Posted on 04/17/2005 6:18:03 AM PDT by jimbo123
Since I first starting writing on the subject of airline security (Terror in the Skies) I have received volumes of email on related subjects. Among my correspondence, there are certain incidents that stand out, including the one you'll read about today. It stands out not just because of the incident itself, but because the lack of media coverage as well as the "official" spin on the part of the airline and security personnel in its aftermath, much like my experience, defies belief. But I'm getting ahead of myself…
A few days ago, I received an interesting email from Barry Johnson, a blogger from CynicalNation.com. He told me about a bizarre incident that happened recently at London's Heathrow Airport. Barry contacted be because he read "Terror in the Skies Again?" last summer.
On April 3, his brother-in-law was sitting on the tarmac waiting for British Airways flight 0215 to depart for Boston's Logan airport when heavily armed men came on board and removed two passengers of Middle Eastern descent by force. The rest of the passengers were then removed from the plane and taken to a special area of the airport for several hours. Five hours later, the flight departed and arrived at Logan airport uneventfully.
The next day, both Barry and his brother-in-law were surprised that they did not see any mention of the incident in the media. Barry posted a brief account on his website (www.cynicalnation.com) and got a few inquiries. Then he contacted me.
In his email, Barry wrote, "I called British Airways to ask them about the incident, and they told me they couldn't say anything about it…still no mention of this in the media. I'm beginning to wonder how often this goes on and we simply never hear about it."
Very good question. Wondering the same thing as Barry, I called my contact at British Airways. Eventually, I spoke with Vice President of Corporate Communications, John Lampl. I identified myself and asked for a statement from BA on the incident.
"Oh, that," Lampl said nonchalantly. "That was a case of a nervous passenger not wanting to fly."
I asked Lampl if he could elaborate.
"The passenger was 19-years old, and apparently he was feeling apprehensive about flying. He was with a relative – his cousin or brother I think – and the relative conveyed that he wasn't comfortable flying so he was de-planed."
"The relative de-planed?" I asked.
"No the 19-year old. He didn't fly."
I explained to Lampl that I had a passenger witness who told me that the men were armed.
"The passengers were armed?" Lampl asked.
"No, the agents who came on board were armed," I explained.
"Oh, yes, they were," said Lampl, again without missing a beat.
"So let me get this straight." I said, "Armed agents – and British cops don't carry weapons – came on board to remove a passenger who requested to get off?"
"That's correct," Lampl said.
"That doesn't sound correct," I told Lampl, but that was all he had to say.
Barry Johnson put me in touch with his brother-in-law, passenger/witness John Bible. John is the executive vice president of a software company and flies frequently all over the world. Here's what John Bible had to say about the incident on British Airways flight 0215:
"Well, the door was shut, we hadn't yet pulled away. We're all seated, seat belts on, and the captain comes on and says, 'we have a security issue to deal with. While we sort it out, you can all use your cell phones and the bathrooms.' About 45 minutes later, the captain comes back on and says, 'there are some passengers who are about to board the plane so if you could all take your seats.'
"Naturally, I was expecting some late passengers. Now, I was in the back of the plane so I had a very good view. Actually, I was in the same aisle as what went on. So the door opens and this guy – security -- comes running up. Running. And his gun is drawn. It's a machine gun. He's dressed army-style, he has a crew-cut, a bullet-proof vest and a machine gun out like he's going to shoot someone. Behind him is another guy, a bobby cop, and he's got his pistol out and aimed. Then there's a flight attendant, and after that, there's another swat guy dressed the same, in a bullet-proof vest with the machine gun."
I interrupted. "A machine gun? I'm no gun expert, but a machine gun? Can we be sure about this?" I asked John.
John Bible told me that as a software executive, he too is unfamiliar with weaponry. But he was confident about the machine gun. "Look," he told me, "these guys were straight out of central casting. I mean it was something out of the movies. They had that quasi-military look and the big automatic weapons. Everyone was shocked. People with guns out are not what you expect to see when you're sitting on a plane. They rushed on board. It was quick, smooth, and alarming."
I asked John to continue with his account.
"So, they rush up to the row that I'm in – except the passenger was across the aisle. They point the guns at the passenger in the middle seat and the guy with the machine gun says, 'You! Come with me!' and then, this part is funny really, the flight attendant says, 'No! Not him. Him! And points to another passenger, the guy sitting in the next seat over -- by the window..."
John told me he that before the police rushed the plane, he hadn't even noticed the young man.
I asked John to describe the passenger at whom the officers were pointing their guns and how he reacted.
"He was young, maybe nineteen. He was Middle Eastern, darkish skin, dark hair. He didn't put up a fuss of any kind. He looked startled but not totally shocked. He was pretty meek. He didn't make any sudden moves. …These guys with the guns were serious. The passenger got his bag out of the overhead cabin and left [the plane]."
They let him get his bag himself? I asked. (In the United States, TSA won't even let passengers touch their bags during pre-boarding searches, let alone when they're being escorted off a plane.)
John told me, "The guy said something like, 'can I get my bag out of the overhead?' and then he did. He kind of quietly gathered up his things and left. The passengers sitting next to him had been cleared out of the way so it was just this guy and then the agents with their guns on him."
I asked John what happened next.
"I was seated next to the bulkhead, so I could see the bathroom. One of the SWAT team guys stayed behind. He went inside and started searching the bathroom. He opened all the compartments. I saw him stick his hand into the garbage and fish around inside.
"Then the captain came back on. He said, 'As you can see, we had someone removed from the plane. Please remain seated. We're going to get a new plane.' Then he said something about safety being British Airways' first concern. About ten minutes later, he comes back on and says 'we are getting a new plane. And that we'll all get a voucher for dinner. Oh, and if we don't want to fly on to Logan just now, British Airways will honor that.'
"When we deplaned, there were all kinds of people. Police and British Airways-type people. There were three or four bobby cops. And maybe five to eight official looking people. All along the path to the waiting area, there were people stationed so it clearly wasn't some tiny thing.
"Four hours later, we re-board. It was the same crew, same captain. The captain comes on and says, 'to tell you a little more, our cabin crew identified two individuals who were acting suspiciously and we had them removed from the plane.' Then he said something like 'and it was a good thing.' "
I asked John if he ever saw the second individual.
"No, the first I learned that there were two people was when the captain made that announcement. I only saw the one guy. I never saw this other passenger. I was in the coach cabin and he wasn't anywhere that I could see."
I told John what the British Airways spokesperson told me. That the passenger had asked to be removed.
"The guys who came on board were serious. I felt like they wanted to make sure this person wasn't going to take a hostage. They were aggressive. The way they were acting, it was like they were prepared in case somebody said, 'I have a bomb.' "
For me, the story from British Airways didn't add up either. Since when does a passenger changing his mind about flying -- which happens a lot -- require an armed escort off the plane? And why did the airline provide a different plane for the flight?
All this comes on the heels of Heathrow's announcement that it has relaxed many of its post 9/11 security measures. They've reintroduced metal knives into first class dining and will soon be allowing passengers to travel with under 3" scissors and blades.
Meanwhile, looking for answers, I called Homeland Security who referred me to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying the incident is ICE's jurisdiction. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has yet to return my call. But in case you haven't heard, the entire TSA is being dismantled.
Maybe they've already disconnected their phones. And MI-5, Britain's equivalent of Homeland Security, has yet to get back to me.
The one thing that I keep coming back to is – because of the official nonchalance, spinning and stonewalling on the part of the airlines and the authorities – will we ever know how often these incidents are occurring? Twice a year? Once a month? Every day? If I can't get a straight answer about an incident to which there were witnesses, is there any hope of shining a light on what's really going on out there and the progress -- or lack thereof -- being made in airline security? Call me naïve, but I'd think British Airways would benefit from the publicity -- if in fact they actually removed a potential threat. And if the guy really was just another nervous flier, where is Britain's version of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta – ready to slap the offending airlines with a lawsuit and a fine for racial profiling?
For now, that's all I have on the bizarre incident on British Airways 0215, but I have a feeling this one will should end with To Be Continued.
Note from the Editors: It has been some time since Annie Jacobsen's last installment in her award-winning "Terror in the Skies" series. Annie has been otherwise occupied with the birth of her second son, but is now back to work with two new articles to share: this one and the next in the series, Annie Jacobsen Gets a Visit From the Feds, which will run very soon.
Annie Jacobsen writes about business, finance and terrorism for a variety of national and international magazines and webzines. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband and two sons.
First I've heard about this. Anybody got more info? Sounds like a good plan to me. TSA has been a piece of crap since it's inception.
Jacobsen is a career kook IMHO.
There is absolutely no doubt TWA-800 was terrorism, or at the very best, not as what it was explained. Noone has giving a compelling dissertation that I have seen to show otherwise.
YMMV...
I don't "know" that, jim. I was stating a possible theory. But it is the other side of the argument, isn't it?
Yup terrorism would have been immediately ruled out even before the investigation started even if the black box was nothing but some arab yellin "allah fuhbar" the last 15 mintues of the flight too.......
'next in the series, Annie Jacobsen Gets a Visit From the Feds,'
If this wasn't tongue-in-cheek, I would like to be pinged to it....
IMO, she ISN'T a kook.
Don't know if this is relevant, but on other threads people have said that if you are stopped with wepons at the security check-in, you haven't committed a crime, but if you get on the plane, you are in deep trouble.
Any chance people are being allowed past security so that they can be arrested?
Plenty of those still flying. Some even in passenger routes. Some are is pretty scary condition. And yet... and yet... no retrofit, no advisory, no nothing.
And those dreadful plastic frogbus tails... Still flying. No x-rays, no nothing.
A betting man would say there have been several covered-up successful terrorist attacks against passenger planes. Probably going back to Arrow Air.
There also has never been a war where a government has NOT covered up successful sabotage and infiltration.
Thanks for sending me this Ruth.
Ping for more odd things going on with planes.
Thanks for the ping WCG. Will read later. Involved in debate on another thread.
Oh year, they're goin' like a house - err, plane - afire...
It is an interesting read. Particularly in that the components that are vaguely referred to as having the potential to put high voltage on these wires are not being changed or inspected. I wonder what components these are. Odd they are not specifically named.
No 747 will EVER have a center fuel tank explosion. But not because of this AD.
OK, oh wise and infallable master, exactly which parts in a 747 are going to put high voltage on the wiring in question.
I'm sure MANY people interested in how TWA 800 happened would like a solid answer to that question.
There isn't any wiring in a 747 fuel tank that carries enough power to start a fuel deflagration, much less an explosion.
TSA is getting dismantled???
"If 9-11 had had only one plane successfully hitting its target, higher-ups would have told us it was just a bad accident."
And of course, you had all the facts and knew everything there was to know INSTANTLY. You POMPOUS ASS. You haven't a clue any more than anyone else.
PAH!
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