Travel News

Vote For The Icarus Award: Flying High & Falling Low

Icarus sculpture by Charles Umlauf on the campus of the University of Kansas

Locations in this article:  Baltimore, MD Los Angeles, CA Salt Lake City, UT Seattle, WA

Welcome to the first Peter Greenberg Icarus Awards.

Every week we’ll give out our Icarus Award to honor the travel entity that best embodies the enthusiastic, but questionably intelligent, spirit of the ancient, mythical Greek traveler who fell to his death by flying too close to the sun.

Check out this week’s nominees:

Carry-on C4
A U.S. soldier attempted to fly to Los Angeles on Wednesday with high-velocity explosives in his bag. Army Private First Class Christopher Eric Wey, 19, was arrested at the Yuma International Airport when a half-ounce of C4 explosives was detected in a tobacco can inside one of Wey’s bags. An FBI investigation uncovered that Wey had stolen the C4 while attending an explosive training course. 
No word yet on his plans for the C4.

Fly or Drive, Carmaggedon-Style
JetBlue’s shortest flight ever might also be the fastest to sell out. As Los Angeles braces for the closing of the 405 freeway this Saturday and Sunday, in a weekend now known as as Carmageddon, JetBlue decided to have one-day-only novelty flights across the city for passengers looking to beat the traffic.  Reports indicate that $4 tickets, $5 for extra-leg room, for the four round-trip flights between Burbank and Long Beach airports sold out within two to four hours of being announced. Of course, with the current level of air traffic and the state of flight delays, it still might be faster to brave the traffic and drive. Or, you could try the two-wheeled alternative: Wolfpack Hustle, a local cycling group, has challenged JetBlue to a race from Burbank to Long Beach. (Follow #FlightVsBike to track their progress.)

Icarus Statue at Air Force Museum

Icarus Statue photo via Flickr user: Dospaz

Have Knife Collection, Will Travel
A 24-year-old man tried to board a flight with 13 knives packed in his carry-on bag. Baltimore resident Amr Gamal Shedid, was attempting to fly from Baltimore Washington International Airport to Minnesota on July 7 when a TSA agent noticed something suspicious in the X-ray machine. Twelve switchblades and a butterfly knife later, Shedid told officers that he was just an avid knife collector.  Investigators concluded that Shedid did not appear to be involved in a plot or plan to be a threat onboard the plane.

 

Weapons of Snack Destruction
A Southwest Airlines passenger was arrested Monday night after he hurled bags of peanuts and pretzels at a flight attendant. Paul Sefilian, a 42 year-old Utah resident, became so irate when the attendant refused to allow him to use an electronic cigarette on the flight that he started throwing the snack packets. Electronic cigarettes were formally banned on flights in February. As the plane began to approach Salt Lake City, Seflin had one final moment of bad behavior: he jumped out of his seat and opened the overhead storage bins. The FBI were waiting for Sefilian when the plane landed and subsequently arrested him for interfering with a flight crew.

Wrong, Turn, Wrong Country
Two paths diverged in the Delta gangway and Yauheni Shchytou took the one he shouldn’t have traveled, which made all the difference.  Shchytou was set to fly from Minsk, Belarus to Milan, Italy, to JFK in New York and then on to Seattle. Instead, Shchytou woke up in Frankfurt, Germany. The Russian resident, who speaks very limited English, was flying to visit his son when he made a wrong turn on the gangway at JFK between two planes that were side by side and not clearly marked. Shchytou took his seat and fell asleep only to wake up to the sun rising in Germany. Meanwhile, at Sea-Tac International, Shchytou’s son was at baggage claim, where he spotted his father’s luggage, but not his father. Twenty hours and two flights later, Delta reunited Shchytou with his bags and his son.

Who should win PeterGreenberg.com’s first Icarus Award? Cast your vote in the comments … and let us know if we missed any other Icarus nominees. Check back next Friday to see the winner and a whole new batch of contenders.

By Lily J. Kosner for PeterGreenberg.com. Photo via Flickr user Dospaz.

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