Don’t pity the patriotic pilot, Chris Liu, an American Airlines employee and Federal Flight Deck Officer, who had his government-issue gun and badge taken back by the Transportation Security Administration earlier this month. He’s having his 15-minutes of fame. Liu was featured Tuesday on CNN, claiming credit for the now famous You Tube video that purports to expose the “farce” of security at San Francisco International Airport. I say purports because as a filmmaker, the 50-year old Liu makes a great pilot. (Yo, Liu, dial up to an Android or an iTouch if you are going to be posting your cell phone videos online. Heck,… Read More…
Forgive the whipsaw, but I’m right back to annoyed and this time it is by the if-you-touch-my-junk protester who has become the American air traveler’s new spokesmodel. I’ve written twice about the uproar over airport security and advanced imaging technology. First I criticized the ExpressJet pilot who refused to submit to the full body scan at at Memphis International Airport, then I semi-apologized a week or so later when it appeared that his not-gonna-take-it-anymore approach had the effect of prompting his fellow pilots to take a more unified and responsible position. They’ve written the chief of Homeland Security to review 21st century airport security. Negroni… Read More…
I won’t claim credit, but I will praise pilot Dave Bates of American Airlines for taking pilot complaints about whole body scanning to the right place. He did not take on lowly TSA officers just trying to do their jobs like ExpressJet pilot Michael Roberts did at Memphis International Airport last month. In a letter to the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, the president of the Allied Pilots Association, American’s union, explains that pilots in uniform find the process of undergoing “pat down” security checks demeaning and he asks that some accommodation be made for a private pat-down for pilots who refuse the controversial full body scan. Hurray for Capt…. Read More…
The past few days have been busy ones for air traffic controllers who handled several flight diversions on U.S. airlines due to disruptive passengers. On Thursday, Delta Airlines flight 188 from Pittsburgh to Paris was landed in St. John’s, Newfoundland after a passenger started spouting off about Muslims. Marcus Miller who was sitting next to the man told a Pittsburgh news reporter, “You know, he kept referring to Muslims and I just felt like, if this guy snaps, we’re in trouble.” That same day, Muhammad Abu Tahir, a passenger on AirTran flight 39 from Atlanta to San Francisco was said to have gone into the… Read More…
With all the attention being paid to the intelligence failures that allowed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab to board Northwest Airlines Flight 263 with explosives packed into his briefs, it is my hope that the experiences of what happened to the passengers after the plane landed be examined for what seem to be lapses in security and basic crime scene investigation. Listening to the stories of several passengers, its clear in the first few hours after the removal of Mr. Mutallab from the airplane, some basic safety precautions were not taken. I may have some understanding of why, which I’ll get to shortly. But first, a brief… Read More…
A spokesman for the US Customs and Border Protection said that a second passenger on Northwest Airlines flight 253 was detained at the Detroit airport on Christmas, confirming accounts of at least four passengers on the flight. The episode has security experts questioning whether the handling of the passengers on the ground created an additional risk at the airport. In the days following the attempted terrorist attack, lawyers Lori and Kurt Haskell of Detroit and Daniel Huisinga of Tennessee said that while they were being held in the baggage claim area of the airport, a K9 dog alerted police to the bag of a fellow… Read More…
December 28, 2009 Somewhere between prohibiting Mr. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from flying and allowing him onto an airplane with explosives stashed in his briefs, there’s a gulf. Rather than bridge this chasm by focusing increased attention on the half million suspicious persons who have been identified, new rules will keep hundreds of millions of non-threatening passengers confined to their seats; books, blankets and computers protectively out of their laps in a response that will do little to address the real terror threat. As could be predicted, the thwarted attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas day is resulting in a swift and sweeping –… Read More…
