Hard to believe it’s been eight years since a group of murderers hijacked all those planes and killed all those people.

Eight years. Incredible. And yet — time does its work. The sharp searing horror is starting to fade. And the millions who have been born since then will never have our memories – and never quite understand how many hearts were broken that day.

I hate it — but I know the time will come when this shattering day will seem as remote and dusty as Lincoln’s assassination – just another historical fact to be memorized by bored-out-of-their-minds school children.

But today – we remember.

Remember when boarding a plane was an occasion? When you didn’t have to worry about drunks onboard because flying was for the few – the elite?

Well, I remember, sonny, and it sure was nice!

Daniel L. Rust remembers too, and he’s got a big new book out that tells you all about those dear-dead-days called, “Flying Across America: The Airline Passenger Experience”. It got a good review from the Wall St. Journal so you might want to check it out.

Plus, it’s filled with cool vintage airline photos and ads – like the one you see at left.

Flying was nice then – plus, you didn’t have to worry about the lavatory running out of liquid soap because someone was busy drinking it.

That’s a pretty good description of what happened in Manhattan yesterday – “felony stupidity”.

Here’s the deal: there was some sort of “classified” government photo shoot by the military – of course it was classified! – which involved a low flying plane near some of those tall buildings in New York, and gosh if it didn’t remind people of something…

And some ran screaming out of their buildings in terror.

You know, it hasn’t even been eight years. Did you think we’d forget? Ever?

Yeah, they’re all apologizing. As if.

Nice story on the Beatles in the Los Angeles Times today – which reminds us that they began touring America 45 years ago.

Tempus fugit.

One of the things I liked best about the piece is the photo – there are the boys in front of an old Pan Am plane (a Pan Am Boeing 707-321 to be precise). Notice John clutching his little Pan Am bag – the sort of thing airlines used to give away as part of their, ahem, customer service.

Well, Pan Am as an entity lasted a little longer than the Fab Four did – it wouldn’t collapse until 1991. But the airline lives on, in movies like the early James Bond films, “2001″, “Scarface” and “Catch Me If You Can”.

Oh, and don’t worry about the boys – I understand their music is still doing pretty well.

No, you never got on a plane. Never got a chance to fly.

But you soared.

I am sure you saw the story about the Marine fighter plane that crashed into a neighborhood in San Diego, killing four members of a family — two small children, their mother and grandmother.

But did you know this?

The surviving member of the family — the father of the children, the widower — said, he does not blame the pilot — he knows he did everything he could.Then, Dong Yun Yoon talked about his own loss:

“Right now, I don’t know how I feel. But I know there are many people who have experience of terrible things.

“Please tell me how to do it, because I don’t know what to do.”

This is depressing.

Ever since Travis Barker and DJ AM were injured in that horrific plane crash that killed 4 of their associates, internetistas have been putting together THE LIST.

That would be the list of other music types who died in aviation accidents.

You know — Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, Jim Croce, Otis Redding…we’ve been down this road before.

But, doesn’t make it any less sad…

Some poor guy in Brooklyn made arrangements to ship the body of his wife to their native Ecuador for burial.

To Guayaquil, Ecuador, to be precise (airport code GYE).

Unfortunately, American sent her to Guatemala (airport code GUA). That’s 1,400 miles away. Heck of a typo, wouldn’t you say?

Then, according to the grieving widower, after the airline finally delivered the body, it wanted to charge him another $321. Perhaps for all those extra awards-miles the corpse accrued (the fee was ultimately waived).

Lawsuit, you ask? Of course.

Dave Freeman, an advertising exec who co-wrote the wildly popular book, “100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can’t Miss” has himself died.

Freeman was only 47. According to the Los Angeles Times, he died after falling and hitting his head at his home in Venice, Calif.

The point of his book: live every day like it’s your last. And Freeman did a pretty good job at that — in the short amount of time he was allotted, he managed to cross off about half the things on his book’s list.

Remember that day — July 17, 1996 — when TWA’s flight 800 exploded in mid-air off Long Island, killing all 230 onboard?

A lot has happened in the 12 years since then — including the demise of TWA.

But, good news: They’re finally getting around to fixing the “problem”.

According to a report from WJLA in Arlington, the feds are going to unveil “new safety rules” to prevent this. As I know you know, the authorities blamed the explosion on a spark igniting vapors in the 747′s tank. Now, it seems, there will be “new rules calling on the airline industry to fit some planes with a system that will use nitrogen to reduce the flammability of fuel tanks.”

Only took a dozen years.

Meanwhile, if you have a moment tomorrow — the anniversary — maybe send a thought to the families of the dead. Time does not heal all wounds.

Remember…it’s not just about the barbeque…

The missus is giving up on Steve Fossett. No, we’re not being snide. And we don’t blame Peggy Fossett, either. She’s asked a court to have her adventure-loving spouse of 38-years declared dead.

Fossett, you will remember, took off in a small plane in early September; just for a short flight, he said, over the rugged Sierra Nevadas.

And no one’s seen him since.