In-Flight TV And The Perils Thereof

The best thing about Jet Blue is its in-flight live television . . . until your flight becomes the next big Fox News Alert. Then it seems like probably not such a good idea:

A New York- bound airliner with a crippled landing gear made a fiery emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport last night, as millions of TV viewers across the country held their breath. For three hours, as JetBlue Flight 292 circled the skies over Southern California to burn off fuel, frightened passengers also watched the drama unfold, on inflight TV screens — listening to commentators speculate on the outcome.

“It was surreal,” said Christiana Lund, 25, of Manhattan. “We were like, ‘That’s us. That’s crazy'”

Zachary Mastoon, 27, a Brooklyn musician, said, “I got a little scared when I saw the plane on TV.”

Some passengers, he said, were so terrified, they turned their screens off.

. . .

Passenger Diane Hamilton, 32, of Clifton, N.J., said, “Grown men were crying. Emotions were running high.”

She added that as the drama neared its climax, “it was the worst, because you didn’t know if it was going to work, if we would catch fire. It was very scary.”

But most passengers appeared calm and continued to watch the bizarre events until their screens went dark 10 minutes before the plane finally landed.

The plane eventually landed safely after skidding to a sparky halt. No serious injuries were reported.