A woman flying from Newark to San Francisco International Airport this morning apparently thought it would be an acceptable idea to stow some Claymore land mines packed with shrapnel in her checked luggage. more ›

An outbound flight from SFO to London was forced to land shortly after takeoff last night after it was struck by a bolt of lightning. That storm wasn't playin' around! more ›

Far be it for us to call anyone stupid, because that's just rude, but we're having trouble understanding the mindset a man who boarded a flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco carrying fireworks. Joseph Picklo, 29, from Dallas, Pennsylvania was attempting to board United flight 445 Thursday morning with flash powder and three M-80s. Did we mention that, according to reports, said flash powder was hidden inside a water bottle he was also trying to carry aboard the plane? more ›

Thanks to the efforts of Congresswoman Jackie Speier and former flight attendant Nancy Rivard, San Francisco International Airport will become the first hub in the country to have staff trained to identify and stop human trafficking. Rivard, who used to work for American Airlines, started the non-profit Airline Ambassadors after realizing that the airline industry has simplified the work of domestic sex traffickers and those who seek to exploit children. more ›

On the heels of last week's hot topic surrounding kids in restaurants which also brought up the typical debate in the comments over whether kids should be allowed on planes, we found ourselves experiencing a blissfully unremarkable flight with our toddler from SFO to San Diego yesterday. Granted, the flight was short, our kid's a well-behaved frequent flyer, and we came prepared with an arsenal of activities and snacks, including delicious roasted seaweed (aka, toddler crack), but we give much credit to this fabulous SFO Activity Book for setting the stage for us. more ›

An United Airlines plane headed for San Francisco Airport was evacuated in Denver after authorities got wind of a bomb threat. Yikes! "Carrie Harmon of the Transportation Security Administration, according to Associated Press, said "someone phoned in a bomb threat at about 7:30 a.m. on Thursday" and that "passengers, cargo and baggage were removed for re-screening." more ›

In a press event at San Francisco International Airport this morning, SFist witnessed airport officials announce the grand opening of what they believe is the world's first in-airport free yoga studio. Because, well, of course San Francisco should have the first airport yoga studio. more ›

A pair of U.S. citizens arriving from Mexico on December 29th were busted with $500,000 worth of cocaine and crystal meth in their luggage, thus ensuring at least one methhead somewhere in the Bay Area could actually stick to his "no doing meth in 2012" resolution. more ›

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court's oldest justice at age 78, rode an airplane emergency slide to safety earlier today when her SFO-bound flight experienced some harrowing engine trouble on the tarmac at Washington-Dulles International Airport. According to AP reports, the pilot of United Flight 586 noticed engine trouble while taxiing and immediately called for an evacuation. more ›

Fans of alternative transportation just got a new way to catch their flights out of SFO: a new bike lane has popped up along McDonnell Road, leading right up to the terminal at San Francisco International. While you stand there wondering whether people are really donning their helmets and tossing suitcases in to bike baskets, intrepid bicycle commuter (and SFist commenter) John Murphy has given the new lanes a test drive and has some feedback to share with the bike activists over at Streetsblog. Observe: more ›

Jonathan and Luis Baez, two brothers from Holyoke, Massachusetts, were arrested late Wednesday after assaulting a pilot on a flight bound for San Francisco. En route American Airlines Flight 1755, a flight attendant noticed Jonathan sleeping during takeoff sans his seat belt fastened. "Unresponsive and appear[ing] to be intoxicated or on drugs," the pilot then returned to the gate and confronted the passenger, which is when things got ugly. more ›

Criminal charges brought against Deshon Marman, the University of New Mexico football player and San Francisco native pulled off a U.S. Airways flight during a scuffle over his saggy pants, have been dropped by the San Mateo County District Attorney's office this morning. According to DA Steve Wagstaffe, the criminal charges were unnecessary "in light of all the circumstances surrounding the incident." The announcement comes after a group of protestors including Marman's family, representatives from civil rights groups and a San Francisco supervisor gathered on the steps of City Hall yesterday to protest the incident. more ›

A computer glitch that caused passenger data to disappear off of United Airlines computer systems caused the airline to have to cancel several dozen flights Friday night, including some out of SFO, and delay about 105 more worldwide, leaving thousands stranded. At SFO, a few hundred people were affected, and the lack of working computer systems led in some cases to the issuing of charming handwritten boarding passes like this one. more ›

Rageh Ahmed Mohammed Al-Murisi, the Yemeni immigrant who attempted to storm the cockpit of an American Airlines flight headed for SFO was travelling from New York to San Francisco with two postdated checks totaling $13,000 and "only $47 in cash and an Apple charger on him." Aside from that (and the part where he tried to break down the door of an airplane), one of his cousins who lives in the Bay Area told the Chronicle that Al-Murisi is "a very normal guy." [Chron] more ›

A 28-year-old Yemeni man named Rageit (or Rageh?) Almurisi was aboard an American Airlines flight from Chicago to SFO when he walked briskly out of coach, through first class, and began banging on the cockpit door and screaming something than no one could understand. He ultimately had to be subdued by crew members and three passengers who volunteered for the job, including a retired U.S. Secret Service agent and retired San Mateo cop. Almurisi has no known terrorist affiliations, was carrying no weapons, and he's now under arrest. more ›

Remember the former LA City Attorney who went berserk on a Peet's kiosk and airport police on Christmas Eve? She was sentenced today. "Angela West, 50, a Harvard Law School graduate, pleaded no contest Tuesday in San Mateo County Superior Court to exhibiting a deadly weapon and battery on a peace officer, both misdemeanors," reports SF Chronicle. "Judge Richard Livermore sentenced her to two years but suspended it, giving her credit for time served." [Chron] more ›

According to the Chronicle, "Reports of lasers being shined at aircraft nearly doubled last year across the country, with the Bay Area being among the worst regions when it comes to the dangerous prank." With 201 reports of laser shinings at Bay Area airports in 2010, Bay Area incidents, according to the FAA, "made up more than 7 percent of the 2,800 laser shinings reported nationally." Pranksters (or merely the bored soul carrying a laser pen) "can be charged with federal as well as state crimes." Last year, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to three years in Federal prison for egregious laser pointing. [Chon] more ›

Angela West, a former LA City Attorney, reportedly went on a bit of a rampage during the holiday season at San Francisco International Airport. And how. Look, we get it: Christmas and SFO and the lines and the kids and the outrageous Peet's kiosk prices make us go a little nuts as well. However, we've never been so bold as to act on our deepest rage-filled desires as West did on Christmas Eve. Behold: more ›

An unnamed pilot based at SFO and residing in Sacramento is catching heat from some camera-phone videos he posted to YouTube showing lax security at the airport. The pilot was part of the federal flight deck officer program, which allowed him to carry a TSA-issued weapon on board planes in order to protect against terrorism. After the videos emerged, the TSA suspended him from the program and visited his home to make him surrender his weapon. He will, however, continue to serve as a pilot. more ›

Holiday travel has been particularly hellish this year for lots of folks, and it's not getting better any time soon. Incessant rain in the Bay Area caused delays for passengers traveling out of SFO last week. Storms in the Southeast on Christmas Day caused long delays and cancellations. more ›

• Aubrey Huff will be sticking around for 2 more years. [McCovey Chronicles]
• Newsflash: Waiting at the DMV always sucks, but it sucks twice as much in San Francisco. [CBS]
• US Conference of Mayors Calls Bullshit on Dangerous Cities List (where Oakland placed 5th) [Appeal]
• New SFO Terminal 2 looks swanky, was largely influence by Virgin America, and you will not go hungry. [Telstar] [Curbed] [Eater]
• Free Thanksgiving Dinner at Cafe Gratitude's Communal Table (carnivores need not apply). [Eater]
• Heading to Tahoe for Thanksgiving? Bring the chains. [SierraSun]
• Mercury News attempts to stack up In-N-Out vs. Five Guys burgers. This shouldn't even be a comparison because In-N-Out is a sterile film set of a hamburger store and we should all be ashamed of ourselves for buying in to Hollywood's In-N-Out propaganda for all these years. [Mercury News]

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 reader, who asked to remain anonymous, writes to SFist about a harrowing (albeit it tiny) blaze aboard a flight, prompting an emergency landing at SFO on Sunday. more ›

"SFO" by bats. more ›

Yes, yes, this very likely isn't the same carsonist who kept us on our toes for much of last year (or this recent string of 12 arsons in Berkeley), but just on the off chance... Six cars were torched last night in the long-term parking lot at SFO, with a seventh damaged from the heat of the multiple blazes. more ›

Because we're always cheated out of a proper summer -- for whatever reason, this year's summer chill seems particularly glacial -- that means low fog. And what does low fog mean? It means flight delays at SFO. According to BCN (via SF Appeal), "Flight delays of up to an hour are possible at San Francisco International Airport into the afternoon today due to low fog in the area." Please make a note of it. [SFA] more ›

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Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Virgin Overlord Sir Richard Branson, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrated the launch of Virgin America’s first international flight to exotic Toronto, Canada. more ›