I heard about the 80-year-old woman who took over after her husband died. I can't imagine the mental state she must have been in. Wow.

And, of course, when I'm on a plane, I don't hope that that the Captain and F/O are going to suffer heart attacks or be killed by hijackers, but I have this tiny hope that I'm going to be looking into the cockpit as I'm stepping on or off an aircraft (I just sort of stare at the FMC  ::)), the pilot will look at me and go, "You want a cockpit tour?"

I actually almost tried to score a chance to go in the cockpit after the last flight I was on. I was going to ask the pilot about the landing and impress him into showing me around the cockpit (okay, Flight Deck--I know one of you is going to point out that jetliners don't have cockpits), but I was with a big group and so I didn't want to hold anyone back. Next time...  :P

I actually went so far as to find a 737 flight simulator that's open to the public, just about an hour from my house. I'll be planning a visit there...