Should you be able to know?

The landing of the JetBlue flight last evening at LAX was a remarkable event.

We'd just finished a day long meeting at the Pasadena Hilton when I ran into a woman who asked me what I thought about all the furor on television. Since I had no idea what she was talking about, she filled me in on most of the basics and I proceeded back inside to take up a position in the lounge.

I got there just in time for the last ten minutes or so of the flight. An early evening report from the LA Times seemed to capture most of the story so I didn't bother writing anything last night.

It was missing a few small things. As the plane was descending, someone mentioned that it was likely that every cell phone on the plane was busy as people said goodbye in some way to those close to them. I wonder... but it feels like it would be true. Just a few moments before touchdown I was surprised to see the wing gear down. I'd assumed the nose gear would be susceptible to breaking off and figured they'd do a belly landing. I was very wrong on that score. The crowd in the bar broke out into applause as the plane finished gliding to a stop and then conversation turned to just how smoothly it was set down on the tarmac. What a wonderful, gentle touchdown. No reverse throttles here to get the jet slowed down as quickly as possible. They took advantage of the length at LAX to let the plane settle slowly and naturally.

What I'd forgotten about was the DirectTV feed on the airline (odd given that I'd just flown the same Burbank to JFK route a couple months ago). The reactions have been mixed today although I guess they weigh in favor of leaving the feed intact.

I know that I would have wanted the feed and would have used it to learn everything I could. Being in the dark is something that makes me very nervous. At the same time, I can see a lot of people just not wanting to know. And for the air crew, it opens a new era of challenges where the passengers may know more than the 'supposed' authority figures on the aircraft in the event of a much televised emergency. Poorly considered analysis on the ground could lead to a very difficult situation in the air.

And what happens as IP really reaches the sky? It won't simply be a one way conversation. The occasional geek has already blogged about two way media even in our current primitive state. Eventually, a carrier is going to have a problem and turn off the feed and then this is going to become a political problem.

• Do you want to know?
• Should you be able to know?
• Should you be able to let others know?

It's a hell of a set of questions...

Completely unrelated to the event, this was the first time I'd seen HD. The picture was quite vivid and detailed from 25 feet away where I was sitting (with lots of random very late afternoon sun light leaking in from behind). No fad here, this stuff is wildly compelling.