News reports are now saying that a computer glitch may be the reason why a Qantas jet suddenly took a dive in mid-flight.

One of the passengers said the plane went straight down, and it lasted for 10 or 12 seconds - an eternity, if you’re the one experiencing this hell. One man, Jim Ford of Perth, was pretty sure he was about to die:

“It was horrendous, absolutely gruesome, terrible, the worst experience of my life.” - Jim Ford, Qantas passenger

Whatever the cause of this incident, it was bad: 51 passengers and crew were injured - some with broken bones and even spinal injuries.

I guess there really IS no place like home.

A Northeastern University study of cell phone users concluded that most people don’t travel much.

In fact, somebody crunched the numbers and found out that 83% of those in this study stayed mostly within a 37-mile wide circle, from home.

“There’s no place like home” (click those heels together) “…no place like home…”

Disciples of the Marquis de Sade, this one’s for you.

It seems a woman preparing to board a plane in Lubbock last month set off the metal detector because of her nipple rings (or piercings; you know, metal stuck through flesh).

The TSA folks said, take ‘em off. Well, she tried, but apparently they were “unremovable”. So a TSA agent helpfully handed her a pair of pliers. That did the trick!

She wants an apology (oh, and she also hired attorney Gloria Allred– watch out, TSA!) Meantime, the woman eventually got through the metal detectors (which FAILED to detect her navel ring).

Tip O’ the Day: be sure your nipple rings are removable; also, listen to your mother and never to get ‘em in the first place (what about a tattoo, Ma?).

Creepy story from CNN. A teenage boy is under arrest; he told the cops he planned to hijack a commercial jet, and crash it into a “Hannah Montana” concert in Lafayette, Louisiana (apparently, the kid is from there).

Would sound kinda funny, or at least like something out of a teen-angst-novel, if the kid hadn’t been carrying handcuffs, duct tape and a rope.

What is going on? Sign of the times? The odd nutcake? Did anybody not notice that the kid was acting a little weird? I’m depressed…

Oh, that Matt. What, you’re Stephen King now? Always trying to get us riled up with something (and it works; we read drudgereport.com religiously).

And, yes, he’s right, the weather for Thanksgiving travel is not looking so hot in certain parts of the country but them’s the breaks.

If you had done everything my boss over at FareCompare has been telling you to do for the past 6-months, you wouldn’t have any worries. Well, you wouldn’t have so many. Besides, Mr. Drudge…turkey doesn’t spoil that quickly.

Folks show up late, a day, couple days, big deal. Leftovers. Mmmm.