A cursedly curated edition of six strange-but-true stories for the superstitious, the skeptical, and the startup-scarred.
AVIATION
Flight 666 to HEL Was Real—and It Flew on Friday the 13th
For years, Finnair operated flight 666 from Copenhagen to HEL (Helsinki). On actual Friday the 13ths. The airline eventually changed the number—but not before dozens of thrill-seekers booked it on purpose.
Flying into HEL on Friday the 13th? Just another day in Nordic airspace.
TECHNOLOGY
Therac-25: The Software Bug That Killed
In the 1980s, the Therac-25 radiation therapy machine delivered lethal overdoses to cancer patients because of faulty programming. No warnings. Just a green “READY” light.
The first fatal software glitch. And the most quietly terrifying.
HUMANITY / LEGAL
The Government Bought Your Flight Data—From a Broker
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is buying commercial airline booking data from vendors like LexisNexis Risk. If you bought a ticket in the U.S., your personal travel info may already be in a CBP database—without your consent.
Homeland Security now boards with you. No boarding pass required.
STARTUP IDEA / FAIL
Quibi: $1.75 Billion for Short Videos, Shorter Lifespan
It raised nearly $2 billion. It had stars. It had buzz. It lasted… six months. Quibi thought mobile-only, vertical video streaming would be the future. Turns out, TikTok already was.
Proof that money can’t buy product-market fit.
WILDCARD – SUPERSTITION
Why Planes and Hotels Skip Row 13
Superstition runs deep: Airbus, Lufthansa, and even United often skip row 13 entirely. It’s not policy—it’s psychology. You’ll find rows 12 and 14… and a cabin crew who’s not explaining anything.
Turns out even engineering cultures believe in bad luck.
LEGAL – AI CHATBOT vs COURTROOM
Air Canada’s Chatbot Lied. The Court Didn’t Care.
A chatbot told a passenger he could retroactively apply for a bereavement fare. The airline refused. The judge ruled: if your AI gives bad advice, you’re responsible for it.
The first time an airline paid for hallucinating—outside of catering.
Follow the Professor Sabena Blog for daily doses of weirdness, wonder, and wry truth from the fringes of travel, tech, and humanity. Posted nightly at 23:00 local time—no exceptions, not even for superstition.
Coming Saturday: Our weekly recap—Best of the Week—goes visual on LinkedIn and Instagram. With illustrations, irony, and just a touch of doom.
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