国外那些与飞行有关的奇特小迷信

　　有些旅客在登机时会拍拍飞机，好像要确认一下它的确很结实。有些人会亲吻机身，还有些人每次飞行时都要在廊桥上跳一小段同样的舞蹈。偷偷看几眼驾驶舱的话，他们或许会发现飞行员挂着的帽子内塞着家人的照片，以祈求好运。

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

　　即使是航空公司自身，它们也对好兆头与坏兆头有既定看法，甚至还有一系列禁忌航班号：比如从来没有航空公司安排过13号航班。

　　Travel is chock full of little superstitions³, fluky talismans⁴ 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.

　　航空旅行随处可见各种小小的迷信行为、变化多端的护身法宝和一些有宿命论味道的传统做法，比如撤销失事飞机的航班号等。在飞机选座网站SeatGuru.com跟踪调查的102家航空公司中，世界各地约25家公司的飞机上没有第13排座位。

　　Before it merged⁵ with United Airlines, Continental⁶ Airlines avoided the number 13 religiously: no gate 13s at hub airports, no row 13s on airplanes.

　　在与联合航空(United Airlines)合并之前，大陆航空 (Continental Airlines)严格地避用13这个数字：中枢机场没有13号登机口，飞机上也没有第13排座位。

　　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.

　　该公司的老员工称，对数字13的忌讳始自1987年1713号航班在丹佛的坠机事件。当时在该公司工作的一名高管称：“自那以后，许多与数字13有关的东西都从大陆航空消失了。”

　　Construction workers top airport control towers with a ceremonial cedar⁷ tree, a construction tradition for good luck. Airlines sometimes put perceived lucky numbers on flights to gambling⁸ destinations, such as Southwest Airlines Flight 711 from San Antonio to Las Vegas.

　　建筑工人会在机场控制塔的顶部放一棵典礼用的雪松树，这是建筑业祈求好运的传统。有时候，航空公司还会给飞往博彩城市的航班安排所谓的幸运号码作为航班号，比如美国西南航空(Southwest Airlines)从 安东尼奥飞往拉斯维加斯的航班号就是711。

　　Alaska Airlines flies many Canadian customers from Las Vegas to Bellingham, Wash., so it numbered the flight 649, a spokeswoman says, because Canada's lottery⁹ is called Lotto 6/49.

　　阿拉斯加航空(Alaska Airlines)一名女发言人称，该公司常常运送许多加拿大旅客从拉斯维加斯飞往华盛顿州的贝灵哈姆，所以他们把这趟航班编为649号，因为加拿大的彩票名为乐透(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 Airways¹⁰ 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.

　　各航空公司称，按照惯例，他们得取消失事飞机的航班号。阿拉斯加航空称，除了13、666和911这几个数字外，它也绝不安排261号航班，这是出于对2000年失事的261号航班遇难者的尊重。全美航空(US Airways)则在它的1549号航班2009年发生事故后，就再也没有用过这个航班号。当时该航班的飞行员切斯利?萨伦贝格(Chesley Sullenberger)将发生故障的飞机迫降在纽约的哈德逊河，挽救了机上所有人员的性命，他也因此声名远播。

　　American Airlines and United both retired¹¹ flight numbers from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. American and Delta¹² Air Lines both had fatal crashes of Flight 191s, and so no longer use that number.

　　美国航空与联合航空均取消了在9?11恐怖袭击中坠毁的飞机的航班号。此外，美国航空与达美航空（Delta Air Lines）均有191号航班发生过致人死亡的坠机事故，因此都不再采用该编号。

　　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.

　　确实，191这个数字与好几起航空事故有关。例如，1967年一架编为191航班的X-15军用实验飞机坠毁；2006年，Comair航空公司的5191号航班在肯塔基州列克星敦市失事，造成49人丧生。去年，捷蓝航空(JetBlue Airways)一趟191号航班的机长表现出危险行为，被乘客锁在驾驶舱外并被制服，而后该航班改道飞往得克萨斯的阿马里洛。

　　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.

　　许多航空公司和机场坚称，没有安排第13排座位和13号登机口并非因为迷信。更确切地说，他们安排登机口和座位时常常会跳过一些数字，以便日后重新编排时，不必再给每个登机口或每排座位从新编号。比如说，联合航空总是把中部机舱的第一排座位编为第20排。话虽如此，在许多飞机上，紧接着第12排座位就是第14排。

　　United doesn't have an aversion to Row 13, and has one on many of its planes, a spokesman said, adding he didn't know where Continental's avoidance of the number started. When its fleet merged with Continental, however, row numbering was standardized¹³ so planes could be easily swapped¹⁴, and so Row 13 is skipped on all Boeing 737s and most versions of the 757.

　　联合航空一名发言人称，该公司并不反感第13排，许多飞机上都安排了这排座位。他还表示他不清楚大陆航空避用13这个数字的做法始于何处。在该公司的飞机与大陆航空合并后，座位的编号统一了标准以便可以轻松地替换飞机，因此13排在所有波音(Boeing)737和大多数的757机型上都被跳过。

　　Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, a former Continental Airlines hub, has no Gate 13s. A spokeswoman says she polled airport employees and could not determine how that came to be. 'It's all before any of us were probably born,' she said.

　　克利夫兰霍普金斯国际机场原为大陆航空的中枢机场，它现在就没有13号登机口。一名女发言人称，她曾问过机场的员工，但无法确定它的由来。她说：“这个现象大概在我们出生之前就已经存在了。”

　　Most travelers know flying is statistically¹⁵ 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 riskier¹⁶ have persisted. Flight attendants suggest the increased stresses of travel have led to increased comfort mechanisms¹⁷ -- little habits to ease minds and reassure¹⁸.

　　大多数旅客都知道，就统计概率而言，乘飞机要比驾车更安全。尽管如此，在金属机械挑战地心引力时，许多旅客仍会感到不安。早期的飞行旅行更加危险，而源自那时的迷信思想也一直延续至今。空乘人员称，旅行压力加大也催生了越来越多的安慰方法──那些用来使心情放松和安定的小习惯。

　　As a lead flight attendant, Bobby Laurie greets passengers at the front of the airplane during boarding, and has observed an increasing number of superstitious¹⁹ habits, from tapping and kissing the plane to jigs²⁰ 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.

　　作为一名乘务长，博比?劳里(Bobby Laurie)要在登机时段在飞机前部迎接旅客。他注意到迷信行为越来越多，从轻拍、轻吻机身到在登机桥跳舞，形式多种多样。在他询问原因时，有些旅客说，他们的家人都这么做，而且告诉他们说这会带来好运。

　　'Every day I see a lot of the same mannerisms,' he said. 'Boarding is like watching a show sometimes.'

　　他说：“每天我都会看到大量同样的迷信行为，有时候迎接登机就像观看表演一样。”

　　Two regulars on flights between Los Angeles and Washington wear the same shirt whenever flying, Mr. Laurie said. Some people travel with the same blanket. One woman insisted a stuffed monkey be belted in with her on every flight for good luck. 'Some people have emotional-support animals. Some people have emotional-support shirts,' he said.

　　劳里称，有两名从洛杉矶飞华盛顿的常客每次旅行都穿同样的衬衫。有些人在旅行时带上同样的毯子，一名女乘客则每趟航班都一定要把一个毛绒猴玩具系在安全带内以求好运。他说：“有些人带着给予他们情感支持的动物，有些人则带着给予情感支持的衬衫。”

　　Others just have habits that they need to repeat on every flight. Brian Cohen's first international flight, to Paris during his college years, included listening to the 1975 Elton John album 'Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy' on a borrowed Sony Walkman.

　　其他一些旅客则在每趟航班上都习惯性地重复做一件事。布赖恩?科恩(Brian Cohen) 读大学时第一次乘坐国际航班去巴黎，当时他借了一个索尼随身听，用来听埃尔顿?约翰1975年的专辑《奇异船长与黄沙牛仔》(Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy)。

　　Every time since on international flights, he has played the same songs at the same phase of flight. He tries to make it look like his headphones are plugged into the plane's entertainment system and hides his player to avoid scolding from flight attendants about electronic-device rules.

　　自那以后，每次乘坐国际航班，他都要在航程的同一时段播放同样的歌曲。他尽力使耳机看上去像是插在飞机的娱乐系统上，并藏起随身听以免因违反电子设备使用规定而遭到空乘人员的斥责。

　　The song 'Bitter Fingers' is timed so the second chorus plays as the jet is taking off. (If the flight is delayed, he plays the previous song over and over. That's easier to do in the digital music era than when he used a cassette tape.) 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight' comes on as the plane is soaring to cruising altitude.

　　他还会计算好《苦涩手指》(Bitter Fingers)这首歌的播放时间，以便使第二段副歌刚好在飞机起飞时开始播放。（如果航班延误，他会不断地播放前一首歌。在数字音乐时代，这么做要比他还在用卡式磁带的时候简单。）在飞机呼啸着爬升至飞行高度时，随身听播放的是《今夜有人救了我》(Someone Saved My Life Tonight)这首歌。

　　'I call it a pleasurable tradition, not a superstition²,' said Mr. Cohen, who lives in Atlanta.

　　住在亚特兰大的科恩说：“我把它称作让人愉快的惯例，它不是迷信行为。”

　　He, too, says he sees more people with more habits these days, such as crossing themselves before takeoff. He thinks it's more because of stress than fear of flying. And some flying traditions, such as applauding when a plane lands, are just annoying, he notes.

　　他还说，现在他发现有更多习惯的人也增多了，比如在起飞前用手在身上画十字。他认为这更多的是因为压力，而非因为害怕飞行。他还说，某些飞行惯例，比如在飞机着陆时鼓掌，实在是令人讨厌。

　　Of course, not everyone in the travel industry bows to superstition. The Las Vegas Hotel, formerly²¹ the Las Vegas Hilton and a huge structure deeply rooted in the Mecca of U.S. gambling, has Floor 13. Most Vegas hotels, like many hotels and office buildings around the world, skip what is considered an unlucky number, and label floors so that 14 follows 12, or even 12A.

　　当然，并非旅游业内的每一个人都会顺从迷信。拉斯维加斯酒店（原为拉斯维加斯希尔顿酒店(Las Vegas Hilton)）是一家深深植根于这个美国博彩业 地的大酒店，它就设有第13层。与世界各地的众多酒店和写字楼一样，拉斯维加斯的大多数酒店会跳过被人认为不吉利的数字，在12层后直接安排14层甚或是12A层。

　　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.)

　　除了13号航班外，大多数航空公司也不采用666这个《 经》中的“魔鬼数字”，芬兰航空(Finnair)却是一个例外。该公司从哥本哈根飞往赫尔辛基的航班就是666号，这一点确实比较古怪。也就是说，旅客每天都可以乘坐666号航班飞往“HEL”（赫尔辛基国际机场的代号，与意指地狱的“hell”同音）。

　　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.'

　　芬兰航空在声明中称，该公司采用这个航班号已有多年时间。它说：“在芬兰，人们对666这个数字并没有那么迷信，我们也从来没发现有什么理由要去改变这个航班号，所以它就保留下来了。”

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