Not wanting to bother to do the math, but the pressure in that vertical line must be extremely high. Figure a 5" line going up 26-odd stories (so about 260 feet). Plus the supporting "helicopter" would have to be able to support that weight as well; 8 pounds per gallon *plus* the weight of the hose.

Generally, jets (especially commercial) avoid doing that; the reverse thrust can easily kick up debris which can then get ingested back in to the engine. Turboprops don't have that issue to deal with.

I'd bleed to death from the paper cut getting the paper laid out straight.

There is also the "Thunderball" variant of the "hijacking for later use" theory.

Not supporting or discounting any theory, but the statement "it seems highly unlikely that anyone would be able to keep all 239 people on board from pulling out their cell phones and getting SOME sort of communication out" is easy to discount.

More pedantry, but those are technically RATO; rocket assisted take-off.

Pretty much any aircraft with turboprops can move backwards. Reversible pitch propellers.

I would imagine that in a system as complex as this, it would be trivial to add a wind speed sensor. If the wind speed was over a set limit, it would simply retract the shades and store them in whatever 'safe' position.

I showed up those five times and served.

In my location, jury selection notices come in standard mail, no proof of delivery/signature required. They are sent in a window envelope and are printed on a pukey-lime coloured paper with a return address that plainly shows it is from the court administrator.

Huey, Dewey and Louie are not impressed.

The most important thing about travel is to actually *travel* and not be a tourist.

One major thing to help kids from getting bored on a trip is to have them get involved in the planning process.

I enjoy a good pedantic twitch as much as the next person, but "laser" has entered the vernacular and has become commonly acceptable to not be presented as its (rightful) acronym.

No different than repairing it while it was over land, even at low altitude. A fall is a fall and you're dead either way. Just depends if you splatter on land or water.

I get the concept, but the video is kind of silly.

It's not that the approach is low, it is that the road is very close to the end of the runway.

People who rage against vertical format video are in the same class of twits/dbags who rage against Comic Sans.

I am so sorry for being this pedantic, but it drives me crazy.

Stalin killed more people than Hitler could have dreamed of. Mostly his own people, but still...