Here's a sampling. At summer's end Starr was seen worshipping in his regular seat in the front few rows at McLean Bible Church in McLean, Virginia just outside Washington DC by a friend of mine who spoke with him after the service. This fall he made an hour-long appearance before the board of directors of one of the nation's largest para-church ministries in which he conducted an in-depth question and answer period. Last week he gave a keynote address to a large gathering of attorneys in San Antonio - the Christian Legal Society. He made a recent appearance on Larry King Live.

And while he waited his turn to be interviewed by Brian Williams on The News, he must have been checking the monitor - he caught the story.

Before Starr, the big news report was the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990.

The correspondent recounted the words of the now famous EgyptAir relief pilot Gameel el-Batouty from the voice recorder recovered from the crash site sixty miles south of the Nantucket Island. It was the first time the National Transport Safety Board concluded publicly that the pilot, acting on his own, may have intentionally disengaged the Boeing 767's auto-pilot at thirty thousand feet, cutting off the engines and forcefully pushing the control wheel forward sending the jumbo jet into the fatal dive which led to the break-up of the airplane and the death of two hundred and seventeen horrified and helpless occupants crashing headlong into the Atlantic Ocean.

The NBC correspondent concluded his report somewhat philosophically. It certainly was not an Edward R. Murrow finish. Traditional news reports focus on the facts, just the "objective" recitation of the facts. But as Ken Starr waited his turn, this reporter drifted into commentary.

He said in effect, "we are technologically sophisticated. We have the most reliable communications devices available. Our navigation systems, our air traffic control systems, our back-up systems, our safety procedures, our training systems - all meet standards of excellence our forebears only could have imagined. And yet, every time we step aboard an airliner - all of us place our destiny into the hands of the individual human beings that sit in the cockpit. We rely not only on their skill but perhaps even more importantly, we rely on their character."

Brian Williams thanked the reporter for "taking time to appear on the program" (as though he might have been somewhere else) and moved on to an introduction of former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr - but first took a commercial break.

As Williams turned back to the camera, he asked about Monica and Reno and the Spin Machine and the Judicary Committee, those little congresspersons who enjoyed their fifteen minutes of Andy Warhol fame (that's my characterization, not William's or Starr's) publicly debating the Starr "Referral" which led to the impeachment of this sitting President. In an unflappable, gentlemanly manner, the former Independent Counsel responded with charm and grace.

And then, in one unforgettable little comment, Starr referred back to the EgyptAir story, which he must have watched from his TV monitor before he went on the air.

"Brian, isn't it interesting that just a moment ago your reporter so powerfully illustrated the point that all of us depend on the character of those who take responsibility in leadership?"

With that light touch, he moved on to answer the anchorman's other questions. But Starr made his point.

And it was a powerful point indeed.

Is it my imagination, or have there been more air disasters of late?

I suppose it is safe to say that as we close out the millennium (39 days and counting) in a booming economy there has been proliferation on many fronts. There has been a proliferation of air travel - proliferation of airplanes - proliferation of passenger miles - a proliferation of business aircraft - proliferation of private aircraft. The skies are more crowded than ever. The fleet is aging. The burden of maintenance and repair and air traffic control is expanding exponentially.

What we now call News Coverage is global and instantaneous and comprehensive and often vacuous. Between AM radio, the internet and cable TV - there's lots of air time to fill. The big problem for Brokaw and Jennings and Rather is that unlike the old days when people tuned in at the end of the day to find out what happened, now most people already know. There are no surprises on the evening news anymore. You might say there is no news on The News.

When there is an air disaster - when an airliner falls out of the sky or overshoots a runway, or a business jet sails away into Never Never Land on autopilot at forty thousand feet with deceased passengers (including a highly esteemed professional golfer) and crew until the fuel runs out, or an honorary national prince loses sight of the horizon and unwittingly veers his slippery single engine airplane into a reverse death spiral - we get instant notification and round the clock coverage on the entire discovery and recovery, complete with animated simulations, on sight interviews, "expert" opinions, and in some cases a replay of the crew's final cries of desperation. Hey, it's the nineties.

In 1994, Steven Cushing published a book - Fatal Words : Communication Clashes and Aircraft Crashes (University of Chicago Press). He suggests that many air disasters are the result of miscommunication. His primary illustration is the Tenerife (Canary Islands) incident - March 27, 1977. Five hundred and eighty three people died when two jumbo 747s collided on a foggy runway. When the pilot of the KLM 747 told the control tower "We are now at take off" he meant he was lifting off. The tower thought he meant that he was waiting at the end of the runway. From the fog, a blinded controller instructed a Pan Am 747 to cross the runway - directly into the path of the speeding KLM. The controller never saw the ghastly collision.

When I get on an airplane these days, there seems to be an unspoken anxiety in the passenger cabin. All of us are repeating a silent mantra - "this flight is statistically safer than the drive I just took down the freeway." And for the most part, we are convinced.

But there is, perhaps, no more common place where modern society contemplates the question of mortality and immortality than when at the end of the runway, the captain pulls back the throttle and the mighty jet engines pour on the thrust - launching this crowded collection of strangers and rivets and wires and sheet metal into the sky. There may well be more prayers uttered at this moment from that place than all the prayers ever prayed in all the ancient historic cathedrals of Europe combined.

* * * * *

So while we are on the rather sobering subject of air disasters and independent counsels, let me draw a couple of conclusions for leaders - like you.

First of all - life is a risk. Wouldn't you say? All of our fascination with the great disasters belies one simple truth. None of us knows the number of our days. Today is a gift. It's ours to work, play - and I trust - make the world a better place. And maybe we'll get tomorrow, too. Don't let this one slip by.

As a leader, you sit in the captain's chair. Those of us who know the jargon of aviation like to call it "the left seat." In your sphere, you make the decisions. You give the orders. You get it started. You decide when it's done. You submit the flight plan. You monitor the progress. People depend on you to do it right.

It's risky business. Get it wrong and there are consequences. You carry that burden. Sometimes you wish it would just go away. We all understand that one.

As you take the wheel this morning and put your hand on the throttle - think about two essential priorities.

Communication - make sure you talk to your people. Check in with ground control. Make sure the tower knows what you have in mind. Don't walk away until you know there is mutual understanding. Make sure you listen. Base your decisions on good information.

Character. The person you are matters. When the door is closed and no one is listening - be sure that person is the same one your people see and hear when the door's open.

Take that jumbo jet of yours, and make it soar.