Nope - not an early performance by the Blue Angels, but two similar, less blue F-18's will be pulling "practice military maneuvers between the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges from 2:30 to 3" this afternoon, according to the Appeal. Good to know our armed forces are working out their gameplan for when the North Koreans actually come for us and it's not just some PR stunt. Anyway, your tower is gonna get buzzed any moment now. more ›

A plane heading to Australia "was forced to make an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport early Tuesday after an engine exploded in flight over the Pacific," reports KTVU. (In the esteemed words of Rachel Zoe, shut the front door!) The plane, carrying 212 passengers, "had departed SFO around 11:10 p.m. and had been in the air for about 45 minutes when passengers heard a loud bang and felt the plane vibrate," prompting the emergency landing. more ›

An American Airlines flight has been grounded at SFO after a bomb threat. According to the Transportation Security Administration, reports CBS 5, "the threat was made against American Airlines Flight No. 24 — which was destined for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York." The airport police "received a threatening phone call" just before the flight was about to takeoff. more ›

A flight into SFO was diverted to Colorado Springs on Saturday because a guy got drunk and ornery at the back of the plane and was demanding more booze. Apparently, this situation was a serious enough national security risk that two F-16s had to be deployed to provide an escort to the plane in its emergency landing. WTF, people. Couldn't the flight attendants just have slapped this guy, or rufied him, or something? KRON4's full coverage of this event, after the jump. more ›

Laughing Squid brings our attention to Wright Brothers Day, which honors the first flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. To prepare yourself for the roaring Wright Brothers Day festivities tomorrow, check out this footage (via Wired) from their August 1908 flight in Le Mans, France. It's positively barbaric. more ›

According to KCBS Radio, a small "two engine" plane "took off and crashed" at the Hayward airport. We'll update as soon as we know more. more ›

There were plenty of predictions this past spring that the H1N1 virus was going to come back to bite us in the ass this winter, and last week a White House advisory panel made some dire predictions of a "worst case scenario" in which half the country could get infected, 1.8 million could end up hospitalized, and 90,000 could die -- which would be more than twice the average for a normal flu season. And as we've seen, this flu has been striking many in the 30- to 45-year-old range who may have a pre-existing condition such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, or obesity -- some scientists believe the virus hasn't affected older people in greater numbers due to some pre-existing immunity from an earlier strain of the flu, perhaps from the early 1960s or before. Hopefully if you have any of these pre-existing conditions, if you're preggers, or if you have school-aged kids, you'll run out and get flu shots in October, and the rest of you will wash your goddamn hands twenty times a day and STAY HOME FROM WORK if you show any symptoms. This ain't no SARS! (Perhaps try one of the stylish animal masks above from Samiraboon.) more ›

On a Southwest flight bound for St. Louis yesterday, a mentally-estranged gentleman whipped out his penis, punched a female passenger sitting next to him, and then disrobed. Egads. According to Mercury News, it was quite the scene. Coming in at "a good 300 pounds," the man, who was wearing an Oakland A's baseball cap, "had hit a lady in the mouth," recounts passenger Jim Scanlon, who was lucky enough witness what went down. "He was yelling but not making any sense. Then he hit or slapped another woman who was sitting next to her husband, and he hit him on the top of the head. A flight attendant came running up the aisle, but he faked a swing at her, and she ran back to the back of the plane," he said. "Another two crew members came toward him. He was totally out of his gourd." No kidding. After nearby passengers tried to calm the distraught man, he got naked. Of course. (Don't believe us? Take a look at this picture snapped by a passenger.) The flight was then rerouted back to Oakland Airport. Darius Chappille, 21, who had an "outstanding arrest warrant on drug-related," was taken unto custody. more ›