国外那些与飞行有关的奇特小迷信

Even airlines have set ideas about good and bad mojo, down to a list of verboten flight numbers: No one ever schedules Flight 13.

Travel is chock full of little superstitions, fluky talismans and fateful traditions, such as retiring the flight numbers of crashed planes. Of 102 airlines tracked by SeatGuru.com, 25 around the world have no Row 13s on their planes.

Before it merged with United Airlines, Continental Airlines avoided the number 13 religiously: no gate 13s at hub airports, no row 13s on airplanes.

Veterans from the airline say the triskaidekaphobia followed the crash of Flight 1713 in Denver in 1987. 'After that, a lot of 13s were taken out of Continental Airlines,' said an executive who worked there at the time.

Construction workers top airport control towers with a ceremonial cedar tree, a construction tradition for good luck. Airlines sometimes put perceived lucky numbers on flights to gambling destinations, such as Southwest Airlines Flight 711 from San Antonio to Las Vegas.

Alaska Airlines flies many Canadian customers from Las Vegas to Bellingham, Wash., so it numbered the flight 649, a spokeswoman says, because Canada's lottery is called Lotto 6/49.

Airlines say tradition calls for them to retire flight numbers of crashed jets. Alaska Airlines says that in addition to 13, 666 and 911, it will never number a flight 261 out of respect to the victims of the Flight 261 crash in 2000. US Airways hasn't used Flight 1549 since the 2009 crash that saw pilot Chesley Sullenberger famously land his crippled plane in New York's Hudson River, saving all on board.

American Airlines and United both retired flight numbers from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. American and Delta Air Lines both had fatal crashes of Flight 191s, and so no longer use that number.

Indeed, 191 has been involved in several aviation accidents, from the 1967 crash of an X-15 experimental military plane flying as Flight 191 to the crash of Comair Flight 5191 in 2006 that killed 49 people in Lexington, Ky. Last year, JetBlue Airways Flight 191 diverted to Amarillo, Texas, after the captain displayed alarming behavior, was locked out of the cockpit and restrained by passengers.

Many airlines and airports insist that the lack of row 13s or gate 13s isn't the result of superstitions. Rather, they often skip numbers so that gates and rows can be rearranged without having to renumber every gate or row, and to provide uniform. seat numbers across different types of airplanes. United, for example, always starts the first mid-cabin exit row of coach at Row 20. Still, many planes follow row 12 with row 14.

Most travelers know flying is statistically safer than driving, but there's still unease for many passengers when metal machines defy gravity. And superstitions dating to the early days when flying was riskier have persisted. Flight attendants suggest the increased stresses of travel have led to increased comfort mechanisms -- little habits to ease minds and reassure.

As a lead flight attendant, Bobby Laurie greets passengers at the front of the airplane during boarding, and has observed an increasing number of superstitious habits, from tapping and kissing the plane to jigs and dances in the jetway. When he asks, some people say family members have done it and they've been told it brings good luck.

In addition to Flight 13, most airlines avoid using 666, the Biblical 'number of the beast.' But not Finnair, which whimsically flies Flight 666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. Which means fliers can, on a daily basis, take Flight 666 to HEL. (That's Helsinki's international airport code.)

Finnair said in a statement that it has carried the number for years: 'The 666 superstition is not such a big thing here in Finland, and we've never had a reason to change the flight number, so it stays.'

Comprehension

1.     What does the word “triskaidekaphobia” mean?

____________________________________________________________

2.     Why does most airlines avoid using the number 13?

_____________________________________________________________

New Words and Expressions

fuselage 机身

mojo 符咒；运气

superstition 迷信

cedar tree 雪松

gravity 重力

Background

关于数字13

西方人避讳13是证所周知的事情，特别是关于《最后的晚餐》的传说，在西方已经深入人心，达·芬奇还画了名画《最后的晚餐》，十三神，凶神--罗基，流传甚广。因此“13”成了西方世界最为忌讳的数字。还有一个传说是犹太教以星期五日落到星期六日落为休息日，称为安息日。按照迷信的说法，每到这天，12个巫婆（witch）都要举行狂欢夜会，第13个魔鬼（monster）是在夜会高潮时出现的撒旦（Satan）。圣经的一些解释者认定，亚当和夏娃就是在这个日子偷尝了禁果，亚当和夏娃的儿子该隐也是在“黑色星期五”杀死了他的弟弟亚伯。 不仅普通人，名人也惧怕“13日”和“星期五”。每当这时，歌德总是睡大觉，拿破仑绝不用兵，俾斯麦不签署任何条约，即使是不触动任何人根本利益的文件他也不愿签字。美国前总统胡佛·罗斯福也很迷信，有人还记得，每月“13日”罗斯福都不出行，尽管并非每个13日都赶上“星期五”。