Deconehead
< If there had been the same level of security over there as there is here in the UK then I feel sure that the terrorists would not have been so able to have achieved what they did. >
I have positioned as pax from UK airports for many years (domestic and international - in uniform and plain clothes). Until 11th September, I usually carried a penknife. I never attempted to hide it and the security officers never once remarked on it. I have no doubt whatsoever that the terrorists could have succeeded here. The security authorities also have no doubt which might explain their over-reaction.
During the same period on numerous occasions I have been handed plastic toy pistols, water pistols etc that have been taken from passengers at check-in to be returned at destination. It was acceptable for the pax to carry small knives but not water pistols. I don’t blame the individual security officers for this as they are allowed little or no discretion.
Since 11th, not only have passengers been prevented from carrying anything that could be used as an offensive weapon but so have pilots who can no longer carry nail files, scissors etc. Several correspondents have already mentioned that we carry a crash axe on board. Perhaps the sight of a pilot with grubby fingernails, rampant nasal hair and wielding an axe will deter any would-be hijackers. Let’s hope so because the DTLR has not yet offered us any fresh advice on how else to deal with them.
The treatment meted out to Inspector Orr has done nothing to increase security. It might suggest to the less intelligent members of the travelling public that something is being done but it was an issue of passenger misbehaviour not security. And as far as pax misbehaviour goes it was a non-event. Any pilot reading this thread will remember numerous occasions when drunken or otherwise disruptive pax have been allowed through the gate by ground staff who lacked the courage to deny them boarding. By the time they are on board and the crew notices their condition, their bags are in the hold and the slot time is near. The captain then has to decide whether to off-load them and their bags, which will result in missing the slot, or take them and hope for the best. It would be a mistake to think that all captains would always off-load them. The problem of disruptive behaviour is serious and it needs to be dealt with but it is totally separate from terrorism. We don’t serve the cause of in-flight security by confusing the two issues. Inspector Orr was not a security risk. He had a bad day, he said the wrong thing and he suffered for it out of proportion to the offence.
Keg
< I took a half step back and was about to clock the bloke as hard as I could when I notice a bright police badge in my face and his smiling face behind it. >
Was it standard procedure to hit a passenger who was carrying a gun before asking him to explain? He wasn’t on board an aircraft and he wasn’t threatening you so why hit him? Why not just ask him to explain?
Julian
Positive vetting is no guarantee. A customs officer could be blackmailed into taking a weapon through security for someone else.
The Flying Gunman
Since you have resorted to personal abuse towards this unfortunate passenger, may I remind you that police firearms officers have been responsible for the untimely death of a number of innocent people over the last few years? I just thought you’d like to know.