Posted on 01/15/2005 3:34:16 AM PST by Stoat
A MYSTERY IN THE SKIES
By Michelle Malkin · January 14, 2005 10:58 PM
Physician blogger Dr. Bob says one of his patients, a federal air marshal, told him about a foiled hijacking involving boxcutters hidden in overhead luggage bins:
He and his partner were assigned to a flight (the airline, airport, and destination were not disclosed) in their customary undercover security role. They boarded the airplane early in order to meet the flight attendants, at which time the cleaning crew was still on the airplane -- somewhat longer than expected. My patient and his partner sat together in seats near the middle of coach class.
It's hard to imagine, in a post-9/11 world, that terrorists would attempt another attack with box cutters. Also, Dr. Bob's patient did not disclose specifics--airport, airline, destination, etc.--that would facilitate confirmation. If anyone can provide more information, drop me a line. Whether or not the story is true, it highlights at least two important policy questions: 1. What kind of security measures are being undertaken with regard to clean-up crews and other ground personnel with access to airplanes? 2. Why does FAMS director Tom Quinn continue to enforce idiotic pre-boarding policies that expose marshals' identities to observant passengers? Update: The idea that terrorist operatives might be trying to smuggle razor blades as weapons onto planes is not pure fantasy. Last April, Pakistani illegal alien Fazal Karim was convicted on charges of carrying and attempting to carry concealed dangerous weapons in air transportation and of making false statements about his immigration status. Security officials at Dallas/Ft. Worth airport found 32 double-edged razor blades tucked in a coiled belt inside a cardboard box in Fazal Karim's carry-on luggage.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Schattman argued that Karim carried out a test run to aid terrorism. The Ft. Worth Star Telegram reported that security officers first noticed that Karim appeared to distance himself from his carry-on bag. After placing the bag on the conveyor belt leading to an X-ray machine, Karim did not walk through the adjacent magnetometer but selected one farther away. He offered FBI agents three different explanations for the blades, Schattman said. First, Karim said he used the blades to shave the bottom of his full beard. Then he said they were for a friend in Houston. Finally, he said he did not know the blades were in the bag. More: At a hearing in November, a federal agent testified that the names and phone numbers of the current directors of the civil aviation systems in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were found in Karim's address book _ 10 years after he worked as a computer programmer for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.
In addition, I've found at least one other mention of a flight crew member discovering razor blades in blankets. Weird. Scary weird. Update II: Reader Eric makes some additional, on-target points... For me at least, there is another lesson in this story. |
I just don't believe in gossip. And I'm usually here late at night.
I saw the tag on the picture - Rick Kozak and thought that was her name.
You're missing the point. The Left gains power and influence by using carefully crafted language to advance their agenda among those who are easily influenced. Thus, every time you and others use their term "racial profiling," instead of the correct (and non-inflammatory) term, "criminal profiling," you are spreading their propaganda.
In a war of ideology, words are the weapons.
That would be a first for me....I've never met or heard of a lady named "Rick" before :-)
I believe that it's the name of the photographer who took the picture for Insight Magazine.
My thoughts exactly. A guy with a blog using "Dr. Bob" as his name? Typically, MD's don't go posting on some obscure blog conversations held with patients.
Wasn't there a Dr. Bob character on television?
I do know doctors who use the "Doctor Jeff" or "Doctor B" as nicknames, or the much shorter, "Doc."
But again, gossip isn't news.
Excellent post...you read my mind!
I'll leave then...
She exposes all sorts of skullduggery, and doesn't seem too woried about what they are wearing...
Maybe you could think more clearly, if you would try getting some more rest!
I don't read gossip... I do read Michelle Malkin, as well as Ann Coulter... and totally enjoy the Fox Babes!
Haha, that guy in Germany SO could've been me. Heh.
I think the vital factor in doing stuff like this is to conduct such things in as dignified and polite a manner as possible--I'm a little (okay, I'll be honest...very!) bitter because of the manner in which I was treated during that incident. The staff was incredibly rude, refused to answer my questions, and pretty much left me to clean up the mess they made after emptying out my bags, with nary an apology or offer to help figure out my new flight plans.
Naturally, this might have been a one-off thing, but I think tact really needs to be stressed more often in such situations.
Two thoughts:
1. I think it'll take a lot more than razor blades for any hijacker to take over a plane ever again.
2. If this is true, what was an air marshal doing telling it to his physician?
"Whether or not the story is true, it highlights at least two important policy questions:
Wait while I shed a tear....
Nope, can't do it.
bttt
The issue of patient confidentiality would only be of concern if the patient were named or specifically identified, which was not done in this case.
Doctors post in blogs all the time....and I suppose that they are all obscure compared with CBS, ABC, NBC and CNN.
I read the disclaimer, but she is preaching to the choir... I know the chorus!
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