I find myself regularly checking for updates on Flight 447. Is that gruesome? Judging by the interest in the TV programme Air Crash Investigation, lots of people have a fascination with plane crashes.

On Wikipedia you can look up details of every single commercial airline crash since 1922 including the crash my father died in.

Latest news from search crews in the Atlantic tells of part of the tail being found. So far bits of wreckage, personal belongings and 16 bodies have been recovered.

An incident like this certainly focuses the mind on just how fragile all of life is.