'Tis the season for de-icing planes, and TC learned of the dangers of being a little too energetic about the process. Apparently, a ground crew started to de-ice a regional jet when the cockpit crew got a call from the flight attendant. Seems that the fluid was coming in from the top of the main cabin entry door, landing on the attendant's hair and soaking her uniform jacket. When the flight ended, she needed medical attention. According to the captain: "The door or hatch seals can't take a point-blank-range hit from the de-ice nozzle."
When consumer magazines and TV shows select locales for photo shoots and on-site scenes, tourism officials salivate over the potential publicity. So now that the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition has hit the newsstands, TC wonders if tourism to Portugal will spike as a result. The issue features plenty of photos of the beaches along the Estoril coast, the 500-year-old Bacalhoa Palace, Portugal's vineyards and Lisbon's nightlife -- as well as models in their skimpy bathing suits. The same thing goes for Cap Maison, St. Lucia's boutique hotel, where Jake Pavelka, current star of "The Bachelor" romance reality TV series, narrows his choice of bachelorettes down to two finalists. Who is rejected and who is selected remains a secret for now, but the hotel is banking on a surge of wedding proposals and honeymoon bookings.
After Canada-based Newwest Special Projects canceled a 28-day charter of the Norwegian Star for use as lodging during the Winter Olympics, just days before the charter was to begin, angry customers began an online campaign threatening to boycott Norwegian Cruise Line for not going through with the charter itself. One would-be guest of the Star wrote: "If they do not sail, we are going viral to boycott NCL!" NCL, which had nothing to do with the cancellation of the charter, said it was aware of the petition. But it noted that even if it did want to sail the Star to Vancouver as planned, there was nowhere to berth the ship, because Newwest never finished the work it was doing at the ship's intended pier.
