Anybody else track flights of their loved ones online?

[MidwestMomma]

I swear, I love the websites like flytecomm.com where you get real-time status of flights. But it's kind of a double-edged sword because what would you do if suddenly the flight your loved one was on started descending at a rapid rate and not at their destination?

My question is....Were these web sites available prior to 9/11 or is this something someone thought up to help people keep track of people that are flying. Just curious...

ps I have a daughter flying to New York City tonight. According to the flight tracker, she'll be on the ground in 13 mins...how cool is that?

[Kolesar]

1. My sweetie goes flying for business in one of those tiny planes

One of her coworkers is an experienced pilot and they fly to the next state in a four passenger airplane. Those little airplanes get thrown around in the turbulence like a leaf. She could die. I hate it.

[MidwestMomma]

2. I would hate that too....

But what can you do? If you're like me, you just send them off with a smile...Hang in there, I'm sure she'll always be fine.

Can you track those small planes online? Just curious...

[NMDemDist2]

3. we used those "flight trackers" all the time in the tour trade

long before 9/11

[MidwestMomma]

5. I just asked about 9/11 cause it seems even a lay person

would notice if a plane was off their flight plan. Wonder if that came into play on that horrible day? Anyone ever hear about someone on 9/11 tracking one of those flights and going...WTF? (Is that morbid? Maybe so.)

[AlCzervik]

4. I do that all the time

my husband has been going back and forth to China. The service has been around pre 911.

[MidwestMomma]

6. Isn't it great when status changes to 'landed"

Damn, I think I'm a little neurotic! :)

[starroute]

7. I do, but it doesn't always help

A couple of years ago, it was snowing lightly when we left my son off at the airport for his flight back to college after Christmas. After we got home, I started trying to track it on line -- and found that it had been delayed. And then that it had been delayed too long to make the connecting flight in Chicago.

Since he didn't call me, I had no idea of *where* he was. Was he stuck in Philadelphia? Was he stuck in Chicago? Was the airline putting him up somewhere for the night?

Eventually, I got ahold of someone at the airline who was able to tell me they'd put him on a flight to Las Vegas. And when he finally made it back to school, he told me he'd just hung around the Las Vegas airport all night, waiting for a connecting flight to Seattle.

I wasn't really worried about him -- but you don't like thinking of a twenty year old being stuck all alone in the middle of nowhere with nothing but his backpack and the clothes on his back. And the online tracking was no help with that at all.

[flamingyouth]

8. I love that too

I'm going to be tracking a friend's flight next month, in fact. Cool site.:thumbsup: