"I can't believe how uncaring the airline is."

Sunday's New York Post reports that "a Brooklyn man who went berserk aboard a JFK-bound airliner died Friday night after being handcuffed and held down by seven athletes who had come to the aid of the flight crew." I'm sure that more details will come out in the coming days and weeks. But it initially appears, in a post-9/11 world, that the actions of the crew and passengers were appropriate or--at the very least--understandable, particularly in light of the fact that this airline had two of its aircraft hijacked on September 11.

To the airline's further credit, the spokesman provided the reporter with a reasonably thorough account of what happened on the aircraft. Unfortunately, the family of the deceased man says that the airline has not communicated at all with them--they have not tried to call the family, and the family's calls to the airline were not returned. The result is a devastating sound bite from the family that negates all previous quotes from the airline spokesman: "I can't believe how uncaring the airline is. Nobody will talk us," said the deceased man's sister. Communicating directly with reporters is frequently not enough.