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Crew Member's Fears Lead To Diverted Flight
CNN ^ | July 12, 2007 | Unattributed

Posted on 07/12/2007 5:16:27 AM PDT by truthkeeper

CNN) -- An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to London was diverted to New York early Thursday after a crew member became suspicious of one of the passengers, an airline spokeswoman said.

The crew member aboard Flight 136 -- scheduled to fly nonstop from Los Angeles International Airport to London Heathrow Airport -- questioned a passenger whom the employee had seen bypassing security by traveling on an employee-only bus from the parking lot to the LAX airport, according to spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon.

Following that conversation, the decision to divert the Boeing 777 was made, Whitemon said. The plane landed at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport about 2:30 a.m. ET.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told CNN an initial report he received from American Airlines indicated the passenger in question was actually an off-duty employee.

"I think they're still in the process of sorting this out," he said of airport officials. "It may turn out that this is nothing more than a misunderstanding with an employee who used an employee bus to get on a plane for a private flight.

"But the good news here is that you have somebody who's alert on the crew and they take appropriate steps at that point to deal with what might be a potentially dangerous situation," he added. "That's exactly what we are asking people to do: If you see something, say something."

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: airlines; diverted; security; terrorism; wot
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1 posted on 07/12/2007 5:16:28 AM PDT by truthkeeper
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To: truthkeeper

Strange things going on...even after the “conversation” the plane was diverted?

And if it was innocently done, since when do airlne employees bypass security? If he/she did, a firing is in order.


2 posted on 07/12/2007 5:19:48 AM PDT by eleni121 (+ En Touto Nika! By this sign conquer! + Constantine the Great)
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To: truthkeeper
diverted
3 posted on 07/12/2007 5:22:00 AM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
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To: truthkeeper

They that are on their guard and appear ready to receive their adversaries, are in much less danger of being attacked than the supine, secure and negligent. - Benjamin Franklin


4 posted on 07/12/2007 5:22:35 AM PDT by Between the Lines (I am very cognizant of my fallibility, sinfulness, and other limitations.)
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To: A.A. Cunningham

Thanks for linking that one.


5 posted on 07/12/2007 5:24:04 AM PDT by truthkeeper (It's the borders, stupid./LOUD and PROUD!)
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To: truthkeeper

Homeland Security Live Alert

6 posted on 07/12/2007 5:41:47 AM PDT by Eye of Unk
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To: Eye of Unk

“Whitemon told CNN the passenger is not an American Airlines employee....security officials boarded the plane and left with a man of “Middle Eastern descent.”


7 posted on 07/12/2007 5:51:46 AM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
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To: truthkeeper

Chertoff is laughable with his “If you see something, say something.” motto. If you do, he and the president will brand you a racist, and the moslems will sue you.


8 posted on 07/12/2007 5:53:50 AM PDT by CinnamonBear
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To: CinnamonBear
Chertoff is laughable with his “If you see something, say something.”

Hey Chertoff...20 million foreigners have invaded my state. Now DO something, dammit!

9 posted on 07/12/2007 6:03:12 AM PDT by truthkeeper (It's the borders, stupid./LOUD and PROUD!)
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To: pitinkie

These muzzies would indeed be braindead if they attempt another series of aircraft hijacks. Today is 7/12/07 nothing obvious there I think. I am willing to bet this incident is just an isolated Muslim that could be a test or a diversion.


10 posted on 07/12/2007 6:04:37 AM PDT by Eye of Unk
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To: truthkeeper
If you see something, say something."

Okay, there are about 5,000 illegal aliens in my town, who do I call?

11 posted on 07/12/2007 6:06:39 AM PDT by Lurking in Kansas (Nothing witty here...)
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To: Eye of Unk
These muzzies would indeed be braindead if they attempt another series of aircraft hijacks.

I think it is pretty much a given that if anyone tries anything like that on an airplane the entire cabin will rise up and beat the crap out of them, no matter what it takes.

12 posted on 07/12/2007 6:07:40 AM PDT by pnh102
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To: truthkeeper
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told CNN an initial report he received from American Airlines indicated the passenger in question was actually an off-duty employee.

I recall from a previous thread some time ago, that some airlines had put a stop to this practice because it opens up the plane for an attack by insiders.

Not a bad policy if you ask me, look how the medical profession has been infiltrated by terrorist.

13 posted on 07/12/2007 6:13:30 AM PDT by mware (By all that you hold dear..on this good earth... I bid you stand! Men of the West!)
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To: truthkeeper
"That's exactly what we are asking people to do: If you see something, say something."

Look, somebody left our border wide open!

14 posted on 07/12/2007 6:18:51 AM PDT by Sloth (The GOP is to DemonRats in politics as Michael Jackson is to Jeffrey Dahmer in babysitting.)
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To: eleni121

I read recently....in the past six months...that they’re back to allowing crew members to bypass security.

I’ve been retired since 2003, and I wasn’t based at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, but I know that once every employee there parks his/her car in the employee lot, entered by swiping a card, the employees boards a bus that takes them to the area of the planes or hangers....NOT ONE person, whether a pilot, mechanic, kitchen worker or cleaner, has to go through security. (TSA and “security” is upstairs. The areas where the bus dropped you off was downstairs, level with the planes, in a “secure” area (yea sure).

I was based at Newark. Although the employee parking lot was a short distance from the terminal, the only requirement to enter the parking lot was to show the guy in the shack (who sometimes was sleeping), a picture ID. (You could have shown him a fake ID...he would have NEVER known.) From the parking lot, you boarded a bus and same thing....the bus took you right into a “secure” area at the planes.

Believe me, all the security lines we stand in as passengers don’t mean a thing. I cringe when I have to wait to go through security because I know what’s going on downstairs. I just shake my head when someone says, “But I feel so much more secure that TSA is increasing security.”

I just found this when I tried to google how many employees are at O’Hare. I know there are thousands every day entering without going through “security.” Like I said, that’s not the only airport with that policy...it’s just that it’s so huge:
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/forsythe/2007/06/27/security-at-ohare-airport/


15 posted on 07/12/2007 6:29:53 AM PDT by toldyou
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To: Eye of Unk

I hope so as I have to fly august! Into NYC!


16 posted on 07/12/2007 6:40:59 AM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
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To: Eye of Unk
just a probe...doing a little recon.

need to confiscate computer, phone logs and detain all his muzzie contacts..repeat till you get back to Pakistan.

17 posted on 07/12/2007 6:45:52 AM PDT by Dick Vomer (liberals suck....... but it depends on what your definition of the word "suck" is.,)
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To: toldyou
Recent trip to HNL, while waiting for Roberts bus service, at the curb, in the confines of the airport, designated as shuttle service a male sitting near us got up and left two pieces of luggage. He walked back into the baggage claim area. I reported it to the employees at the Roberts ticket booth who said, “probably went to the ATM machine”. Twenty minutes later we boarded the bus and the bags were still there and he was MIA. This was in a comparable area when the SUV was driven into the terminal at Glasgow Airport.
18 posted on 07/12/2007 6:47:17 AM PDT by tiger-one (The night has a thousand eyes)
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To: tiger-one

I saw someone walk away from luggage at PIT several months ago and reported it to the gate agent. A call was made, but nothing appeared to happen. I was wrong. There were people assembling and they approached from several directions. It was handled.....well enough to suit me. Must be an individual thing. Or maybe related to the size of the airport.


19 posted on 07/12/2007 7:00:38 AM PDT by trimom
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To: pitinkie

“I hope so as I have to fly august! Into NYC!”

Actually, the most dangerous part of your trip is in a car/van going to and from the airports.


20 posted on 07/12/2007 7:01:57 AM PDT by toldyou
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