We all know the mind-numbing aggravation of being stuck at the airport, waiting on a delayed flight. But here’s a tidbit that might make your next hourlong wait on the tarmac–or, if you’re really unlucky, night spent sleeping in an airport lobby–that much more frustrating: The airlines usually know about your flight delays long before they alert the public. Their incentive for keeping fliers waiting is to avoid the hassle of rebooking them on other flights. Luckily, a new service launched this week called FlightCaster gives you the scoop on delayed flights as long as six hours before the airlines will.

FlightCaster predicts flight delays using an algorithm that scours data on every domestic flight for the past 10 years and matches it to present conditions. When you look up your flight, FlightCaster estimates the chances of delays along with reasons for the delay. Using this information you can then get a jumpstart on rebooking your flight while everyone else is still waiting for a plane that will arrive late.

[ Visit FlightCaster ]

One small airplane ended up on top of another Thursday in a collision at Northwest Regional Airport, about 20 miles northeast of Fort Worth. Nobody was seriously hurt in the accident as one plane apparently tried to land as the other was taking off from the airport near Texas Motor Speedway, KXAS-TV reported.

Northwest Regional Airport, on its Web site, bills itself as the largest privately-owned airport in America, with more than 550 planes. There is no control tower. Pilots using the airport are required to transmit their locations over a certain radio frequency. The weather in the area Thursday was partly cloudy with light winds.

A girl strips down to her panties to get through airport security.

At Yantai International Airport, China, on the morning of 12 Aug 2007, the staff of Shandong Airlines can be seen pushing an aircraft out of water infested areas. The flooding was due to heavy downpour from the 8 to 12 August.

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