國外那些與飛行有關的奇特小迷信大綱

Passengers pat the plane when they board, as if to make sure it's solid. Some kiss the fuselage, or even break into the same little dance, at the doorway every time they fly. If they peer into the cockpit, they may see pilots' hats hanging with family pictures stuffed inside for good luck.
有些旅客在登機時會拍拍飛機，好像要確認一下它的確很結實。有些人會親吻機身，還有些人每次飛行時都要在廊橋上跳一小段同樣的舞蹈。偷偷看幾眼駕駛艙的話，他們或許會發現飛行員掛着的帽子內塞着家人的照片，以祈求好運。

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，它們也對好兆頭與壞兆頭有既定看法，甚至還有一系列禁忌航班號：比如從來沒有航空公司安排過13號航班。

Travel is chock full of little superstitions, fluky talismans and fateful traditions, such as retiring the flight numbers of crashed planes. Of 102 airlines tracked by , 25 around the world have no Row 13s on their planes.
航空旅行隨處可見各種小小的迷信行爲、變化多端的護身法寶和一些有宿命論味道的傳統做法，比如撤銷失事飛機的航班號等。在飛機選座網站跟蹤調查的102家航空公司中，世界各地約25家公司的飛機上沒有第13排座位。

Before it merged with United Airlines, Continental Airlines avoided the number 13 religiously: no gate 13s at hub airports, no row 13s on airplanes.
在與聯合航空(United Airlines)合併之前，大陸航空 (Continental Airlines)嚴格地避用13這個數字：中樞機場沒有13號登機口，飛機上也沒有第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.
該公司的老員工稱，對數字13的忌諱始自1987年1713號航班在丹佛的墜機事件。當時在該公司工作的一名高管稱：“自那以後，許多與數字13有關的東西都從大陸航空消失了。”

Construction workers top airport control towers with a ceremonial cedar tree, a construction tradition for good luck. Airlines sometimes put perceived lucky numbers on flights to gambling destinations, such as Southwest Airlines Flight 711 from San Antonio to Las Vegas.
建築工人會在機場控制塔的頂部放一棵典禮用的雪松樹，這是建築業祈求好運的傳統。有時候，航空公司還會給飛往博彩城市的航班安排所謂的幸運號碼作爲航班號，比如美國西南航空(Southwest Airlines)從 安東尼奧飛往拉斯維加斯的航班號就是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 lottery is called Lotto 6/49.
阿拉斯加航空(Alaska Airlines)一名女發言人稱，該公司常常運送許多加拿大旅客從拉斯維加斯飛往華盛頓州的貝靈哈姆，所以他們把這趟航班編爲649號，因爲加拿大的彩票名爲樂透(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 Airways 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.
各航空公司稱，按照慣例，他們得取消失事飛機的航班號。阿拉斯加航空稱，除了13、666和911這幾個數字外，它也絕不安排261號航班，這是出於對2000年失事的261號航班遇難者的尊重。全美航空(US Airways)則在它的1549號航班2009年發生事故後，就再也沒有用過這個航班號。當時該航班的飛行員切斯利・薩倫貝格(Chesley Sullenberger)將發生故障的飛機迫降在紐約的哈德遜河，挽救了機上所有人員的性命，他也因此聲名遠播。

American Airlines and United both retired flight numbers from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. American and Delta Air Lines both had fatal crashes of Flight 191s, and so no longer use that number.
美國航空與聯合航空均取消了在9・11恐怖襲擊中墜毀的飛機的航班號。此外，美國航空與達美航空（Delta Air Lines）均有191號航班發生過致人死亡的墜機事故，因此都不再採用該編號。

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.
確實，191這個數字與好幾起航空事故有關。例如，1967年一架編爲191航班的X-15軍用實驗飛機墜毀；2006年，Comair航空公司的5191號航班在肯塔基州列剋星敦市失事，造成49人喪生。去年，捷藍航空(JetBlue Airways)一趟191號航班的機長表現出危險行爲，被乘客鎖在駕駛艙外並被制服，而後該航班改道飛往得克薩斯的阿馬裏洛。

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.
許多航空公司和機場堅稱，沒有安排第13排座位和13號登機口並非因爲迷信。更確切地說，他們安排登機口和座位時常常會跳過一些數字，以便日後重新編排時，不必再給每個登機口或每排座位從新編號。比如說，聯合航空總是把中部機艙的第一排座位編爲第20排。話雖如此，在許多飛機上，緊接着第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 standardized so planes could be easily swapped, and so Row 13 is skipped on all Boeing 737s and most versions of the 757.
聯合航空一名發言人稱，該公司並不反感第13排，許多飛機上都安排了這排座位。他還表示他不清楚大陸航空避用13這個數字的做法始於何處。在該公司的飛機與大陸航空合併後，座位的編號統一了標準以便可以輕鬆地替換飛機，因此13排在所有波音(Boeing)737和大多數的757機型上都被跳過。

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.
克利夫蘭霍普金斯國際機場原爲大陸航空的中樞機場，它現在就沒有13號登機口。一名女發言人稱，她曾問過機場的員工，但無法確定它的由來。她說：“這個現象大概在我們出生之前就已經存在了。”

Most travelers know flying is statistically 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 riskier have persisted. Flight attendants suggest the increased stresses of travel have led to increased comfort mechanisms -- little habits to ease minds and reassure.
大多數旅客都知道，就統計概率而言，乘飛機要比駕車更安全。儘管如此，在金屬機械挑戰地心引力時，許多旅客仍會感到不安。早期的飛行旅行更加危險，而源自那時的迷信思想也一直延續至今。空乘人員稱，旅行壓力加大也催生了越來越多的安慰方法──那些用來使心情放鬆和安定的小習慣。

As a lead flight attendant, Bobby Laurie greets passengers at the front of the airplane during boarding, and has observed an increasing number of superstitious habits, from tapping and kissing the plane to jigs 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.
作爲一名乘務長，博比・勞裏(Bobby Laurie)要在登機時段在飛機前部迎接旅客。他注意到迷信行爲越來越多，從輕拍、輕吻機身到在登機橋跳舞，形式多種多樣。在他詢問原因時，有些旅客說，他們的家人都這麼做，而且告訴他們說這會帶來好運。

'Every day I see a lot of the same mannerisms,' he said. 'Boarding is like watching a show sometimes.'
他說：“每天我都會看到大量同樣的迷信行爲，有時候迎接登機就像觀看錶演一樣。”

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.
勞裏稱，有兩名從洛杉磯飛華盛頓的常客每次旅行都穿同樣的襯衫。有些人在旅行時帶上同樣的毯子，一名女乘客則每趟航班都一定要把一個毛絨猴玩具系在安全帶內以求好運。他說：“有些人帶着給予他們情感支持的動物，有些人則帶着給予情感支持的襯衫。”

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.
其他一些旅客則在每趟航班上都習慣性地重複做一件事。布賴恩・科恩(Brian Cohen) 讀大學時第一次乘坐國際航班去巴黎，當時他借了一個索尼隨身聽，用來聽埃爾頓・約翰1975年的專輯《奇異船長與黃沙牛仔》(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.
自那以後，每次乘坐國際航班，他都要在航程的同一時段播放同樣的歌曲。他盡力使耳機看上去像是插在飛機的娛樂系統上，並藏起隨身聽以免因違反電子設備使用規定而遭到空乘人員的斥責。

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.
他還會計算好《苦澀手指》(Bitter Fingers)這首歌的播放時間，以便使第二段副歌剛好在飛機起飛時開始播放。（如果航班延誤，他會不斷地播放前一首歌。在數字音樂時代，這麼做要比他還在用卡式磁帶的時候簡單。）在飛機呼嘯着爬升至飛行高度時，隨身聽播放的是《今夜有人救了我》(Someone Saved My Life Tonight)這首歌。

'I call it a pleasurable tradition, not a superstition,' said Mr. Cohen, who lives in Atlanta.
住在亞特蘭大的科恩說：“我把它稱作讓人愉快的慣例，它不是迷信行爲。”

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.
他還說，現在他發現有更多習慣的人也增多了，比如在起飛前用手在身上畫十字。他認爲這更多的是因爲壓力，而非因爲害怕飛行。他還說，某些飛行慣例，比如在飛機着陸時鼓掌，實在是令人討厭。

Of course, not everyone in the travel industry bows to superstition. The Las Vegas Hotel, formerly 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.
當然，並非旅遊業內的每一個人都會順從迷信。拉斯維加斯酒店（原爲拉斯維加斯希爾頓酒店(Las Vegas Hilton)）是一家深深植根於這個美國博彩業 地的大酒店，它就設有第13層。與世界各地的衆多酒店和寫字樓一樣，拉斯維加斯的大多數酒店會跳過被人認爲不吉利的數字，在12層後直接安排14層甚或是12A層。

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號航班外，大多數航空公司也不採用666這個《 經》中的“魔鬼數字”，芬蘭航空(Finnair)卻是一個例外。該公司從哥本哈根飛往赫爾辛基的航班就是666號，這一點確實比較古怪。也就是說，旅客每天都可以乘坐666號航班飛往“HEL”（赫爾辛基國際機場的代號，與意指地獄的“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.'
芬蘭航空在聲明中稱，該公司採用這個航班號已有多年時間。它說：“在芬蘭，人們對666這個數字並沒有那麼迷信，我們也從來沒發現有什麼理由要去改變這個航班號，所以它就保留下來了。”