1. People only pay attention to something if it's rare or unusual. Hijackings and bombings are rare in some parts of the world but not others. 2. It is nearly

1. People only pay attention to something if it's rare or unusual. Hijackings and bombings are rare in some parts of the world but not others. 2. It is nearly impossible to hijack a train and make it slam into a skyscraper, because trains have little control over where they go. Planes on the other hand can be directed at virtually any target. Therefore it is rational to pay more attention to aircraft hijackings. I'm not trying to defend the stark contrast between paranoia and apathy that you mentioned. Unfortunately, it's just a consequence of how human attention spans work.