More bad aviation news this morning as an American Airlines plane carrying 255 people crashes in Brooklyn shortly after leaving JFK. So far it’s unclear what caused the crash, but we’re already seeing the official reaction that I’ve been expecting from the first post-WTC plane crash: massive lockdown. All the airports, bridges, and tunnels in the area are closed while the government types try to figure out what happened.
I hope this was just tragic, innocent mechanical failure. It’s awful, certainly. After September, plane crashes don’t have the same abstract, far-away quality that they once did. “Oh, wow, how sad.” No, I get these visceral flip-flops in my gut when I hear stuff like this now. Considering the heightened tensions in this country right now, though, I have to hope that this wasn’t terrorist sabotage. I want the extreme reaction to the crash to be overzealous precaution. I don’t want our fears to be proven true. I don’t want more justification for this country to strap on its guns and its flag and kick more ass. I don’t want violence to beget violence to beget violence ad nauseum. It will, of course, in one way or another until the end of time, but I really want the scale of it to level off, not consume us any more than it has.
And on a totally selfish note, because I need a breakfrom all this, I want American Airlines to deal well with this and stay in business for at least a couple of weeks more so I can get on that American flight from JFK to London on Friday and see my friends over there. Let them do what’s best to make things secure, let them search me, make me check all my bags, whatever. Just let me get out of here for a bit.