Geoff Boettcher, an airline pilot and a director of the Allied Pilots Association, has said that Mrs Jacobsen's incident "is not a singular or isolated experience. The terrorists are probing us all the time". Mr Boettcher said captains have been trying to speak out on this, but so far their words have been falling on deaf ears.
It is telling in this context that the 11 September Commission's report documents the patience and determination of the hijackers and how they explored weaknesses in airline and border procedures, even taking test flights to see when cockpit doors were open.
According to Mark Bogosian, a pilot for American Airlines, such incidents "occur more than you like to think. It's a 'dirty little secret' that all of us, as crew members, have known about for quite some time."
Rand Peck, captain for a major US airline, said he was "deeply bothered" by the inconsistencies he sees at the Transport and Security Administration. "I've observed matronly grandmothers practically disrobed at security checkpoints and five-year-old blond boys turned inside out, while Middle Eastern males sail through undetained.
"We have little to fear from grandmothers and little boys. But Middle Eastern males are protected, not by our Constitution, but from our current popular policy of political correctness and a desire to offend no-one at any cost, regardless of how many airplanes and bodies litter the landscape."
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=841042004
"We have little to fear from grandmothers and little boys. But Middle Eastern males are protected, not by our Constitution, but from our current popular policy of political correctness and a desire to offend no-one at any cost, regardless of how many airplanes and bodies litter the landscape."
And this is the real problem!
Another thing that really ticks me off is that on Southwest, while people are actually boarding, the cock pit doors are wide open. What is that about? There should be lock down before boarding and after debarking. Go figure.
None of us would get away with hanging around the toilets either.