Posted on 08/16/2006 7:17:21 PM PDT by traumer
It sounds like a stand-up comedian's joke: A nervous flier boards a plane with hand cream and a box of matches...
But the diversion of United 923 from London to Washington - and the arrest of a passenger for interfering with the flight - was no laughing matter.
Fighter jets scrambled to escort the plane into Boston, and the media scrambled to keep up with events.
Television news showed luggage laid out neatly on the tarmac, sniffer dogs searching them for anything suspicious.
And interest in the story was intense, as the BBC News website's own statistics show.
Within two hours of the story breaking - in the middle of the afternoon, London time - it had become our top-hitting story of the day, racking up more readers than articles that had been on the site all day long.
Rumours flying
Meanwhile, over on CNN and Fox News, experts speculated about early reports suggesting that banned items had been found on the plane.
Armed officer at Heathrow airport Ordinary items now trigger a security response
Was it Vaseline? That would be cause for alarm: last week's arrests in London reportedly centred on a plan to concoct explosives from liquids or gels while a plane was in flight.
Was it a screwdriver? Even worse: the 9/11 hijackers took control of four planes with nothing more than small, sharp hand tools - and the fifth anniversary of 9/11 is looming.
Was it a note about al-Qaeda? If so, apparent proof that a terrorist had got on board.
In the end, though, it seems that the passenger at the centre of the alert had none of those items.
Changed forever?
Whatever the exact nature of the disturbance, it tapped into some very real fears.
Consider this. As far as we know, from a security perspective the diversion of United 923 went exactly according to plan.
Cabin crew alerted the captain that there was an "unruly passenger" on board.
The captain has the final authority to divert a flight, and he exercised it, contacting air traffic control to find an alternative landing strip.
Since 11 September 2001, it is standard procedure to send fighter jets to intercept commercial flights that may have become terrorist threats.
The disruptive passenger was restrained in some way, United Airlines confirms.
That, too, should not be surprising - flight crews would hardly let a suspected terrorist remain free if they could stop it.
So if any lessons are to be drawn from the drama of United 923, one must be that the airlines and security agencies have plans in place to handle even the merest hint of a threat.
But the mere fact that those plans exist - and that they were put into operation to deal with a 59-year-old woman with a tube of hand cream - must make one wonder if the current generation will ever again be able to regard air travel as simply a quick and easy means of getting from one place to another.
If airplanes don't carry the handyman's secret weapon, they should.
Looks like husein nasrullah:-)
Was it Vaseline? That would be cause for alarm...
From watching the reports... what a joke.
1. 59 year old women don't hijack or blow up planes.
2. The illicit materials reported by an airline/airport spokesperson didn't exist.
3. If the problem was with one passenger who was restrained, why on earth did everyone have to be deplaned, re searched and questioned by the Feds.
A giant waste of time for everyone involved.
Actually, it reveals an episode of mass hysteria.
I've seen a similar reaction many times amongst both sheep and cattle.
I expect to see this index in an uptrend for a while...would like to buy futures on it if I could...
I agree.
It will begin to reverse only when the so-called "men" of this nation refuse to assume this posture.
A truely apt analogy.
"It will begin to reverse only when the so-called "men" of this nation refuse to assume this posture."
You go ahead and refuse first. Then we can all read about you tomorrow.
I hardly think this gentleman, obeying orders from a TSA security officer, constitutes cowardess.
If this crap ever happens to me, the only answer they'll get out of me is "Am I charged with anything? Then get the h*ll out of my way."
I'm sure that will not ingratiate me to the "authorities" conducting my interrogation, and will earn me some extra time in the can. But that's all they'll get from me.
So this is what American manhood has been reduced to?
The word is cowardice, and yes it is.
Randy Rhodes said on her show that it was the Repubican agenda machine that spun out the first rumors that she had the illicit materials.
All of course to freak people out. Oh yeah the bomb thing in Seattle(a democrat haven) was also put out by the Republican spin machine.
Hmmm.. who to believe.. who to believe.
the last passenger to have a panic attack on a plane was shot dead.
No explanation of the disruption. And she was restrained.
No denial of the matches.
A lot of words to say "nothing to see here, move along".
We would've laughed if "Robert Reid" didn't have explosives in his shoes. He could've claimed a crazy desire to smoke his shoelace.
Rani Rhodes has said on the radio that someone should take President Bush outside and shoot him. The link is on my profile page.
She has NO credibility in her criticism.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.