Officials say al-Qaida operatives may be fully trained airline pilots

MSNBC.com ^ | 12/22/03 | NBC

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Authorities raised the terrorist threat assessment over the weekend after new intelligence indicated that operatives of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network, possibly trained and licensed to fly passenger jets, may now be pilots for some foreign airlines, ideally positioning them to carry out suicide attacks, U.S. officials told NBC News on Monday.

Reinforced cockpit doors intended to thwart hijackers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks would now protect any terrorist pilot at the controls, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Authorities would not describe the terror threats in detail publicly, but the U.S. officials told NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski that the threat alert would remain at “orange,” or high, through the end of January, which they said was an indication of its seriousness.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

If this is true, it is very bad.

Could we have been played like the proverbial 'fiddle'?

Imagine that 9/11 was Phase 1. They attack us with airliners that are taken over by passengers (terrorists) after take off.
As expected by Al Qaeda, we go with the first knee jerk response...we redesign and reinforce the cockpit doors.

Now comes Phase 2...trained airline pilots that are actually moles for Al Qaeda take the planes off course and because of the barricaded, reinforced doors, there isn't thing 1 we can do about it.

Except perhaps have the Air Force shoot down any such aircraft. Which in my estimation means the bad guys win either way.

In this type of scenario, if it is played properly, it would be too late for us to do anything or scramble any interceptors. Imagine such a pilot complaining of non-existent 'control surface problems'. How long do you wait to find out if it's on the up and up before fragging the plane?

[My Favorite Headache]

Merry Christmas Everyone! That might not be Santa's sleigh in the sky coming at you in a few days.

[rintense]

The irony is, they would be once again using our freedoms (and laws) against us. Would passengers know if a plane were off course? I'm assuming ATCs would know by their radars, and could then alert the gov't to scramble jets. Either way, this is actually a win-win scenario for AQ- they take out more innocents, no matter how few or many.

[07055]

We predicted this scenario as soon as Mineta the Moron said "In reinforced doors we trust." Of course, we can't let our American pilots have guns---they might abuse them and shoot off their foot.

[thoughtomator]

If something like this happens we will drop our no-bias-against-Muslims stance so fast, they'll be wearing garters in Mecca.

[oceanview]

all foreign flights into the US from middle eastern airlines (and some others) should be halted, period. let them fly into canada and let the passengers connect there to come to the US.

[Metternich]

If something like this happens we will drop our no-bias-against-Muslims stance so fast, they'll be wearing garters in Mecca.

Highly unlikely.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Man this is Clancey type stuff and it sucks.

Who do we nuke if it happens?

[ConservativeMan55]

A guy can dream can't he?

[LikeLight]

Not liking reference to "rural area" in east as potential target. Very odd when mixed with reference to large crowd concentrations. Other than a college football stadium (seasons now over), where do you find large crowds in rural areas in the east in the middle of winter?

[oceanview]

we already saw this happen with that Egypt Air flight, except he only crashed the plane into the sea rather then into a building.

[TAP ONLINE]

Hmmm al-Qaida? Moslems? Pilots? Moslem Pilots.
ban Moslem Pilots? Watch them?
Oh not PC. Smart but not PC.
Solution: :"Round up the usual suspects"
Search those Nuns , Kids. Check out that wheelchair.

[ConservativeMan55]

Pull our troops out of the Middle East, and turn it into a parking lot.

Pave..then repeat.

[Palladin]

Don't forget that Egyptian pilot who deliberately took a whole planeload of people to their deaths on an Egypt Air flight a cuple of years ago. (Was it before 9-11?) He was praying to Allah all the way down.

[luvbach1]

Real pilots flying foreign planes on terrorist missions to the US would be diabolical indeed. Hard to believe muslims so fanatical as to train as pilots only to be suicide bombers. Or would they be recruited from within muslim pilots?

[jolie560]

Another likely scenario is a few female suicide bombers in a populated area--Rockefeller Center/Fifth Ave/St.Patrick's Cathedral.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

all foreign flights into the US from middle eastern airlines (and some others) should be halted, period. let them fly into canada and let the passengers connect there to come to the US.

You know that is something El Al would do....in a heartbeat.

[ConservativeMan55]

The key word here being DOWN. He went down. But he didn't find Allah. And he didn't find 72 virgins either.

[Revel]

How about not letting muslim piolots not born in the US fly in the US.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

where do you find large crowds in rural areas in the east in the middle of winter?

Gillette Stadium. Foxboro, Mass. This coming Sunday.