@jutman: haha loading the turbines of a jet engine with a generator like that would cause ridiculously large problems with bl separation and horrible inefficiencies.

@aec007: pretty sure 737-800s (meaning probably most) use ground power before apu and engine start.

qantas a380s have power sockets for every seat, and a usb charging socket too.

@bh: thanks for the reply! cool coincidence that you were able to shed some firsthand light on this.

@Jack Bauer: it was probably just a low pass. maybe an ad for united, a test.

what the hell is up with united?!

@wykell: Internet Expert Strikes Again

@yossarian: let's just be clear guys. what the hell would you have done if you were a fireman, standing in front of a burning house. maybe you might think of using the water hose, fuck the "order" to stand around like douchebags.

this is just ridiculous. yet another one of those "only in america" moments. as someone who lives in a civilised country the concept of a public service being so deliberately nasty is alien to me. why not just bill them after putting out the fire?

@LandofMinos. What is that little white haired, British accented F1 mascot? A garden gnome or a leprechaun?: That's funny because when I read De Havilland Comet I imagine the De Havilland Comet.

@A Ferret is on his best behaviour: not really.

@ryusen: That was Mike Parsons at Jaws if I'm not mistaken. It's the opening sequence of the film Billabong Odyssey. I recommend it.

@Ron_Paul: haha and i'm sure the engineers at eurocopter missed that...

@salthegeek: except it's not.

@JCSopko: Due to reading Gawker sites on GReader when I have a spare minute and rarely actually logging in, I totally missed your last reply.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the question was a joke to begin with. Charlie's got a decent sense of humor, but I think the OP's funnier for thinking to post that on Yahoo, where he'd actually find people who'd take it seriously (like the majority of respondents did).

@elte156: Seriously? You seriously asked that?

@Strakus: I scrolled up and logged in just to heart you for that.

@Akitsu: I disagree pretty heavily being an aerospace engineer myself and knowing a little about NASA's activities.

@FlyingAvocado: so you're basically thinking and saying that it looks "too real" therefore it must be fake?