Highbrow Magazine - airplanes https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/airplanes en How Mid-Century Airline Travel Came to Symbolize Glamour and Adventure https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10866-how-mid-century-airline-travel-came-symbolize-glamor-and-adventure <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 09/15/2020 - 19:50</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1twa.jpg?itok=ivBJNKNm"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1twa.jpg?itok=ivBJNKNm" width="298" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div> <p> </p> <p>For thousands of years, manned flight was an unreachable dream. From this historic perspective, modern air travel seems a most unlikely event. Yet after the humble, historic flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903, there was simply no stopping this dream from becoming a reality. The first half of the 20th century saw new aircraft being developed at a breathtaking pace, and by 1970, millions of tourists and business travelers were flying around the globe in Boeing 747 jet aircraft.</p> <p> </p> <p>Two important developments took place simultaneously between 1945 and 1975 that make this time period of unique interest for an analysis of the visual identities of airline companies.</p> <p> </p> <p>First, the period after World War II marked the beginning of air travel on a much more significant scale, when the big aircraft and advanced technologies developed during the war were put into civilian operation. It was a rebirth for civil aviation, which had been all but suspended during the war. The Jet Age began in the late 1950s, and by the mid­1970s, all major leaps in air travel innovation had been completed – in terms of the size and comfort of aircraft, as represented by the Boeing 747, in terms of speed, embodied by the supersonic Concorde, and in terms of the availability of destinations.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2panam.jpg" style="height:600px; width:388px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Second, this time period marked a fundamental change in the notion of corporate identity. By 1945, after nearly two decades of experimentation, the visual identity of airlines had reached a degree of maturity. It was customary for corporations at this time to have their symbols and marketing materials created on a case­by­case basis by designers and artists on behalf of the marketing department or the company’s advertising agency. Several different designers or artists could work simultaneously for the same company on different assignments. This system was derived from the product­oriented marketing methods developed in the 1920s. The designs thus produced were often very attractive and far from ineffective, but they lacked the integrated, highly disciplined, almost scientific approach of modern branding, which proved superior.</p> <p> </p> <p>The 1950s marked a turning point. The multitude of individual designs and campaigns had made it more and more difficult to differentiate a single product. At the same time, it had become increasingly acknowledged that the visual appearance and the “personality” of a corporation somehow  communicate,  without  the  use  of  words, its values. Therefore, it would be advantageous to make a corporation’s identity appear coherent and ensure that the right values be conveyed. This notion eventually led to the modern concept of branding, which involves not only graphics but also such fields as economics, psychology, and sociology. This theoretical framework became widely accepted and implemented in the 1960s.</p> <p> </p> <p>Around the same time, graphic design firms specializing in corporate identity programs began to appear. In the airline industry – then considered among the most progressive industries, along with electronics and business machines manufacturers – the adoption of modern corporate design generally took place in the 1960s and early 1970s, although a few airlines began to use prototype modern design principles in the 1950s, notably Swissair as early as 1952, and Pan Am and British European Airways in 1956. Overall, the airline industry embraced modern corporate communications principles rather swiftly, which can be in part attributed to the arrival of the Jet Age in the second half of the 1950s, compelling airlines to contemplate what it meant to be “modern.”</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1airfrance.jpg" style="height:600px; width:379px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Modern corporate design programs radically altered the visual identities of airlines. Their initial implementation required courage from airline management, and many airlines opted for “phase­in periods” not only to save money, but in order to allow their customers to become accustomed to their new look. Ultimately, their triumph was complete. Many of the identity programs created for airlines in the 1960s and ‘70s were so successful that they remained virtually unchanged for decades.</p> <p> </p> <p>Besides this fundamental revision of the concept of corporate communications, other factors influenced the visual identity of airlines. In 1958, when Pan Am launched the first Boeing 707 flights, only one in 10 Americans had been on a commercial flight, and in Europe, the proportion was less than one in 20. Ships and trains were still the predominant modes of passenger transportation. Accordingly, airline advertising targeted a relatively affluent group until the 1970s, when wide-bodied jet aircraft caused capacities to soar, marking the beginning of mass tourism by air. Now, it was necessary for airlines to shift their marketing efforts to reach millions of new customers.</p> <p> </p> <p>Industry regulation, too, influenced advertising. The airline industry was highly regulated until the late 1970s, when deregulation in the United States started a trend to liberalize air traffic around the world. Until then, ticket prices and the destinations an airline was allowed to serve were the main subjects of regulation. Airlines were regarded as important agents for economic growth as well as ambassadors of their home countries abroad, and regulation was to provide stable economic conditions for this promising new industry. Domestic regulation was controlled by each national government, while the rules administering international flights were at first negotiated on a case­by­case basis, and later regulated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), founded in 1945. With limited possibilities for price competition on given routes, airline marketing tended to emphasize destinations or the quality and efficiency of service and equipment.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2twa.jpg" style="height:600px; width:366px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>In most countries outside of North America, privately owned airline companies were nationalized in the 1940s and 1950s to create “flag carriers,” which often enjoyed near monopolies in their respective domestic markets. Flag carriers were bound to make positive national traits part of their corporate personalities and revealed them in their visual identities. The United States was the only country with several major airlines, all of which remained under private ownership, resulting in a much greater variety of marketing strategies.</p> <p> </p> <p>Other factors influencing the visual identity of an airline company included the quality of implementation as well as the maintenance of an identity program. Neglect or improper implementation rendered even the best identity program futile.</p> <p> </p> <p>Following the infant years of commercial aviation in the 1920s and 1930s, passenger flight became a symbol of glamour and adventure in the decades following World War II, and a magnet for the world’s greatest creative minds in the fields of design and advertising. The list of designers and advertising agencies hired by airline companies reads like a <em>Who’s-Who </em>of that era. The epic endeavor to make travel by air attractive and available to as many people as possible continues to impart respect and fascination today.</p> </div> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1aeroflot.jpg" style="height:600px; width:423px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>This is an excerpt from <a href="https://www.callisto-publishers.com/project/airline-visual-identity-1945-1975-premium-edition/#collectors-limited-edition" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975</a> by M.C. Hühne (Callisto Publishers). Printed with permission.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Image Sources:</strong></p> <p><em>--All photos courtesy of Callisto Publishers</em></p> <p><em>--Photo on main page: <a href="https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-snhly">Piqsels </a>(Creative Commons)</em></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airline-industry" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airline industry</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airlines" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airlines</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/twa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">TWA</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pan-am" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Pan Am</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/british-airways" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">British Airways</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aeroflot" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Aeroflot</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/japan-airlines" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Japan Airlines</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/air-france" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Air France</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airplanes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airplanes</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pilots" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">pilots</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flight-crew" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flight crew</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/travel/archive" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">travel</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airports" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airports</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flying" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flying</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/design" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">design</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airline-posters" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airline posters</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">M.C. Hühne</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images courtesy of Callisto Publishers</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 15 Sep 2020 23:50:09 +0000 tara 9835 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10866-how-mid-century-airline-travel-came-symbolize-glamor-and-adventure#comments ‘7500’ Is a Suspenseful, Must-Watch Thriller https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10705-suspenseful-must-watch-thriller <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 06/23/2020 - 21:46</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/17500film.jpg?itok=fZukqxnc"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/17500film.jpg?itok=fZukqxnc" width="480" height="343" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>AT A GLANCE</strong></p> <p><strong><em>7500</em></strong></p> <p><strong>Directed by: Patrick Vollrath</strong></p> <p><strong>Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Carlo Kitzlinger, Aylin Tezel</strong></p> <p><strong>Rated: R</strong></p> <p><strong>Available on: Amazon Prime Video beginning June 18</strong></p> <p><strong>Critical rating: 4 stars out of 4</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>German writer-director Patrick Vollrath has created one of the most claustrophobic, intense, well-acted movies of 2020, and these qualities are advantageous in a streaming media environment. Since the Covid-19 pandemic has largely put big-screen features on hold, we’ve had time to reflect on the difference between watching at home versus in a theater. The shared big-screen experience has joys that will never be recreated in one’s family room, but there are certain pictures that actually play better at home. I believe <em>7500</em> is one of them.</p> <p> </p> <p>The terrorist thriller is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, included with the popular Amazon Prime delivery service, and the reason it feels appropriate in a home setting is that Vollrath and co-writer Senad Halibasic have gone out of the way to make it the antithesis of blockbusters like <em>Avengers: Endgame</em> and <em>Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker</em>.  Much of the appeal in the latter movies is spectacle. The scope of those pictures is massive, as they transport viewers to different worlds, balancing dialogue and exposition against action sequences that are literally packed with mind-blowing special effects. <em>7500</em> is smaller in every way, which is a good thing.</p> <p> </p> <p>The movie starts at a leisurely pace, with Vollrath introducing us to our protagonist, Tobias Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), one of two commercial pilots in charge of a flight from Berlin to Paris. Viewers enter the cockpit, where Tobias gets to know the flight’s captain, Michael (Carlo Kitzlinger), and works through routine pre-flight tasks. There’s not much space in the plane, and cinematographer Sebastian Thaler keeps the framing simple. This works well in a home-viewing environment. If you watch with the lights dim, you might even feel as though you are sitting beside Tobias and Michael, helping them prepare for the trip. Unlike the spectacle that makes <em>Avengers</em> films special, <em>7500</em> is intimate.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/27500film.jpg" style="height:251px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Vollrath does some of his finest character development before the plane leaves the ground. Before takeoff, we know that Tobias is in a serious relationship with one of the flight attendants. They aren’t married, but they live together and have a child. They also strive to keep their professional and private lives separate. Michael is established as a serious-but-amiable captain, and we learn that – despite Tobias’ youth – he has been flying for a decade. Each of these seemingly mundane details matters, and Vollrath refuses to rush through them with shortcuts. That patience pays dividends later.</p> <p> </p> <p>Although <em>7500</em> begins at a trot, it hits full gallop about 20 minutes in, when one of several terrorists forces his way into the cockpit. This starts a chain of events leading Tobias to a series of near-impossible choices, all elevating the tension for the remainder of the picture’s 90 minutes. Throughout, Vollrath and Thaler remain focused on Tobias because this is his story.</p> <p> </p> <p>Gordon-Levitt is a talent who has turned in impressive work in projects ranging from the Christopher Nolan thriller <em>Inception</em> to the cancer drama <em>50/50</em>. Here, he is typically self-assured. Tobias is mild-mannered and kind, but also smart and disciplined. He doesn’t always make the right choices, and it’s enjoyable for viewers to imagine what they would do in his place.</p> <p> </p> <p>But what is the right choice in an impossible situation? The movie is intriguing because it shows a good man doing his best to find hope in a terrible place. Saying that Gordon-Levitt’s performance is among the best of the year so far is minimizing his efforts since the cinematic year is so off-kilter. The supporting cast is also solid, but this is Gordon-Levitt’s film, as every twist centers on Tobias’s decisions. </p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/37500film.jpg" style="height:251px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Vollrath makes the most of the confined setting -- something that could hurt a weaker filmmaker. In some respects, <em>7500</em> must have been easy to produce. A single location, small cast, and minimal set dressing all speed the shooting process, but these things come with restraints. When all the action is set in an airplane cockpit, there are no astonishing backdrops or special effects to use as a crutch. The weight of the storytelling is relegated to the script and its handful of actors … each forced to make up for the fact that the scenery is unchanged for 90 minutes. Again, this plays into the strengths of at-home viewing.</p> <p> </p> <p>As long as one watches distraction-free, it is easy to get sucked into Tobias’s world. It is easy to feel his pain, his anguish, and his uncertainty. And “feeling” is what great directors make us do.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Forrest Hartman, a </strong></em><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong><em><strong> contributor, is a longtime entertainment journalist who teaches in the Department of </strong></em><a href="https://www.csuchico.edu/jour/" target="_blank"><em><strong>Journalism &amp; Public Relations at California State University, Chico</strong></em></a><em><strong>.</strong></em></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine           </strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/7500" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">7500</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/7500-movie" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">7500 movie</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/patrick-vollrath" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">patrick vollrath</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/joseph-gordon-levitt" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">joseph gordon levitt</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airplanes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airplanes</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/thrillers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">thrillers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hollywood" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hollywood</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/amazon-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">amazon films</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/streaming-video" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">streaming video</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/summer-movies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">summer movies</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/suspense-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">suspense films</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/forrest-hartman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Forrest Hartman</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Forrest Hartman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Amazon Prime</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 24 Jun 2020 01:46:11 +0000 tara 9641 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10705-suspenseful-must-watch-thriller#comments Flight MH370 and the Reality of Human Helplessness https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3855-flight-mh-and-reality-human-helplessness <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 03/26/2014 - 10:32</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1airmalyasia.jpg?itok=ppos6sQr"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1airmalyasia.jpg?itok=ppos6sQr" width="480" height="357" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>From FirstPost.com and our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/03/how-missing-flight-mh370-exposes-human-helplessness.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p> </p> <p>What has been most astonishing about the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 are the images that have come out of that tragedy. Or rather the images that have not come out of it.</p> <p> </p> <p>In an age when mobile phones with cameras get to disaster zones even before television crews rush in, we have come to expect graphic images of tragedy to fill our TV screens long before the narrative behind the tragedy is fully pieced together. In a world where image is supreme, where television cameras fiercely jostle with each other for that prized shot, where ordinary people with mobile phones become citizen journalists, we expect tragedy, whether its man-made or natural, to come fully illustrated - collapsed buildings, mangled limbs, charred bogies of trains, airplanes crashing into skyscrapers in front of our horrified eyes.</p> <p> </p> <p>Flight MH370 has none of that. Days after the tragedy we heard about a "yellow object" floating in the sea. Perhaps an oil slick. But all we have seen on 24-hour television is the footage of anxious families huddled in Beijing airport, glued to cellphones. We have watched poker-faced bureaucrats and airline officials addressing press conferences, and seen the deceptively calm waters of the South China Sea and stock footage of some other more fortunate Malaysia Airlines aircraft whizzing into the sky.</p> <p> </p> <p>We can accept that airplanes crash. It is much harder to accept that at a time when Google Earth wants to map every square foot of our planet, airplanes carrying 239 people can just vanish without a trace. At a time when we rebuke the media for its almost ghoulish overzealousness in covering a disaster, this is a disaster that has left the media scrambling for images to make it real. That leaves us with something far more terrifying - we can only speculate about the disappearance of MH370, imagine the panic on board as everything slipped horribly out of control.</p> <p> </p> <p>This seems more terrifying even than 9/11 which horrifying as it was, happened in real time, in front of our shocked eyes, images that could be replayed over and over again. That had the solidity of fact at least. This only has the nightmare of imagination.</p> <p> </p> <p>My uncle was a pilot for Indian Airlines. It was all he ever wanted to be. As a child that seemed very glamorous to us, his nephews and nieces. He would fly in with cured meat from Andamans, black grapes from Hyderabad, once even a little hill-breed puppy from Kathmandu tucked into his pocket. But every time he flew and there was a thunderstorm or even monsoon clouds my mother would scan the skies with growing anxiety. In those days there were no mobile phones, no Internet. My mother would call his house anxiously a dozen times until he made it back home. He was lucky. Others were not. One of his cousins in the Air Force crashed into the hills of the North East. At least that was what was believed. Nothing was ever found. No wing tip. No mangled seats. His widow refused to give up hope. She lived and dressed as a married woman until she died decades later. Other family members thought of it as a little strange, even unnatural. But perhaps what is truly unnatural is the fact that we fly. We were not meant to fly. But we do, in defiance not of physics but of our nature.</p> <p> </p> <p>Every time we fly, it is an act of utter surrender. Perhaps that is why few of us bother to pay attention to those safety drill demonstrations at the beginning of each flight or read that card in our seat pocket telling us about inflatable jackets and oxygen masks. It's not just that we expect our plane will not be the one to fall out of the sky. It's that if we truly thought about it, and how little we can do if it does happen, none of us would be able to fly.</p> <p> </p> <p>A jumbo jet parked on the tarmac looks massive, impregnably solid. But hurtling at 31,000 feet, despite serving up the illusion of normalcy on plastic food trays and piped movies and television shows, it remains utterly vulnerable, a bubble that is far away from real meaningful assistance if anything goes wrong. That's what makes airplanes such a prime target for terror attacks whether it's a hijacker commandeering it or a bomb in a luggage compartment. It is like taking over a self-contained mini-world that has unmoored itself from its natural element.</p> <p> </p> <p>Perhaps the images of this flight’s end will surface sooner or later as they did with Air India's Kanishka on the Atlantic Ocean, the first bombing of a 747 jumbo jet. 132 of those bodies were recovered, some showing signs of lack of oxygen, some showing signs of "explosive decompression," many with little or no clothing. That disaster shook us because it was the first jumbo jet downed by sabotage, the horror of that realization compounded by the poignancy of its debris - a drowned teddy bear bobbing forlornly in the sea.</p> <p> </p> <p>Over the years we have become more stringent about checks to prevent those acts of sabotage. We have become used to taking off our shoes and carrying our toiletries in see-through plastic. This latest tragedy, whatever its cause, will probably not make us fly less. We are now too dependent on flying, our families scattered all over the globe. But it reminds us brutally that in a world where we think we are more in control of our lives and destinies than ever before, that control can disappear in an instant.</p> <p> </p> <p>And even if we are buckled to our seats and our tray tables latched as instructed, when that happens, we are as helpless as the mythological Icarus whose wings melted as he flew too close to the sun.</p> <p> </p> <p>From FirstPost.com</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flight-mh370" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flight mh370</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flight-370" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flight 370</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/air-malaysia" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">air malaysia</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flying" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flying</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airplanes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airplanes</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/air-safety" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">air safety</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/air-travel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">air travel</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airports" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airports</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/china" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">China</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/malaysia" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">malaysia</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pilots" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">pilots</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/flight-risk" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">flight risk</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandip Roy</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 26 Mar 2014 14:32:19 +0000 tara 4495 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3855-flight-mh-and-reality-human-helplessness#comments