Free Republic

Safety officials remain mystified why windshields cracked on at least 14 planes at Denver International Airport on Friday. "We are not discounting anything," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer, whose agency is among those investigating the incidents. "We believe it is very remarkable to have this number of events in the same area at the same time." The National Transportation Safety Board will have a glass specialist from its structures division examine 22 damaged front and side windshields that were removed from the affected planes, said NTSB air-safety investigator Jennifer Kaiser. The cracking occurred over a 1 1/2 hour...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 1:44 a.m. ET KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) -- A protective windshield coating that improves visibility for NASCAR drivers is getting a new application on the windshields of U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters flying combat missions over Iraq. The clear plastic film, which race teams have been using for several years to keep flying debris from ruining drivers' view, was pioneered by Pro-Tint Inc., a 14-person company based in a small building in the heart of racing country. Pro-Tint pioneered tear-away windshield film for racing teams in the late 1990s. The multilayer product is now used by...

<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sport utility vehicles across the United States will be ticketed Tuesday by a group of peace protesters alleging that gas-guzzling cars fuel war and other deadly conflicts.</p> <p>Tens of thousands of mock parking tickets have been printed for distribution in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, according to the Berkeley-based nonprofit group Project Underground.</p>