9/11 Panel's Report Critical of FAA

AP via MSNBC ^ | January 27,2004 | The Associated Press

[John W]

WASHINGTON - Months before the Sept. 11 attacks the Federal Aviation Administration played down the possibility of suicide hijackings, saying the greater threat was from explosives smuggled aboard planes, according to a federal panel investigating the attacks.

The preliminary report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States said that in a presentation to airline and airport officials in early 2001, the FAA discounted the threat of a suicide hijacking because there was “no indication that any group is currently thinking in that direction.”

In July 2001, the FAA issued a warning to air carriers but did not mention suicide hijackings. Instead, it focused on the possibility that some terrorist groups might conceal explosive devices inside luggage.

Bush administration officials have maintained that before the attacks there was no indication terrorists were considering suicide hijackings. But the report said the FAA’s Office of Civil Aviation Security officially considered the possibility of suicide hijackings as early as March 1998.

[JohnGalt]

If only the government had told the American people, the hijackers would have been greeted the same way Richard Reid was.

I notice the Commission is blaming agencies rather than naming names, well its high time they start naming names rather than stating the obvious: mistakes were made.

[lilylangtree]

Bush officially took office about January 20, 2001. He was still naming his people and trying to get them through the confirmation process when 911 occurred.

[denydenydeny]

Linda Daschle's FAA Failed to Heed Pre-9/11 Warnings