I’ve never paid much attention to the news channel France24, but from Monday morning until the moment I reluctantly had to board a flight for Singapore on Tuesday, it was on non-stop at home and in the office as I followed the story of Air France flight 447.

I’m not sure if 2009 is shaping up to be a good or bad year for the aviation sector, but the crash in Buffalo of a Q400 (an aircraft I fly frequently) in February, followed by the cartwheeling of a FedEx freighter down the runway at Tokyo’s Narita (an airport I use frequently), already had me on edge long before the events of early Monday morning over the Atlantic.