A firehose of real-time FAA radar data might not sound like the best way to have divined John McCain’s vice presidential pick during last year’s US presidential campaign; better to just cast lots, read the tea leaves, and make a wildly overconfident guess like the rest of the DC punditocracy. But thanks to an innovative website called FlightAware and a bit of digital sleuthing, plane data did in fact identify the VP pick as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
When McCain went to Ohio to announce his choice of a running mate, Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic noted the “journey of a sturdy Gulfstream 5 with the tail number of N22GY. Anchorage, Alaska to Hook Municipal Field in Ohio. Nearby Dayton. 30 miles away. And the plane was in Flagstaff, AZ recently.” The plane was also registered to a big Republican donor.
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