Think Twice Before Taking Flight 191

The flight number has a particularly bad history
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2012 10:11 AM CDT
Think Twice Before Taking Flight 191
Authorities board JetBlue flight 191, which was headed from New York to Las Vegas, after an emergency landing at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Amarillo, Texas, Tuesday, March 27, 2012.   (AP Photo/The Amarillo Globe News, Roberto Rodriguez)

The next time you book an airline flight, if you see "191" on your ticket, you might want to just stay home. That particular flight number is "one of the most tragic of all," writes Scott McCartney in the Wall Street Journal. A brief history: JetBlue's Flight 191 was diverted yesterday after the pilot started behaving, well, erratically (shouting, "Iraq, al-Qaeda, terrorism, we’re all going down," witnesses said).

Delta and American Airlines don't even use 191 as a flight number anymore, thanks to two tragedies. In 1979, an engine ripped off from American Airlines Flight 191, sending the plane into a field and killing 271 people. And in 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashed right before landing in Texas, killing 136 on board and one on the ground. (More JetBlue stories.)

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