Steven Johnson might be telepathic

Glad to see that Boing Boing's new guest blogger is no Negative Nancy: Steven Johnson's recent post is a lesson in positive thinking.  He recollects waiting on a runway and observing the American Flight 587 crash of November 2001, just a month after 9/11.  

Seven years ago.  The last fatal full-size jetliner crash on US shores was seven years ago.  This statistic is beyond unlikely; it approaches the miraculous.  At the very least, apparently our pilots, transit officials and jet engineers are doing something right.

Johnson also recalls a recent USAToday front page headline: zero fatalities on any US commercial aircraft in the past two years.  This is a first in the history of the jet age.

Here's the freaky part: a friend emailed Johnson's story to me yesterday morning, the day after it was posted.  Hours later, I was with another friend, whose phone beeped the NY Times update about US Airways flight 1549 that plunged into the Hudson.  155 passengers were all rescued, a testament to pilot Chelsey Sullenberger's heroism and expertise.  The fervent collective rescue effort brought about by the crash is reminiscent of New York's post-9/11 spirit, as the safety of our skies remains intact.

(Photo courtesy of Janis Krum's Twitter.  New Yorker Krum reported, "There's a plane in the Hudson.  I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people.  Crazy.")

Now that's what I call good news.