Patrick Smith is an airline pilot. His column is archived here.

Patrick Smith's Salon stories

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 16:20 PST

Who's flying this thing?

It's time to put to rest the idea that planes fly themselves. And who wants a pilotless jetliner anyway?
Thursday, Nov 12, 2009 16:13 PST

Is your pilot drunk?

Do I have to worry about my pilot showing up under the influence? Plus: A safety milestone goes quietly unnoticed
Thursday, Nov 5, 2009 17:05 PST

The real distractions for pilots

The scolds in Congress pushing for legislation banning nonessential gadgets from the cockpit are on the wrong track
Thursday, Oct 29, 2009 17:30 PDT

Boredom and fatigue at 35,000 feet

Do two distracted Northwest pilots portend a frightening breakdown in air safety? No. Plus: A personal note
Friday, Oct 16, 2009 00:07 PDT

Watch the pilot!

View the landing of a Boeing 767, from the cockpit. Behold the glory of approach lights at dawn. Plus: A tutorial
Friday, Oct 9, 2009 00:07 PDT

Ask the pilot

What is proper etiquette during an emergency evacuation? Plus: Confused pilots and angry readers
Friday, Oct 2, 2009 00:06 PDT

All your questions about in-flight horrors

Plus: What happened to "The Simpsons"? And REM? The weird phenomenon of pop-culture tailspin
Friday, Sep 25, 2009 00:08 PDT

Airplanes, oxygen and the media

Why do people keep insisting that pilots manipulate the air supply in planes? It ain't true, folks
Friday, Sep 18, 2009 03:18 PDT

The somber beauty of air crash memorials

Is it morbid to want to see them all? Plus: Pirates, the TV blues, and a plug for airport food
Friday, Sep 11, 2009 03:17 PDT

Are we safer than we were eight years ago?

We're still looking for pointy objects when we should be looking for bombs. Time for a leaner, meaner operation
Friday, Aug 28, 2009 03:11 PDT

How we're blowing airline security

The TSA wastes a lot of time and money on an inefficient fight against the wrong enemy
Friday, Aug 28, 2009 03:10 PDT

Timeline: The golden age of air crimes

A look back at some of the worst airline-related terrorism of the '70s, '80s and '90s
Friday, Aug 21, 2009 03:18 PDT

How new legislation will affect air safety

A look at pilot fatigue, hiring standards and the strange practice of "commuting"
Friday, Aug 14, 2009 03:15 PDT

Airtime

Severe turbulence, a midair collision and the latest stuck-on-a-plane horror story
Friday, Jul 31, 2009 03:30 PDT

Information: The good, the bad and the ugly

Airworthy planes, "dangerous" airports, and baby talk from the cockpit
Friday, Jul 24, 2009 03:23 PDT

Crash

Already in 2009, 11 major accidents involving commercial jets. We're in trouble, right?
Friday, Jul 17, 2009 03:18 PDT

Why are airline passengers such slobs?

Plus, a crash in Iran spotlights the safety of Russian-built planes, and the latest misinformation from the press
Friday, Jul 10, 2009 03:10 PDT

Is the Airbus a lemon?

Two Airbus crashes in two months: Should we worry? Plus: Welcome to the Six Continent Club!
Friday, Jun 26, 2009 03:24 PDT

Some stories just won't fly

I'd love to move on from the Air France crash, but the media insist on getting things wrong again
Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 03:18 PDT

When a pilot dies mid-flight

Are passengers at risk? Plus: Plenty of flotsam and jetsam, but no real answers in Air France crash
Monday, Jun 8, 2009 11:30 PDT

Flight 447's perfect storm

The media loves the "wrong speed" theory, but a lightning strike and electrical failure are more likely culprits.
Tuesday, Jun 2, 2009 08:03 PDT

Why the Air France plane crashed

Flight 447 shouldn't have gone down, but it did. Were normally non-dangerous phenomena the culprits?
Friday, May 22, 2009 03:34 PDT

Ask the pilot

Do pilots have a "romper room"? Do they fly the same routes over and over? Those questions and more
Friday, May 15, 2009 03:28 PDT

Ask the pilot

Do you really think I'd lie to you about cabin air? Plus: The Colgan crash and the problems with regional airlines.
Friday, May 8, 2009 03:21 PDT

Ask the pilot

From swine flu to malaria, how jetliners can spread disease. Plus: Is the air on planes really as dirty as we think?
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