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.

[Dane]

A very credible report, IMO.

We are at war and some of this PC stuff has to go, but I also take comfort in that it seems that the crew and authorities were aware of this and were probably tracking them to see where they went.

[mykdsmom]

Have you seen this?

[expatguy]

I refuse to live in fear of everyone who doesn't look like me.

And so your little snide insinuation is that the author is therefore a racist. Despite what you think MineralMan, people don't choose to live in fear.

These Middle Eastern men obviously knew they were causing a commotion on the flight and Im willing to bet that they revelled in the fact that their unusual behaviour would terrorize other individuals on the flight. For those Muslims who sympathize with Osama Bin Laden, 9/11 was in essence a "coming out" party. They can be "in your face" and they relish in the fact that you are helpless to do anything about it. They know the limitations and they push it all they can.

I see this as an abuse of freedom in the same way that mentioning that you have a bomb on a plane or yelling "fire" in a movie theatre is an abuse of one's freedom of speech.

The author and all of us are entitled to "freedom from fear". The men on the plane trampled those rights.

[.38sw]

Yeah. I'm pretty worried about elderly women who can barely walk. I agree we need a different security standard, and it includes PROFILILNG.

[jimbo123]

The Northwest crew was violating TSA instructions by not telling the 14 Syrians to sit down and not to congregate by the restrooms and emergency exits:


http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/7655005.htm?1c

Posted on Wed, Jan. 07, 2004

TSA Discourages Lavatory Lines on Planes

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Airlines have been asked to tell passengers they shouldn't congregate near aircraft lavatories because of security concerns, the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday.

The agency in mid-December sent an advisory to airlines asking them to inform passengers that they should not gather in groups on airplanes, especially near the restroom, said spokesman Darrin Kayser.

"It formalizes the idea that we don't want people congregating in the airplane," Kayser said.

[Badeye]

Check out "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin Debecker (spelling of surname might be incorrect).

I think you will find it of interest.

[Badeye]

"You always think what you want to, anyway, but if you think this was nothing, you are flat out wrong. ;-D "

Now, now, nothing happened. There is nothing illegal that transpired. There were no weapons found. There were no arrests made.

I find it very very difficult to believe in a Presidential Election year, in the wake of 9/11 and all of the implications the two combined have, that this was "simply ignored".

Nothing happened, on any level, on any front. What this does show is everybody is paying attention, and thats the best defense "We the People" have in this type of situation.

Doesn't change the facts as presented, however.

Nothing happened.

[mastequilla]

It would be interesting to see several passengers boarding the same flight follow your policy. If 10 or so passengers stopped standing on politeness and just told security -- either you thoroughly search these guys or we're not boarding, and then spread the word among other passengers, it might make a difference on that flight, and if it happened enough times, PC might be history.

Here's what doesn't make sense about this whole story, if the crew was scared about the way these passengers were acting, then why didn' the pilot land the plane?

[mastequilla]

A law enforcement official stood near us, holding 14 Syrian passports in his hand.

Fly through JFK, O'Hare, Dulles, or Heathrow sometime, seeing large numbers of Arabs boarding airplanes isn't all that unusual. There happen to be an awful lot of them in the world, and they pretty much can't get here or back without boarding an airplane.

[GBA]

So what could have been done? It's a good question and one I'll ponder for quite a while. At the moment? I don't know.

I'm not sure about the acting suspicious part, though. There are quite a few behaviours that are no longer tolerated on a commercial flight. You can't jokingly comment about hijacking it or about the sobriety of the flight crew.

The rules and rights that apply to public behaviour don't apply on a commercial flight, so there could be limits placed upon what constitutes "acting suspicious". Clearly, the reactions of the passengers to the observed suspicious behaviours suggest that some guidelines are possible. The airlines would have the right to impose certain limits designed to enhance passenger comfort and safety.

[Badeye]

"Nothing happened."

"Just one bad eye?"

Did you come up with that all by yourself, or did you require help?

Just asking.....(grin)

[mastequilla]

You're right. My point is that, were it for real, none of the safeguards designed to stop terrorist from hijacking or blowing up an airplane would have stopped them. And that, to me, is the most chilling aspect of the story.

The sad fact is that nothing short of stripping passengers naked and performing a body cavity search will prevent an intelligent suicide bomber from bringing down an airliner.

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

But the flight went on, landed safely, and nothing untoward happened.

Yep. Even the writer stayed on the flight. I guess she wasn't too concerned.

[tutstar]

Thanks for posting this Rutles,I'm not paranoid and don't live in fear of those who don't look like me. That would mean I was afraid of everyone, cause I'm the only one who looks like me. LOL
I do think that it is very wise to be observant and cautious. It wasn't Americans who attacked us, just as police will include race info when they are looking for a suspect in a crime we can't deny the fact that those who seek to destroy us and disrupt our way of life are extremely likely to be middle eastern males. To ignore that and behavior which is out of the ordinary by such persons (especially when they are in a group)could allow the next act of terror to occur. Being aware does not have to equal being afraid.

[GBA]

Thanks. I wondered about groups congregating at the lavatories on commercial flights and wished I had read your post before making my last post.

[Badeye]

"badeye cant see the reason -why- nothing major has happened since 9-11. give up your foolish stubborness, cuz. you cant be that insecure."

I have no idea what this, or the next post from you to me, is about.

If you have a moment, an explantion would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[GBA]

For the most part, I agree. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to stop them anyway.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Because the men were Arab looking they are already suspicious. The were travelling together more suspicious. To a fearful observer everything these guys did was suscpicious. If it had been a group of white businessmen doing the same things, no one would have noticed. I think the author embellished the story a bit if not entirely. I have kept a close eye on middle-easterners since I was stationed at Keesler AFB in tech school 72-73. The Iraqi, Saudi, Iranian and other Arab Military types that were in tech school too were very shady characters. They stuck together and didn't trust American scum. Even in those days that was how they were raised. I didn't like them then. I don't like them now.

[GBA]

The writer was concerned from the start, but seemed to be doing her best to reason her fears away. It was due to the events during the flight that she became the most alarmed. What was she supposed to do then? Tell them to stop so she and her family could get off the plane?

[jimbo123]

http://www.airportnet.org/depts/federal/press/articles/wsj52704.htm

Why It's Harder on Some Flights
To Get Up and Stretch Your Legs
May 26, 2004; Page D9

-snip-

The Transportation Security Administration told airlines in December to police gatherings of passengers on planes for possible security risks, especially near cockpit doors. Since then, different airlines have interpreted that recommendation differently. And frequent travelers say airline crews often unilaterally go further these days, even outright barring passengers from standing in the aisles and the galleys in the back of the plane.

That's what happened to Andy Thorson on a recent five-hour trip from Orlando, Fla., to Los Angeles on United Airlines. Four hours into the trip, he wanted to stretch. So he slipped into a rear galley of the Boeing 757, only to be shooed away by a magazine-reading flight attendant who said he wasn't allowed to congregate in a galley area for "security reasons."

-snip-

Five-hour flights without providing an opportunity to stretch?

United, a unit of UAL Corp., says that isn't its policy, and that its flight attendant was probably confused by another TSA security directive. The TSA has instructed airlines to ban passengers from congregating in any galley on international flights bound for the U.S., but not on domestic flights, says United spokeswoman Chris Nardella. "We want our customers to stretch their legs," she adds.

Officially, the TSA says it has directed airlines only to tell crews they can break up lines or gatherings if there might be a security danger. The directive went to airlines before the busy holiday travel season, about the same time the government raised the nation's threat status (to a "level orange").

"This measure empowered flight crews to take steps if they become uncomfortable with the situation on an airplane," says TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser.

Flight crews do have wide authority in the air. Federal law says passengers must comply with instructions of flight crews -- even if they don't agree with them. An airplane isn't a democracy, and there's good reason for that.


Still, airlines vary in their policies on wandering passengers. They all want you seated when the seat-belt sign is on, or when flight attendants are serving beverages. But after that, policies seem to range from lenient to leg-irons.

Delta Air Lines, for example, says it has no policy. "You're free to move about the cabin, as long as it doesn't interfere with the crew," says Delta spokeswoman Catherine Stengel. "We allow our customers to stretch."

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, on the other hand, says its flight attendants sometimes ask passengers queuing up for bathrooms in the rear of the plane to sit down and wait; in short, it's up to the discretion of the flight attendants.

Continental says it asks passengers not to congregate near any lavatory, particularly the front. But flight attendants let passengers line up for the rear bathroom, even when lines get long -- as they often do when movies end or prior to the 30-minute stay-seated rule when flying into Washington's Reagan National Airport. Galleys are OK for stretching, a spokesman says, unless flight attendants have pulled closed the curtain the airline provides.

Northwest Airlines says its flight attendants monitor activity around the cockpit door and discourage congregating there, as the TSA security guidance suggested.

-snip-