HELSINKI (AP) — Would you board flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th? For superstitious travelers, that might be tempting fate. But Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki — which has the 3 letter designation HEL — don't seem too bothered. Friday's flight is almost full. "It has been quite a joke among the pilots" said veteran Finnair pilot Juha-Pekka Keidasto, who will fly the Airbus A320 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. "I'm not a superstitious man. It's only a coincidence for me." The daily flight AY666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki falls on Friday the 13th twice in 2013. Friday the 13th is considered bad luck in many countries and the number 666 also has strong negative biblical associations. Some airlines, like Scandinavian Airlines, take these fears seriously and don't have a row 13 on board. However, the negative connotations are a relatively new phenomenon for northern Europeans, and Finnair and other regional carriers like Norwegian and Estonian Air keep row 13. "Less than 100 years ago, the number 13 did not have this sinister meaning; it's quite recent in the north," said Ulo Valk, professor of comparative folklore at the University of Tartu in Estonia. "There are 12 hours, 12 months and in Christianity 12 apostles and this is a divine number. Add one more and it brings in a certain element of chaos," he said. But passengers on flight 666 to HEL should have a calm flight over the Baltic at this time of year. "It's hopefully smooth skies" says Keidasto. "And if there's some passenger who is anxious about this 666 our cabin crew is always happy to help them."
Wow. Now allow me to ruin this thread by interjecting a few cold hard facts. - 13 is an awesome number. From every single angle, it resembles anatomical structures thy I'd prefer not to mention but am quite happy exist :wink: - Hell in the Bible, depending on which translation you read and the bias of the translators, comes most often from either or both of the following words: She'ol (hebrew), hai'des (greek). They are demonstrably semantic equivalents and mean the unconcious resting place for the dead. As an insomniac, I see no reason to avoid going there! - According to Revelation, 666 is NOT the Devil's number, but man's number. Ok, fine- you win. Given the history of man, I'd say the fear of it may be justified after all.
If it was flight 999, would it be flying upside down? It was quite a few years ago here that we went through numerous variants on the 666 thing. 664 (neighbor of the beast), 00666 (ZIP code of the beast) Phillips 666 (gasoline of the beast), DCLXVI (the Roman beast), etc. etc. etc. But what about the 666 to HEL aspect. We know what the flight number would be to Fukuoka, Japan (yes, it has the logical IATA code). Others?
You didn't ruin the thread, MC, it was never intended to be serious. I just thought it was a bit humorous. A guy asked me once, "when you check out at a register and the cashier gives you $6.66 in change, do you feel strange or awkward taking it?" My reply was "no, I'll take it all day long." :smile:
Back in my active duty days in 2003, three Sergeants and I were flying a civilian prop plane from Atlanta to Fort Walton Beach on Friday the 13th. It wasn't until we landed and we were walking away from the plane when the E-6 looked back and said "Oh $hit." We all paused and stood there staring at him figuring he forgot something on the plane. Then the E-6 told us to look at the tail number of the plane: 666 Truth be told, if we weren't so hung over and more observant in Atlanta, we probably wouldn't have gotten on the plane if we had put two and two together. That was one of two stories from that trip I'll never forget . . .
