We are strangely biased, as individuals and media institutions, to focus on big sudden changes, whether good or bad - amazing breakthroughs, such as a new gadget that gets released, or catastrophic failures, like a plane crash.

It is extraordinary how safe flying has become. You are now statistically more likely to be elected president of the United States in your lifetime than you are to die in a plane crash. What an amazing achievement as a society! But what we end up focusing on are the catastrophic failures that are incredibly rare but happen every now and then.

The Howard Hughes I knew began to change after his plane crash in 1941.

Another person I'm going to be thinking of is Brian Vickers, ... The plane crash was on his birthday, of all things.

Sometimes bad luck hits you like in an ancient Greek tragedy, and it's not your own making. When you have a plane crash, it's not your fault.

After the plane crash and all the other stuff, someone snatches your kid. It can't get any worse than that. Michael goes from bad to worse this year. You'll see him dig deep to really deal with what's going on.