As the passage implies, even something as seemingly simple as an airplane flying in the sky is actually just one part of a large sociotechnical system composed of various human and machine elements, from the pilot and airplane to a series of airports, communication and navigation systems, bureaucracies, regulations, rules and norms of flight, and more.

FORBES: A Domain Like Cyberspace

"Parts and pieces of it were flying through the sky, and a body fell out, " Dudley said.

NPR: Search Ongoing For Passenger In NY Plane Crash

We've talked to pilots as they've gotten off their airplanes, and none of them has seen an Iraqi plane flying in the sky during the 11 days of this intense coalition bombing campaign.

CNN: Gary Tuchman: No letup in coalition air campaign

Maybe the most appropriate salute to the survivors came when the last flying Lancaster bomber trundled heavily through the blue sky over Green Park and dropped thousands of poppies.

WSJ: Bomber Command Memorial | They Were the Means of Victory | By Richard Holledge

Membership will make it much easier for British scientists to propose experiments and to get access to facilities like a zero-G plane, which generates short periods of weightlessness by flying a series of parabolas in the sky.

BBC: Britain attracted to microgravity

The logistics of flying could be as important as the shape, size and weight of the planes in the sky, they believe.

BBC: Sowing the seeds of tomorrow's aircraft

The next day I follow a US Airways Philly-bound commuter into the sky and get ready for 11 more hours of flying, determined to make North Platte, Nebr.

FORBES: Digital Rules

After all, the thrill-seeking traits that lead executives to take up flying or sky diving may also be what make them daring corporate leaders.

WSJ: Executive No-Fly Zone? When a CEO's Thrill-Seeking Rattles the Board

The new ICQ owner is Digital Sky Technologies (DST), a high-flying Russian Internet firm with investments in social networks (Facebook and Zynga, which makes games for SNS portals) and webmail.

FORBES: Tencent Goes Global