Terror in the Skies Again (Absolutely Positive MUST-READ)

Womens' Wall Street.com ^ | July 2004 | Annie Jacobsen

[Rutles4Ever]

A WWS Exclusive Article

Note from the Editors: You are about to read an account of what happened during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that should be shared. What does it have to do with finances? Nothing, and everything. Here is Annie's story.

On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son. Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old. What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit, and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back. Two carried musical instrument cases – thin, flat, 18" long. One wore a yellow T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg -- he wore an orthopedic shoe and limped. When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway with the group of men directly behind us.

My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I turned to the men behind me and said, "You go ahead, this could be awhile." "No, you go ahead," one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee. I thanked him and we boarded the plan.

Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the aisle from us (in seat 21E). The rest of the men were seated throughout the plane, and several made their way to the back.

[VOA]

Ms. Bruce mentions
1. James Woods encounter with a "dry run" on the Boston-to-LA flight before 9-11
2. David Horowitz having a similar experience on a flight from Italy to the USA
(no mention of the time frame)

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Can someone tell me how this got posted to three different threads I didn't get pinged to it and it didn't make the banglist?

I'm telling you now if I see some sh!+ like this going on on a plane I'm not going to just sit there and pray. I will tell those clowns to sit the F down and stay there.

I'm sure about that time 12 men will join my chorus, a dozen liberals will stop sobbing in there "partner's" shoulder long enough to question my bigotry to themselves, and the Syrian "musicians will have something else to talk about at their debriefing. Something along the lines of "you can get the bomb on board but you might have trouble if too many anti-civil libertarians are on board".

I flew to Florida about 5 months after 9-11 and when I checked in at the counter the ticket agent asked me where I wanted to sit. I told her, "wherever I can be of most use". She looked at me for a brief moment and said, I've got you in Seat XXX on the aisle.

I got on the plane and I was in the first row behind first class, as were several other white males without wrist braces, copies of the Nation, or acoustic guitars in their carry on bags.

[VOA]

Ms. Bruce is now
1. reading e-mails criticizing Norm Mineta's (head in the sand) policy
2. getting a challenging caller who asks what if the guy with the motion across
the throat (and mouth "NO") had just said "OK"...politically-correct caller, but also noting that the Islamos are now just out
to scare the crap out of us.
3. ...
(VOA has got to run...MIGHT post more if I am able to listen to the show)

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

The article and the recent intelligence points to a bombing not a takeover. Try fighting with the bomber as the plane is in a million pieces over Kansas.

[VOA]

I'm telling you now if I see some sh!+ like this going on on a plane I'm not going to
just sit there and pray. I will tell those clowns to sit the F down and stay there.

Among other things about the article...and assuming it's an accurate portrayal of the
the situation...is how the Syrians were allowed to be standing for some time
after the "seatbelt" announcement was made for arrival in Los Angeles.

If this was for more than a couple of minutes, I'd file a lawsuit (if possible) for
REVERSE discrimination as I know I'd get a good tongue-lashing from a flight attendant
if I tried such a tactic.
And handcuffs and jail if I talked back.

Having the advnatage of reading this story and the discussions, I think this
is what I'd have done in this situation (when these pukes were walking about the cabin
after the seatbelt announcement went off).

1. Hail a flight attendant and ask her her name. And tell her that if she didn't
tell those pukes to sit their @$$es down NOW , I would be naming her in a reverse
discrimination lawsuit and informing the appropriate authorities and her employer...
IF these guys don't kill us.
2. Stand up and get in line with the pukes...and if the flight attendant tells me
to sit down, but gives the "different people" a pass...I'll make it known
loud and clear that this sort of reverse discrimination is gonna' get us all killed someday.

[VOA]

Can someone tell me how this got posted to three different threads I didn't get
pinged to it and it didn't make the banglist?

Well, I'm doing my part...Ms. Bruce is pretty diligent about digging on the Net and
via phone about a story that has been around a few days.

Myself...I think this event transpired as described.
Otherwise we'd have seen the 14 Syrians on TV with Kerry and Hairdo
telling us how these Syrians were victims of the "Hateful" part of America.

If these 14 guys were playing a gig at a casino, you'd think that casino would have
made some sort of "we know these 14 guys are good guys" OR "we made a big mistake
booking these guys" announcement after this many days.

[Squantos]

Uhh........ No ?!?!?

Stay safe !

[VOA]

(pardon the pings...Ms. Bruce is covering the story pretty well)

Ms. Bruce (the law-and-order lesbian and former president of NOW in Los Angeles)
is now recounting of how being politically correct got her mugged and beaten some years ago...
she didn't pay trust her instinct about "hey, I don't usually see that sort of
potentially threatening person at this time and place..." and she paid the price.

[VOA]

(pardon pings)
Skeptical caller asks how come there were Air Marshalls on the flight (as in
there were only enough to cover about 1-2% of flights)...
Ms. Bruce mentions that maybe there are plenty more Air Marshalls now...and "why doesn't
Dubya's "pre-emption" policy apply domestically".

Ms. Bruce mentions the possibility that potential hijackers/bombers realize the
likelihood of "citizen action"...so they can't get by with 4-5 guys...hoping that with
more bodies they can still overwhelm the plane...or protect a bomb-building project.

One caller mentions the possiblity that authorities could occassionally call for
a FULL-PLANE check (of all passengers)...maybe 14 Syrians could still try a discrimination
suit, but a full-plane check might blunt that sort of machination.

[dvwjr]

The reason a terrorist wishes to explode his assembled device at 30,000 feet instead of at the terminal when landed is that a small bomb assembled by a team in flight does a lot more damage than a much larger bomb exploded on the ground. Not that much fuel in most aircraft when they land. There is a certain logic to it...

If you use a 'larger' bomb on the ground, the folks on the aircraft who are not killed by the explosion may attempt to debark to the relative close ground. A much smaller bomb exploded at the aforementioned 30,000 ft in a pressurized coke-can which is the aircraft fuselage gets additional help in destroying the aircraft skin by the internal pressure and the force of the 550 mph air going past the aircraft's now ruptured skin. A another happy benefit for the terrorist is that those who are not killed by the immediate explosion of his bomb will not probably survive the lack of oxygen at 30,000 ft, nor the fall to the ground below.

Your terminal idea could work, but why put a team on the aircraft when you could have a team on the fuel truck set to explode, plus your ground team has a good chance to escaped. In the air, short of a 'James Bond'-like parachute escape, the air team buys it...

dvwjr

[VOA]

A much smaller bomb exploded at the aforementioned 30,000 ft in a pressurized
coke-can which is the aircraft fuselage gets additional help in destroying the aircraft
skin by the internal pressure and the force of the 550 mph air going past the
aircraft's now ruptured skin.

It takes a disturbingly small amount of explosive to blow a very large (fatal) hole
in a commercial jetliner...
as evidenced by the photo of such a test on a pressurized airliner posted
here in the wake of 9-11.

[Burlem]

Do any of you know if the story wil be covered by any of the news media?

[myprecious]

reason a terrorist wishes to explode his assembled device at 30,000 feet is.....

especially if combined with a chemical or bio weapon. An exploding aircraft would make quite a dispersal system.

[doug from upland]

Thanks for the heads up but I'm in San Luis Obispo and can't hear it up here.

[jimbo123]

Blog says the Syrian band's name is Kulna Sawa.

[DoctorMichael]

Bump.

[DoctorMichael]

Bttt

[Leroy S. Mort]

Bump for the Search Impaired

[DoctorMichael]

LOL

;-)

[Leroy S. Mort]

Elitist Thread Police Bump