I wonder if the CCP was considerate enough..

[Wilbur]

..to put a transponder on their balloons? 

That way, we could avoid them in the middle of the dark night-time oceans.   Just a thought I had crossing the Atlantic. 

[donkpow]

[maddmaxx]

Maybe a flashing neon sign "eat at Cafe Kusochki"

[MickinMD]

We had a scary situation over the Atlantic, but we were not told about the situation until after we had caught a connecting flight and were in a hotel in Greece.

Back in 1996, my companion and I crossed the Atlantic, flying from JFK Airport in New York to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where we would board a connecting flight to Athens to begin an "Aegean Odyssey:" 3 days in Athens, 6 day cruise stopping at Greek Islands and the Turkish coast (Troy, Ephesus), 3 days in Istanbul.

When we got to Amsterdam, we were checked very closely - both patted down and our carry-ons closely inspected.  We thought that was very strange.

We flew to Athens, were picked up by the tour/cruise company, driven to our hotel, and there we - about 20 of us from that flight who all happened to be on the same tour - were shepherded into a meeting room.

We were then finally told, "TWA Flight 800 took off shortly after you from JFK and blew up over the Atlantic behind you."

Two weeks later, the two flights, Istanbul to Schiphol and Schiphol to JFK, were full of nervous people and there was a tremendous applause in the cabin when the wheels touched down in the USA.

[donkpow]

3 hours ago, MickinMD said:

We had a scary situation over the Atlantic, but we were not told about the situation until after we had caught a connecting flight and were in a hotel in Greece.

Back in 1996, my companion and I crossed the Atlantic, flying from JFK Airport in New York to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where we would board a connecting flight to Athens to begin an "Aegean Odyssey:" 3 days in Athens, 6 day cruise stopping at Greek Islands and the Turkish coast (Troy, Ephesus), 3 days in Istanbul.

When we got to Amsterdam, we were checked very closely - both patted down and our carry-ons closely inspected.  We thought that was very strange.

We flew to Athens, were picked up by the tour/cruise company, driven to our hotel, and there we - about 20 of us from that flight who all happened to be on the same tour - were shepherded into a meeting room.

We were then finally told, "TWA Flight 800 took off shortly after you from JFK and blew up over the Atlantic behind you."

Two weeks later, the two flights, Istanbul to Schiphol and Schiphol to JFK, were full of nervous people and there was a tremendous applause in the cabin when the wheels touched down in the USA.

Scary.