Leila Bulling Towne, an executive management coach, was happy to be on a nonstop flight home from a business meeting in Austin and liked the RJ practice of checking and retrieving carry-on bags at the jet-bridge, since regular roll-aboard bags don't fit in purse-sized overhead bins.
Authorities also are checking passenger manifests from the crashed airplanes to see if they include anyone who attended flight schools in the United States or who used facilities that have airline simulators.