I had the pleasure of flying with Joe Balzer several times. Many of you probably remember a news story about a Northwest Airlines crew that was convicted of flying under the influence of alcohol. Here is a link to his website, fllyingdrunk.com.

The book about his experiences will be released on July 15th, and is available for preorder on Amazon.com

All of the major news services are talking about the aviation tragedy that happened last night/early this morning. Air France flight 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil en route to Paris, France, and lost contact with its controllers over the Atlantic Ocean between Brazil and Senegal.

News reports are talking about electrical problems while in an area of thunderstorms, at 35,000 feet. Having flown in the area of the equator in summer, I can personally attest to the strength of these thunderstorms, sometimes organized in a line hundreds of miles long.

The Airbus 330 uses a fly-by-wire flight control system, which is shielded against lightning strikes.

We all hope for survivors, and our thoughts and prayers go to the families of the victims.