Story not going away...

[ThomasR]

9/11

http://www.ushostnet.com/gulfwar/911attack.htm​

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I hesitated whether to post this or not. We have all seen this a hundred times.​

But as I listen to you all negotiate solutions to these problem we all face, it occured to me that anyone willing to die committing an act, that act can not be protected against.​

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There is no protection. The best we can do is reduce the threat.​

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The fact that these people are still attempting to hijack planes is astonishing. You all are, in deed, hero's fighting a front line battle every day.​

Thank You.​

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

All of this bruhaha was started by Annie Jacobsen, the lady who wrote the story for WomensWallStreet.com.

After reading her letter and follow-up comments, I was deeply sceptical.

The NWA flight attendant, she reported, told her husband that she was risking her career in telling him this, but there were Federal Air Marshals "all around them" so they were safe. How did she know who the FAMs were or where they sat? She would risk her career?

Today I was in our recurrent security class with our Director of Security. He said he had read about this also, and said he didn't believe it. He confirmed my idea, that if there are FAMs on board the flight crew doesn't know who they all are-that's part of the security plan.

He also said that the flight crews are trained specifically NOT to discuss any information they know with passengers. They are told that they don't know who the highjackers could be, so they would not release any security information they knew to passengers-they could be potentially giving away valuable security information to a highjacker.

Additionally, he stated that if all of the problems that Annie Jacobsen described had indeed occured on the flight, why hadn't the Captain diverted to the nearest suitable airport? Instead, he flew all the way across the country, right into the heart of a major city?

The bottome line? I think this is a NYTimes' type situation. Annie Jacobsen needed an interesting story, so she embellished it to "improve" it. I think the website needs to do an investigation to find out what actually happened and what the writer made up.

Cliff

DTW

 

[ATL2CDG]

The NWA flight attendant, she reported, told her husband that she was risking her career in telling him this, but there were Federal Air Marshals "all around them" so they were safe. How did she know who the FAMs were or where they sat? She would risk her career?

Today I was in our recurrent security class with our Director of Security. He said he had read about this also, and said he didn't believe it. He confirmed my idea, that if there are FAMs on board the flight crew doesn't know who they all are-that's part of the security plan.

I do not know with whom you are employed, but your comments regarding crew notification of FAMs are false. All LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) are required to present themselves to the gate and special board cards be printed in order to notify both flight deck AND cabin crew. Generally, LEOs are not required to meet with the CA, although according to most operational standards, they are to be pre-boarded, if able ; oftentimes the CA will take that opportunity to speak with LEOs, if desired. FAMs, on the other hand, MUST consult with the CA and cabin crew during the pre-boarding process. Typically, the jist of the conversation is the same : «We're not going to get involved with a b!tchy passenger. You're only going to see us react if there's a threat to the flight deck or security is compromised.» Flight attendants are to be aware of where ALL LEOs and FAMs are seated. And in all actuality, the pre-boarding of FAMs is part of the argument against how the program operates ; passengers can easily identify who LEO/FAMs are because they get on the airplane before any of the other passengers and are seated randomly throughout the cabin when everyone else arrives.

However, I must agree that cabin crews are instructed NEVER to speak of FAM operations on board to passengers. I was completely flabbergasted by the account in the story of the big mouthed flight attendant ; she not only jeopardized her career, she jeopardized the safety of the flight (if the story is even based in fact).

 

[urflyingme?!]

OK.
I'm not an airline pilot, but I DO know about TSA.
I just spoke with a VERY close relative on the phone who is a federal security director(station chief) at a major metro airport for the TSA.
He said that they do not factor anything to do with race in their screening. Furthermore, they do not consider the looks of an individual for screening, so "suspicious" doesn't enter into the equation, unless they say they have a bomb or set off the metal detector or refuse to comply they wil not be screened regardless of looks. They utilize the computerized security threat analysis and intel on passengers as well as RANDOM screening procedures. Another fact that I got was that they often get requests from pilots to screen certain individuals, although they are under no legal obligation to screen these people, for ONCE they cooperate with the flight crew on a frequent basis. Also, he said that they people doing gate screening are often undertasked, and under contract they must continue screening at all times that they are scheduled for the gate, so they pick out whoever they feel "randomly" this time and screen them...
Hope this helped, not trying to be a smart a$$ but I thought that 2 person rule sounded crazy so i made a call...