Ask the Pilot

Salon.com's most popular columnist tells why airline travel is still the safest way to get from here to there-and lots of other flight facts. Even frequent fliers, probably don't have a clue how their plane gets from New York to Los Angeles in 5 hours. And many people probably think flying is more dangerous now than ever-even though it's still the safest means of transportation. In Ask the Pilot, Patrick Smith-a commercial airline pilot and author of Salon.com's popular column-explains in frank and very funny language what fears are grounded in reality and which ones are airborne urban myths. He stacks up the facts, anecdotes, and advice to every flying question imaginable: * Just how safe it is to fly? * What is the safest airline? * Do airlines reduce cabin oxygen flow to save fuel and keep passengers docile? * Can turbulence cause a crash? * What's windshear - and can it really rip the wings off a plane? * How does a plane get off the ground? * Why does the plane sometimes bump, jig, and turn at a high angle during climbout? * Has anyone ever survived a water landing by donning a vest or using a raft? * Why are tray tables stowed before landing? Frequent flier or neurotic aerophobe, this is the one book that will wise people up - and calm fliers down.