U.S. Checking Foreign Airlines for Terror Risks
It's christmass time and we suppose to be happy but my mind make some... out of procedure turns.
I start to thing that all the security upset (canceled flights, more security measures at the airports, announcement about highten alert) serve more the goverments (to justify their positions on war on terror and the need to be re-elected) rather than people.
Merry Xmass to all of you with hapiness and money all along
Rwy in Sight
I start to thing that all the security upset (canceled flights, more security measures at the airports, announcement about highten alert) serve more the goverments (to justify their positions on war on terror and the need to be re-elected) rather than people.
Merry Xmass to all of you with hapiness and money all along
Rwy in Sight
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I just feel sorry for those trying to travel at this time of the year if they are meeting family. I mean security for security's sake is good ... but surely if the terrorists wanted to, it wouldn't take much effort to transit through another Hub (FRA/LHR/AMS/etc.)
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France Says No Proof of Hijack Plot Found
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 25, 2003
Filed at 5:24 p.m. ET
PARIS (AP) -- French investigators questioned seven men pointed out by U.S. intelligence but found no evidence they planned to use a Los Angeles-bound jet to launch terror attacks against the United States, French authorities said Thursday.
American warnings of a plot had prompted Air France to cancel six flights on Wednesday between Paris and Los Angeles -- three in each direction -- amid a stepped-up terror alert level in the United States.
U.S. intelligence officials told their French counterparts that members of the al-Qaida terrorist network would try to board the planes over Christmas, said a French judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The seven questioned men, who all had tickets for Air France Flight 68 to Los Angeles, were on a watch list provided by U.S. authorities, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. But all were released after questioning Wednesday night, the spokesman said.
``There are no longer any investigations,'' he said.
France's anti-terrorism judicial unit chose not to launch a formal investigation because of a lack of evidence of an attack, the judicial official said. None of the passengers on the canceled flights, including those questioned at the airport, were known to French intelligence authorities or found to have links with Islamic extremist groups, the official said.
French authorities also investigated a man from Tunisia whose name was supplied by American intelligence. But the judicial official said man was in Tunisia with no plans to leave for the United States. He has no criminal record and does not belong to any radical Islamic groups.
Passengers were subjected to intense searches before being told hours later that their flights had been canceled. Many were angry.
``We had to wait nearly six hours without any explanation as to what was going on. We noticed dogs and police,'' said Jean-Marie Buchet, 54, of Paris, who was traveling to Los Angeles to spend the holidays with family. ``Everyone was very irritated. We imagined it was to do with security, but they could at least have told us.''
Still, the French government portrayed the operation as an example of cooperation between France and the United States on terrorism.
``What is important is that the evaluation of threats continue, and they are undertaken between the Americans and the French in a framework of intense cooperation,'' said a spokesman for the prime minister's office. ``Franco-American cooperation in this domain is exemplary.''
Officials from the U.S. Homeland Security Department met with French officials in recent days to discuss terrorism concerns as part of an effort to get foreign airlines to provide American officials with more information about people on flights heading to the United States, a U.S. official said earlier this week.
France and Mexico were of particular concern in this regard, the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Thursday, frustrated passengers scrambled to reacher their destinations.
``I am angry,'' said Jannita Moe, a 61-year-old from Tahiti who was flying home via Los Angeles. ``You don't notify people at the last minute.''
After missing her flight, she was forced to rebook an itinerary that was to take her through South Korea and New Zealand en route to Tahiti -- a 38-hour journey.
Air France said that flights were to resume normal service Friday.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 25, 2003
Filed at 5:24 p.m. ET
PARIS (AP) -- French investigators questioned seven men pointed out by U.S. intelligence but found no evidence they planned to use a Los Angeles-bound jet to launch terror attacks against the United States, French authorities said Thursday.
American warnings of a plot had prompted Air France to cancel six flights on Wednesday between Paris and Los Angeles -- three in each direction -- amid a stepped-up terror alert level in the United States.
U.S. intelligence officials told their French counterparts that members of the al-Qaida terrorist network would try to board the planes over Christmas, said a French judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The seven questioned men, who all had tickets for Air France Flight 68 to Los Angeles, were on a watch list provided by U.S. authorities, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. But all were released after questioning Wednesday night, the spokesman said.
``There are no longer any investigations,'' he said.
France's anti-terrorism judicial unit chose not to launch a formal investigation because of a lack of evidence of an attack, the judicial official said. None of the passengers on the canceled flights, including those questioned at the airport, were known to French intelligence authorities or found to have links with Islamic extremist groups, the official said.
French authorities also investigated a man from Tunisia whose name was supplied by American intelligence. But the judicial official said man was in Tunisia with no plans to leave for the United States. He has no criminal record and does not belong to any radical Islamic groups.
Passengers were subjected to intense searches before being told hours later that their flights had been canceled. Many were angry.
``We had to wait nearly six hours without any explanation as to what was going on. We noticed dogs and police,'' said Jean-Marie Buchet, 54, of Paris, who was traveling to Los Angeles to spend the holidays with family. ``Everyone was very irritated. We imagined it was to do with security, but they could at least have told us.''
Still, the French government portrayed the operation as an example of cooperation between France and the United States on terrorism.
``What is important is that the evaluation of threats continue, and they are undertaken between the Americans and the French in a framework of intense cooperation,'' said a spokesman for the prime minister's office. ``Franco-American cooperation in this domain is exemplary.''
Officials from the U.S. Homeland Security Department met with French officials in recent days to discuss terrorism concerns as part of an effort to get foreign airlines to provide American officials with more information about people on flights heading to the United States, a U.S. official said earlier this week.
France and Mexico were of particular concern in this regard, the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Thursday, frustrated passengers scrambled to reacher their destinations.
``I am angry,'' said Jannita Moe, a 61-year-old from Tahiti who was flying home via Los Angeles. ``You don't notify people at the last minute.''
After missing her flight, she was forced to rebook an itinerary that was to take her through South Korea and New Zealand en route to Tahiti -- a 38-hour journey.
Air France said that flights were to resume normal service Friday.
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From: http://www.drudgereport.com/
Some passengers boarding Air France flight from Paris to Los Angeles 'intended to hijack it and crash land in Las Vegas', the WASHINGTON POST is planning to report in Page One leads on Friday, sources tell DRUDGE... officials said they 'remain suspicious about some passengers who did not show up at the airport to claim their seats on the ultimately aborted Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles. One of those who did not appear for the Christmas Eve flight apparently is a trained pilot'... Developing...
Some passengers boarding Air France flight from Paris to Los Angeles 'intended to hijack it and crash land in Las Vegas', the WASHINGTON POST is planning to report in Page One leads on Friday, sources tell DRUDGE... officials said they 'remain suspicious about some passengers who did not show up at the airport to claim their seats on the ultimately aborted Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles. One of those who did not appear for the Christmas Eve flight apparently is a trained pilot'... Developing...
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"Ummm dude, are you really a pilot? You wouldn't see the TSA untill you reported for your flight back OUT of the country.
The TSA has absolutely ZERO to do with arriving passengers"
Wino...
I arr at ATL sometime ago and had to undergo all sorts of searches and qestioning...and that was AFTER I got of the flight and heading into the city
I travelled recently from DUB to LAS via LAX, just before boarding, there was a check by TSA personnel, and guess what...all those put aside for "Extra attention" where all non US Nationals.!!!, now what does that tell you
Happy Christmas to all
The TSA has absolutely ZERO to do with arriving passengers"
Wino...
I arr at ATL sometime ago and had to undergo all sorts of searches and qestioning...and that was AFTER I got of the flight and heading into the city
I travelled recently from DUB to LAS via LAX, just before boarding, there was a check by TSA personnel, and guess what...all those put aside for "Extra attention" where all non US Nationals.!!!, now what does that tell you
Happy Christmas to all
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Suspicious Passengers Questioned In France
13 Were to Fly to L.A., Have Been Released
By John Mintz and John Burgess
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 26, 2003; Page A01
U.S. government officials said yesterday they believe some of the passengers boarding one of the three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles that were canceled this week because of security concerns might have intended to hijack it and crash-land in Las Vegas or another city along its flight path.
Police in Paris questioned 13 people who had checked in for two Air France flights that were canceled Christmas Eve because of a terrorism warning from U.S. authorities, but no evidence of wrongdoing was found, the French Interior Ministry said. All 13 were released.
But U.S. officials said they are suspicious about some of the passengers who did not show up at the airport to claim their seats on the ultimately aborted Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles. One of those who did not appear for the Christmas Eve flight apparently is a trained pilot, one U.S. official said.
"We still have an interest in talking to those people who didn't show up," said one U.S. official knowledgeable about the investigation. "There might be more to come on this."
Despite French statements suggesting some of the American fears about the Air France flights were unfounded, U.S. government officials said they believe they might have averted a terrorist attack by arranging for the flights' cancellation. Officials said they feared that al Qaeda operatives planned to hijack one of the flights and use the plane as a missile to attack a site on or near its route.
Moreover, U.S. officials said intelligence indicators suggest that al Qaeda might have set other terrorist operations in motion that do not involve aviation and are not centered in California. As on other occasions when terrorist fears are heightened, U.S. officials said their main concern is that al Qaeda might use a chemical or biological weapon, or a radiological "dirty" bomb.
"Our fear is that other things are going on" that have nothing to do with jetliner flights in or out of U.S. airports, said one U.S. official briefed on high-level intelligence. "The concern is that there still could be a lot of activity that was underway."
Another government official with access to the classified reports said U.S. security officials "are really concerned something major will happen" despite the cancellation of the three incoming and three outgoing Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Christmas Eve and yesterday. One scenario embraced by a number of U.S. security officials is that al Qaeda operatives were in the final stages of planning an attack in this country, and were awaiting final direction from al Qaeda superiors to proceed.
"Government people hope that by deploying, they'll shut down whatever might have been in motion," the official said.
In Paris, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin announced last night that Air France would operate its normal schedule today. . "The grounded flights can be resumed," he said in a statement.
U.S. officials have said they passed on to the French government names of travelers they suspected might try to commandeer the planes on the Paris-Los Angeles route in a terrorist attack.
Seven of the questioned people had checked in at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for Air France Flight 68 on Christmas Eve, according to a French official. He identified them as four Americans, one German, one French and one Belgian.
The people were taken aside and questioned extensively by police, the official said. Their baggage was searched. But no sign of terrorist connections was found, he said, and all had been released by 7 a.m. Paris time yesterday. Six other passengers who showed up for Flight 70 to Los Angeles were also questioned and released.
The French official played down the Air France cancellations, calling them a "nonevent." He added, "There is no danger. . . . And if there was any, specific measures would be taken."
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, U.S. civilian and military air traffic controllers on the ground scrutinize the routes flown by commercial and other aircraft to ensure they do not diverge from their flight plans. Under protocols that are strictly enforced, pilots who depart from their assigned routes are contacted by radio, and if their explanations engender suspicions, military combat aircraft could be launched to intercept them.
For this reason, U.S. officials believe it is unlikely -- though not inconceivable -- that terrorists would try to divert an Air France Paris-to-Los Angeles flight to a city far from its flight path, such as New York. The Air France flights in question cross the Hudson Bay and eastern Canada before dipping down to airspace over Minnesota, and then taking a sharp southwestern swing toward Southern California.
"The only big city near this route is Las Vegas, which they would consider a nice, attractive target," one informed government official said. But officials said Los Angeles could have been the target, too.
The al Qaeda network has long considered Las Vegas to be one of its top targets for a strike because it sees the city as a citadel of Western licentiousness, U.S. officials said. Government officials said they have known for some time that al Qaeda is interested in striking at Las Vegas.
In response to these fears, Las Vegas was one of the cities where the Department of Homeland Security in recent days installed a number of outdoor air-handling sensors designed to detect biological pathogens that might be released by terrorists. The other cities where new Biowatch sensors were installed are in California, officials said.
Before this week 31 cities across the nation, including several in California, have had several hundreds of the sensors in place since March, when the U.S. invasion of Iraq prompted an orange alert.
Government officials said they also partly based their decision to raise the alert status earlier this week on the statements of an individual knowledgeable about al Qaeda operations who apparently is offering fresh information that is deemed credible.
The cooperation -- and possible chafing -- between France and the United States in the investigation is notable because France led the European opposition to the war in Iraq, and relations with the United States remain strained. But both governments have highlighted continuing cooperation against terrorism.
The Interior Ministry official said the cancellations were good publicity for that relationship. Spokesmen for both governments said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell thanked French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin for France's help in responding to the U.S. warnings.
Both governments have worried that terrorists would try to mount a high-profile attack to disrupt the holiday season.
France is also wary of a repeat of a security slip that in December 2001 allowed Richard Reid, a British citizen, to board a Miami-bound American Airlines flight in Paris with explosives concealed in his shoes. Reid was overpowered by passengers and crew members as he attempted to light fuses of the bombs and is now serving a life sentence in the United States.
In the past two days, about 700 passengers were stranded by the flight cancellations, according to Veronique Brachet, a spokeswoman for Air France.
At Los Angeles International Airport, where security is as tight as it has ever been since the Sept. 11 attacks, some of the incoming flights of Air Tahiti Nui and Aeromexico were being given special attention, aviation sources said. Upon landing, the jets were ordered to taxi to a remote gate, where passengers were questioned and their belongings searched before they were bused to an immigration terminal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Dec25.html
13 Were to Fly to L.A., Have Been Released
By John Mintz and John Burgess
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 26, 2003; Page A01
U.S. government officials said yesterday they believe some of the passengers boarding one of the three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles that were canceled this week because of security concerns might have intended to hijack it and crash-land in Las Vegas or another city along its flight path.
Police in Paris questioned 13 people who had checked in for two Air France flights that were canceled Christmas Eve because of a terrorism warning from U.S. authorities, but no evidence of wrongdoing was found, the French Interior Ministry said. All 13 were released.
But U.S. officials said they are suspicious about some of the passengers who did not show up at the airport to claim their seats on the ultimately aborted Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles. One of those who did not appear for the Christmas Eve flight apparently is a trained pilot, one U.S. official said.
"We still have an interest in talking to those people who didn't show up," said one U.S. official knowledgeable about the investigation. "There might be more to come on this."
Despite French statements suggesting some of the American fears about the Air France flights were unfounded, U.S. government officials said they believe they might have averted a terrorist attack by arranging for the flights' cancellation. Officials said they feared that al Qaeda operatives planned to hijack one of the flights and use the plane as a missile to attack a site on or near its route.
Moreover, U.S. officials said intelligence indicators suggest that al Qaeda might have set other terrorist operations in motion that do not involve aviation and are not centered in California. As on other occasions when terrorist fears are heightened, U.S. officials said their main concern is that al Qaeda might use a chemical or biological weapon, or a radiological "dirty" bomb.
"Our fear is that other things are going on" that have nothing to do with jetliner flights in or out of U.S. airports, said one U.S. official briefed on high-level intelligence. "The concern is that there still could be a lot of activity that was underway."
Another government official with access to the classified reports said U.S. security officials "are really concerned something major will happen" despite the cancellation of the three incoming and three outgoing Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Christmas Eve and yesterday. One scenario embraced by a number of U.S. security officials is that al Qaeda operatives were in the final stages of planning an attack in this country, and were awaiting final direction from al Qaeda superiors to proceed.
"Government people hope that by deploying, they'll shut down whatever might have been in motion," the official said.
In Paris, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin announced last night that Air France would operate its normal schedule today. . "The grounded flights can be resumed," he said in a statement.
U.S. officials have said they passed on to the French government names of travelers they suspected might try to commandeer the planes on the Paris-Los Angeles route in a terrorist attack.
Seven of the questioned people had checked in at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for Air France Flight 68 on Christmas Eve, according to a French official. He identified them as four Americans, one German, one French and one Belgian.
The people were taken aside and questioned extensively by police, the official said. Their baggage was searched. But no sign of terrorist connections was found, he said, and all had been released by 7 a.m. Paris time yesterday. Six other passengers who showed up for Flight 70 to Los Angeles were also questioned and released.
The French official played down the Air France cancellations, calling them a "nonevent." He added, "There is no danger. . . . And if there was any, specific measures would be taken."
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, U.S. civilian and military air traffic controllers on the ground scrutinize the routes flown by commercial and other aircraft to ensure they do not diverge from their flight plans. Under protocols that are strictly enforced, pilots who depart from their assigned routes are contacted by radio, and if their explanations engender suspicions, military combat aircraft could be launched to intercept them.
For this reason, U.S. officials believe it is unlikely -- though not inconceivable -- that terrorists would try to divert an Air France Paris-to-Los Angeles flight to a city far from its flight path, such as New York. The Air France flights in question cross the Hudson Bay and eastern Canada before dipping down to airspace over Minnesota, and then taking a sharp southwestern swing toward Southern California.
"The only big city near this route is Las Vegas, which they would consider a nice, attractive target," one informed government official said. But officials said Los Angeles could have been the target, too.
The al Qaeda network has long considered Las Vegas to be one of its top targets for a strike because it sees the city as a citadel of Western licentiousness, U.S. officials said. Government officials said they have known for some time that al Qaeda is interested in striking at Las Vegas.
In response to these fears, Las Vegas was one of the cities where the Department of Homeland Security in recent days installed a number of outdoor air-handling sensors designed to detect biological pathogens that might be released by terrorists. The other cities where new Biowatch sensors were installed are in California, officials said.
Before this week 31 cities across the nation, including several in California, have had several hundreds of the sensors in place since March, when the U.S. invasion of Iraq prompted an orange alert.
Government officials said they also partly based their decision to raise the alert status earlier this week on the statements of an individual knowledgeable about al Qaeda operations who apparently is offering fresh information that is deemed credible.
The cooperation -- and possible chafing -- between France and the United States in the investigation is notable because France led the European opposition to the war in Iraq, and relations with the United States remain strained. But both governments have highlighted continuing cooperation against terrorism.
The Interior Ministry official said the cancellations were good publicity for that relationship. Spokesmen for both governments said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell thanked French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin for France's help in responding to the U.S. warnings.
Both governments have worried that terrorists would try to mount a high-profile attack to disrupt the holiday season.
France is also wary of a repeat of a security slip that in December 2001 allowed Richard Reid, a British citizen, to board a Miami-bound American Airlines flight in Paris with explosives concealed in his shoes. Reid was overpowered by passengers and crew members as he attempted to light fuses of the bombs and is now serving a life sentence in the United States.
In the past two days, about 700 passengers were stranded by the flight cancellations, according to Veronique Brachet, a spokeswoman for Air France.
At Los Angeles International Airport, where security is as tight as it has ever been since the Sept. 11 attacks, some of the incoming flights of Air Tahiti Nui and Aeromexico were being given special attention, aviation sources said. Upon landing, the jets were ordered to taxi to a remote gate, where passengers were questioned and their belongings searched before they were bused to an immigration terminal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Dec25.html
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OK so if we take the media literally, they are looking for passengers who's names are similar to known terrorists on the watch list...
1. Mr. Terrorist is hardly likely to be travelling on his real name or real passport now is he!?
2. If your flight has pax. who are called 'Al-' or 'Abu-' something then your flight may be pulled as their names might be suspicious
Doh
1. Mr. Terrorist is hardly likely to be travelling on his real name or real passport now is he!?
2. If your flight has pax. who are called 'Al-' or 'Abu-' something then your flight may be pulled as their names might be suspicious
Doh
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Flame if you were arriving from abroad on 1 leg (which is what an AIRLINE pilots operating a sector would be doing, to which I initially responded) you would get to experience the joys of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization service) and Customs. Both of which would question you at length and customs would poke and prod at your stuff. Customs wear's a blue uniform. INS wears a white shirt and dark slacks and LOOKS somewhat similar to the TSA but they are not. INS can arrest you and throw you in a dark hole somewhere. TSA cannot. They simply report you to another agency.
Now if you were continuing onto another airplane AFTER you cleared Customs and INS you would get to collect your bags and experience the TSA. However Bilateral agreements and crew rest requrements make it EXTREMELY unlikely that a pilot having operated a 14 hour sector Into the USA would get to experience the TSA before heading to the hotel as claimed by Felix Lighter.
HOWEVER, SLF and wannnabes transiting a US gateway on their cheap tickets that have an interim stop? Yep, it could happen to you. Don't like it? Pop for the more expensive direct flight...
Cheers
Wino
Now if you were continuing onto another airplane AFTER you cleared Customs and INS you would get to collect your bags and experience the TSA. However Bilateral agreements and crew rest requrements make it EXTREMELY unlikely that a pilot having operated a 14 hour sector Into the USA would get to experience the TSA before heading to the hotel as claimed by Felix Lighter.
HOWEVER, SLF and wannnabes transiting a US gateway on their cheap tickets that have an interim stop? Yep, it could happen to you. Don't like it? Pop for the more expensive direct flight...
Cheers
Wino
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If they suspected that these flights were targets, why cancel them, why not put a dozen armed security guards on them and blow the crap out of anyone attempting to get near the cockpit. To me this would be more of a deterrent to the next “would be hijackers” than just canceling flights.
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Wino..
Rest assured I know the difference between the TSA and INS..and to clarify one thing...it WAS the TSA that dealt with me in ATL, and I was going straight to my hotel from the airport. I and many other pax were inspected by TSA officials and had our luggage put through X-Ray and searched, then we left the airport
Now, I for one am all for security and checking ALL pax, but I am at a total loss to understand the checking of Pax baggage AFTER you arr at ATL and are leaving the airport...I have not been back there for some time, maybe its changed now
Nollaig shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise.
Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year
Joyeux No'l et Bonne Année
Froehliche Weihnachten und ein gluckliches Neues Jahr
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Feliz Natal e um Prospero Ano Novo
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Da!
Rest assured I know the difference between the TSA and INS..and to clarify one thing...it WAS the TSA that dealt with me in ATL, and I was going straight to my hotel from the airport. I and many other pax were inspected by TSA officials and had our luggage put through X-Ray and searched, then we left the airport
Now, I for one am all for security and checking ALL pax, but I am at a total loss to understand the checking of Pax baggage AFTER you arr at ATL and are leaving the airport...I have not been back there for some time, maybe its changed now
Nollaig shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise.
Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year
Joyeux No'l et Bonne Année
Froehliche Weihnachten und ein gluckliches Neues Jahr
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Feliz Natal e um Prospero Ano Novo
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Da!
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Flame
You quoted:
"I travelled recently from DUB to LAS via LAX, just before boarding, there was a check by TSA personnel, and guess what...all those put aside for "Extra attention" where all non US Nationals.!!!, now what does that tell you"
It tells me a bunch of people from the Middle East flew into the World Trade Centers killing 3,000 pople.
Newarksmells
"I travelled recently from DUB to LAS via LAX, just before boarding, there was a check by TSA personnel, and guess what...all those put aside for "Extra attention" where all non US Nationals.!!!, now what does that tell you"
It tells me a bunch of people from the Middle East flew into the World Trade Centers killing 3,000 pople.
Newarksmells
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Things are definitely on edge here...
_________________________________________
Suspicious Object Grounds Airline Flight
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 26, 2003
Filed at 7:45 p.m. ET
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- An American Airlines flight was evacuated Friday after a flight attendant found a suspicious-looking device in the airliner. Police determined the object posed no danger.
Indianapolis International Airport officials offered no details on what the device was.
The plane touched down at 2 p.m. EST and about 60 passengers and crew were evacuated using an emergency slide because stairs brought to the plane did not fit.
American Airlines spokesman Carlo Bertolini said police and bomb-sniffing dogs boarded the plane and determined the device contained no explosives.
The flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Indianapolis was wrapping up when an attendant noticed an object with a string attached to it on the floor near the rear of the plane, said Dennis Rosebrough, an Indianapolis International Airport spokesman.
The attendant alerted pilots and the device was taken to the back of the plane, an MD-Super 80. Police and fire officials were on the ground waiting for the jet when it landed.
_________________________________________
Suspicious Object Grounds Airline Flight
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 26, 2003
Filed at 7:45 p.m. ET
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- An American Airlines flight was evacuated Friday after a flight attendant found a suspicious-looking device in the airliner. Police determined the object posed no danger.
Indianapolis International Airport officials offered no details on what the device was.
The plane touched down at 2 p.m. EST and about 60 passengers and crew were evacuated using an emergency slide because stairs brought to the plane did not fit.
American Airlines spokesman Carlo Bertolini said police and bomb-sniffing dogs boarded the plane and determined the device contained no explosives.
The flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Indianapolis was wrapping up when an attendant noticed an object with a string attached to it on the floor near the rear of the plane, said Dennis Rosebrough, an Indianapolis International Airport spokesman.
The attendant alerted pilots and the device was taken to the back of the plane, an MD-Super 80. Police and fire officials were on the ground waiting for the jet when it landed.
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Newarksmells
"It tells me a bunch of people from the Middle East flew into the World Trade Centers killing 3,000 pople."
Me thinks you have missed my point..It was very obvious to me in LAX before we boarded the flight to LAS, that the only persons being put aside for extra attention were all visiting non nationals to the US.
Now, bearing in mind.. that the United States authorities issued a Visa for one of the hijackers some weeks after the terrible events of Sept 11, when all the hijackers were known and that these peope had been living, mixing and training in the US for some months before the events.
Do you not think, that, from a security point of view that ALL pax should be subject to random extra checking and not just non US Nationals, also remember that previously to this, the single worst "terrorist" related incident in the US, was caused by Timothy McVeigh, a US Citizen. Am I also not correct in saying that at least one US Citizen was arrested by US forces in Afganistan
So come on now, no need to be sarcastic..can you not accept the fact, that all Pax should be subject to random extra checking and that not all US Citizens are perfect and above suspicion
"It tells me a bunch of people from the Middle East flew into the World Trade Centers killing 3,000 pople."
Me thinks you have missed my point..It was very obvious to me in LAX before we boarded the flight to LAS, that the only persons being put aside for extra attention were all visiting non nationals to the US.
Now, bearing in mind.. that the United States authorities issued a Visa for one of the hijackers some weeks after the terrible events of Sept 11, when all the hijackers were known and that these peope had been living, mixing and training in the US for some months before the events.
Do you not think, that, from a security point of view that ALL pax should be subject to random extra checking and not just non US Nationals, also remember that previously to this, the single worst "terrorist" related incident in the US, was caused by Timothy McVeigh, a US Citizen. Am I also not correct in saying that at least one US Citizen was arrested by US forces in Afganistan
So come on now, no need to be sarcastic..can you not accept the fact, that all Pax should be subject to random extra checking and that not all US Citizens are perfect and above suspicion
Union Goon
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Flame.
ALL pax are subject to random searches no matter what you might think. There are others that are subject to madatory as well depending on the threat level and known threats at the moment. There is a profiling system in place at the moment, and though it is watered down it is better than the pure random we had before where you had 90 year old hasidic grandmothers getting strip searched...
Cheers
Wino
ALL pax are subject to random searches no matter what you might think. There are others that are subject to madatory as well depending on the threat level and known threats at the moment. There is a profiling system in place at the moment, and though it is watered down it is better than the pure random we had before where you had 90 year old hasidic grandmothers getting strip searched...
Cheers
Wino
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The TSA has the final say-so in these matters. Two pilots at BWIA ended up on the list, were interviewed and cleared by the FBI and INS in short order, but were finally sent to detention at their respective hotels nearly 12 hours after being cleared by FBI and INS, because the TSA could not decide if to clear them or not. One of them was on a turnaround flight, due out in 3 hours. They are still in detention and are unlikely to get off the "no-fly" list before Monday when everybody comes back out to work.
http://www.caribbeanalpa.com/cgi-bin...343439&v=2&gV=
From Trinidad Guardian Dec 27th
"T&T officials working to clear BWIA pilots
Steps are under way to clear the names of two BWIA pilots who were questioned by FBI and United States aviation officials earlier this week, after their names appeared on a “no-fly” list in the USA.
T&T diplomatic missions in Washiington DC and New York are working with US officials.
Capt Wight and First Officer Joseph, who both have more than 25 years’ experience, were reportedly taken in for questioning after Wight piloted a Miami flight on Wednesday and Joseph flew into New York on Christmas morning.
They were detained for two hours and had their passports seized.
BWIA corporate communications manager Clint Williams said the situation would be resolved shortly.
“We are confident the men will return soon,” he said.
“The FBI has given us the all-clear to talk with the US Department of Homeland Security to take the pilots’ names off the list.”
Williams said the “no-fly” list was a roster of people not allowed to fly in and out of America because of the country’s security concerns.
US officials have been examining passenger and crew lists of flights into America amid concerns of a possible terror attack involving commercial airlines.
Williams said the “no-fly” list changed continuously, and BWIA was only aware of the pilots being on the list when they flew in.
Joseph has more than 30 years’ experience and was granted permission to move around Manhattan.
Wight has 25 years’ experience, and is reportedly allowed to move around only the Miami hotel where he is located.
Williams said BWIA would not be reprimanded by US aviation for having two of their pilots on the list.
He said the T&T consul in Washington was also petitioning the US Department of Homeland Security to have the pilots’ names removed from the list. "
http://www.caribbeanalpa.com/cgi-bin...343439&v=2&gV=
From Trinidad Guardian Dec 27th
"T&T officials working to clear BWIA pilots
Steps are under way to clear the names of two BWIA pilots who were questioned by FBI and United States aviation officials earlier this week, after their names appeared on a “no-fly” list in the USA.
T&T diplomatic missions in Washiington DC and New York are working with US officials.
Capt Wight and First Officer Joseph, who both have more than 25 years’ experience, were reportedly taken in for questioning after Wight piloted a Miami flight on Wednesday and Joseph flew into New York on Christmas morning.
They were detained for two hours and had their passports seized.
BWIA corporate communications manager Clint Williams said the situation would be resolved shortly.
“We are confident the men will return soon,” he said.
“The FBI has given us the all-clear to talk with the US Department of Homeland Security to take the pilots’ names off the list.”
Williams said the “no-fly” list was a roster of people not allowed to fly in and out of America because of the country’s security concerns.
US officials have been examining passenger and crew lists of flights into America amid concerns of a possible terror attack involving commercial airlines.
Williams said the “no-fly” list changed continuously, and BWIA was only aware of the pilots being on the list when they flew in.
Joseph has more than 30 years’ experience and was granted permission to move around Manhattan.
Wight has 25 years’ experience, and is reportedly allowed to move around only the Miami hotel where he is located.
Williams said BWIA would not be reprimanded by US aviation for having two of their pilots on the list.
He said the T&T consul in Washington was also petitioning the US Department of Homeland Security to have the pilots’ names removed from the list. "
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Now, I for one am all for security and checking ALL pax, but I am at a total loss to understand the checking of Pax baggage AFTER you arr at ATL and are leaving the airport...
Seattle had the same system, but now has a dedicated train which does not stop enroute. Destination pax are no longer screened.
Thread Starter
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Leader: Terrorists Planned To Attack Vatican On Christmas
Security Tightened Around Vatican In Recent Weeks
POSTED: 10:05 AM EST December 27, 2003
UPDATED: 10:28 AM EST December 27, 2003
ROME -- Terrorists planned to attack the Vatican with a hijacked plane on Christmas Day, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said in a newspaper interview published Saturday.
Berlusconi told Milan's Libero newspaper of a "precise and verified news of an attack on Rome on Christmas Day."
"A hijacked plane into the Vatican," Berlusconi is quoted as saying. "An attack from the sky, is that clear? The threat of terrorism is very high in this instant. I passed Christmas Eve in Rome to deal with the situation. Now I feel calm. It will pass."
He added, "It isn't fatalism, but the knowledge of having our guard up. If they organized this, they will not pull it off."
Berlusconi gave no further details in the interview about who the intended hijackers were, where the information came from and how the attack was thwarted.
Security has been tightened around the Vatican in recent weeks amid reports that churches could become terrorist targets. During Christmas celebrations, Italian police guarded the perimeter of the vast St. Peter's Square and pilgrims entering the basilica passed through metal detectors.
The Vatican refused Saturday to respond to questions about a possible Christmas threat...
http://www.local6.com/news/2727750/detail.html
Security Tightened Around Vatican In Recent Weeks
POSTED: 10:05 AM EST December 27, 2003
UPDATED: 10:28 AM EST December 27, 2003
ROME -- Terrorists planned to attack the Vatican with a hijacked plane on Christmas Day, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said in a newspaper interview published Saturday.
Berlusconi told Milan's Libero newspaper of a "precise and verified news of an attack on Rome on Christmas Day."
"A hijacked plane into the Vatican," Berlusconi is quoted as saying. "An attack from the sky, is that clear? The threat of terrorism is very high in this instant. I passed Christmas Eve in Rome to deal with the situation. Now I feel calm. It will pass."
He added, "It isn't fatalism, but the knowledge of having our guard up. If they organized this, they will not pull it off."
Berlusconi gave no further details in the interview about who the intended hijackers were, where the information came from and how the attack was thwarted.
Security has been tightened around the Vatican in recent weeks amid reports that churches could become terrorist targets. During Christmas celebrations, Italian police guarded the perimeter of the vast St. Peter's Square and pilgrims entering the basilica passed through metal detectors.
The Vatican refused Saturday to respond to questions about a possible Christmas threat...
http://www.local6.com/news/2727750/detail.html
Awww come on guys, so far the list is:
3 x AF flights
1 x plane to crash into the Vatican
Las Vegas and Los Angeles threatened
La Guardia terminal evacuated
Security everywhere up to maximum
Reports that Africa will be the launch pad for an attack by Hijacking.
Rumours of 'dirty bombs' being made ready.
and on and on it goes with Airbubba reporting every rumour and whisper.
Life cannot be run by responding to every bit of tittle tattle. I do wonder whether the current rash of alerts have anything to do with Bush and Blair trying to get an increasingly anti public over Iraq back on side.
Sure we cannot be complacent, but for heavens sake we have to have a more subjective way of grading the threat. Mind you the security services took such a kicking after 9/11 for not seeing the signs that I can have some sympathy for their reluctance to play down any threat.
Edited to remove last paragraph which was irrelevant and likely to divert the thread from topic.
3 x AF flights
1 x plane to crash into the Vatican
Las Vegas and Los Angeles threatened
La Guardia terminal evacuated
Security everywhere up to maximum
Reports that Africa will be the launch pad for an attack by Hijacking.
Rumours of 'dirty bombs' being made ready.
and on and on it goes with Airbubba reporting every rumour and whisper.
Life cannot be run by responding to every bit of tittle tattle. I do wonder whether the current rash of alerts have anything to do with Bush and Blair trying to get an increasingly anti public over Iraq back on side.
Sure we cannot be complacent, but for heavens sake we have to have a more subjective way of grading the threat. Mind you the security services took such a kicking after 9/11 for not seeing the signs that I can have some sympathy for their reluctance to play down any threat.
Edited to remove last paragraph which was irrelevant and likely to divert the thread from topic.
Last edited by Danny; 28th Dec 2003 at 18:35.
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Flame and Wino
You chaps may well both be right, in your own ways.
For what it's worth, I can confirm that international arrivals at ATL's concourse E are required to be re-screened before being let loose into the airport proper, so to speak.
That involves baggage screening, metal detector and (typically) de-shoeing. And the work is carried out by TSA-uniformed people.
This has been the case since at least March 2003 (when I first experienced it) and the current month (when I last experienced it). Prolly goes without saying that domestic arrivals (in my experience, anyway) don't go through this procedure.
It may be of interest to say that since my first and second experiences of this, there has been an expansion of the hardware within the area where this occurs. Last March I recall waiting in line for almost 45 minutes to give my fellow pax a whiff of my smelly socks, but earlier this month it appeared that there were not one, but three, security stations (replete with all the machines and operators) at the front of the line. The wait was just a minute or two (though I arrived at an off-peak time, to be fair).
I hope this is of interest to you. Here's what's of interest to me: Why carry out such security checks on arriving pax whose final destination is ATL?
All good wishes.
You chaps may well both be right, in your own ways.
For what it's worth, I can confirm that international arrivals at ATL's concourse E are required to be re-screened before being let loose into the airport proper, so to speak.
That involves baggage screening, metal detector and (typically) de-shoeing. And the work is carried out by TSA-uniformed people.
This has been the case since at least March 2003 (when I first experienced it) and the current month (when I last experienced it). Prolly goes without saying that domestic arrivals (in my experience, anyway) don't go through this procedure.
It may be of interest to say that since my first and second experiences of this, there has been an expansion of the hardware within the area where this occurs. Last March I recall waiting in line for almost 45 minutes to give my fellow pax a whiff of my smelly socks, but earlier this month it appeared that there were not one, but three, security stations (replete with all the machines and operators) at the front of the line. The wait was just a minute or two (though I arrived at an off-peak time, to be fair).
I hope this is of interest to you. Here's what's of interest to me: Why carry out such security checks on arriving pax whose final destination is ATL?
All good wishes.