Posted on 10/20/2003 10:06:40 AM PDT by george wythe
A college student told federal authorities he placed box cutters and other banned items aboard two Southwest Airlines planes nearly five weeks before they were found, according to an FBI affidavit.
The affidavit, obtained by The Associated Press, said Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, told agents he went through normal security procedures at airports in Baltimore and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and was able to carry the forbidden items onto the planes.
Once aboard, he hid the items in a compartment in the rear lavatories of two planes.
The first bag was carried on in Raleigh-Durham on Sept. 12 — the day after the two-year aniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks — and the second on Sept. 15 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the affidavit said.
Each bag contained a note detailing when and where the bags were carried aboard, as well as modeling clay simulated to look like plastic explosives, matches and bleach hidden in sunscreen bottles.
On Sept. 15, the Transportation Security Administration received an e-mail from Heatwole stating he had "information regarding six security breaches" at the Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore-Washington airports between Feb. 7 and Sept. 14, the FBI affidavit says.
"The writer stated that he smuggled several items on his person and some in his carryon bag," the affidavit said.
The e-mail provided precise details of where the two plastic bags were hidden — right down to the exact dates and flight numbers — and even provided Heatwole's name and telephone number. It's unclear whether Heatwole actually hid items on four other planes.
"The e-mail author also stated that he was aware his actions were against the law and that he was aware of the potential consequences for his actions, and that his actions were an 'act of civil disobedience with the aim of improving public safety for the air-traveling public'," the affidavit said.
The affidavit does not say what was done about the e-mail after it was received in September. The bags containing box cutters and other items were not discovered until last Thursday night, after a lavatory on one of the planes had maintenance problems and workers found the banned items.
Nathaniel Heatwole is a junior political science major and campus radio station disc jockey who has won numerous awards, his father said. The Potomac Valley Radio Club, for example, awarded the college student a $1,000 scholarship this year, according to the Foundation for Amateur Radio Web site. He also won an award for exemplary writing, according to the Guilford College Web site.
Dean's Award for First-Year Writing
....is a publicity hound.
That has been my impression also.
A few weeks ago when I went through the airport screening loop, my bag showed something 'suspicious' (probably my electric razor). I was stopped for further screening.
I begged the screener to let me go without opening my bag, because I was very late for my flight, and she complied.
Of course, I did not have any threatening item in my bag, but I was given special treatment (at my request, I concede). I suspect this college student used his charm also to smuggle these items into the airplane.
The screeners have a thankless job, and they will get heat from both ends.
It seems that expecting screeners to stop any non-allowed items into the airplanes is unrealistic.
We might not like the messenger, but the message is loud and clear:
We are wasting a lot of money and time confiscating nail clippers from grandmothers trying to board an airplane.
To stop terrorism, we need to stop giving visas to people who don't even file the right paperwork, to stop allowing entrance to foreigners with phony visas, and to start deporting foreigners when their phony visas have expired.
We also need to pay attention to FBI agents and informers when they tell us that some wanna-be terrorist is taking flight lessons, but he does not want to learn to land the airplanes.
Of course, all the people who dropped the ball in 2001 kept their jobs; on the other hand, law-abiding citizens are expected to keep giving up more of their freedom.
What do you think about the FBI agents ignoring his e-mails alerting them about these items?
TSA is in charge of aircraft security. FBI comes in after a crime has been commited (in this case, the e-mail indicated comission of a crime). TSA really dropped the ball. TSA is in charge of aircraft security, and when told of forbidden materials being placed, didn't even look in those -2- places.
Thank you for the clarification.
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