I love to travel and therefore fly frequently. So I am trying to convince myself that the spate of recent stories about airline safety constitute another "summer of the shark." Remember? It was the summer of 2001 - the media began a sensational streak of coverage of shark attacks beginning in early July following the Fourth of July weekend shark attack on 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast. The stories continued unabated—despite no evidence for an actual increase in attacks—until the September 11 terrorist attacks shifted the media's (and the nation's) attention.
This follows the tragedy on a Southwest Airlines flight in April when a passenger was killed when she was partially sucked out of a window after a part from a failed engine hit - and broke out - her nearby window.
In this instance, the window cracked and a cause has not been determined (the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate). There was no depressurization in the cabin, and therefore the oxygen masks were not deployed. No one was hurt.
All this attention began when 60 minutes did a story on the age of the planes of discount airline Allegiant Airlines and challenged the airline on their safety record.
So...is this "summer of the shark" reporting OR are you seriously concerned?