Flying has gotten safer recently -- in fact, as of the beginning of 2009. there had been zero fatal crashes in the US in 2.5 years. You were more likely to land in the Hudson and escape unscathed than die in a crash. All that being said, there's been a rash of absent-mindedness and flat-out recklessness from several pilots lately. There was those Northwest pilots who got distracted over a computer and "lost track of time" a few weeks back, causing them to fly far beyond their original Minneapolis airport destination. Then there was those Quantas pilots that tried to land without putting their landing gear down.

A Qantas Boeing 767, was on approach at Sydney Airport on October 26th, when the pilots received a “gear too low” warning at about 700 feet. They had forgotten to put their landing gear down. They reacted quickly, aborted the landing and flew around again. Normally the aircraft should lower its gear between 2000 and 1500 feet. It appears there was a communication breakdown between who was lowering the gear. Both pilots have stepped down during the investigation.

And then, we've got the latest -- the drunk United pilot arrested for being over the limit, the third U.S. pilot caught flying while torched in 13 months. At least I can understand the drunkenness. It must be terribly frustrating to "concentrate" on flying a largely automated plane for hours while the passengers behind you get sloshed on watered-down $8 half-size cocktails.