are not limited to): holidays/holiday weekends, the distance a destination is from one's home, the longer one procrastinates, and so on.

One of the topics that may contribute to the changes in the cost of flights are holidays/holiday weekends. For example, while I was watching a National Geographic episode of Seconds From Disaster regarding the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 that occurred on May 25, 1979 because of amiss repair techniques that the narrator says "it's a holiday weekend and the plane is almost full." The narrator does have a point. Trying to book a flight on a holiday weekend (especially last minute) is a bad idea. The flight may already be booked or near that point and causes the cost of said flights to go incredibly high.

Another topic that may associate with the cost of flights is the distance the destination is from one's home. For example, today I was googling flights from Dayton to various locations and revealed that the cost of a flight to Tampa is $332 if one flies with Delta, a flight to West Palm Beach costs $377 with Delta, Fort Lauderdale costs $368 with Delta, Miami (Florida) costs $400 with Delta, and Daytona Beach costs $384 with Delta. That being said, perhaps Delta is the cheapest airline option one must fly with. But these flight costs may change in cost some (if not stay the same). But one thing is certain, these flights are a heck of a lot less expensive that flights to Barcelona and Paris. On average, flights to Barcelona cost at least approximately $1500 and flights to Paris cost approximately $1800 at least.

The last thing I can say concerns trying to find hotels in Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami (Florida). In Tampa, I would advise Red Roof Inn-Tampa Brandon (averaging around $55 per night) or the Comfort Suites near Raymond James Stadium-home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and South Florida Bulls football team (averaging $90 per night). In West Palm Beach, I would advise either Hampton Inn West Palm Beach Central Airport (averaging $67 per night) or the Hilton Garden Inn West Palm Beach Airport (averaging $71 per night). In Fort Lauderdale, I would advise Best Western Plus Oakland Park Inn (averaging $73 per night) or the Riverside Hotel (averaging $99 per night). Finally, In Miami, Florida, I would advise either Best Western Plus Windsor Inn (averaging $81 per night) or Courtyard Miami Coral Gables (averaging $84 per night).