DECEMBER 30, 2003 Tuesday : (VALDEZ, ALASKA : OIL TANKER TERMINAL IS CLOSED DUE TO TERROR THREAT) The threat of terrorism also prompted the closure Tuesday night of the oil tanker terminal in Valdez, Alaska. The terminal remained closed Thursday, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter of the Coast Guard said.Tankers load Prudhoe Bay oil destined for the Lower 48 states at Valdez, the end of the 800-mile pipeline, which carries 17 percent of the nation’s domestic oil supply. ...[this week] security was strengthened in the Prince William Sound community after U.S. officials said al-Qaida operatives could target remote sites such as oil facilities in Alaska. Officials also said then they could not corroborate a report about an al-Qaida threat against the Valdez oil terminal.— “U.K. Flight to U.S. Canceled After British Airways Cancels Flight to D.C. a Day After U.S. Authorities Board Its Jet at Dulles Airport,” The Associated Press, January 1, 2004
DECEMBER 31, 2003 Wednesday : (DULLES AIRPORT : BRITISH AIRWAYS JET IS BOARDED - FLIGHT #?- WOMAN IS QUESTIONED) U.S. authorities were acting on intelligence information and not just suspicious passenger names when they boarded a British Airways jet on New Year’s Eve at nearby Dulles International Airport, a national security official [later ] said [on] Thursday. ...As for the New Year’s Eve flight, a U.S. official said no evidence of terrorism was found and the major consequence appeared to be inconvenience, with the 247 passengers waiting more than 3 1/2 hours before getting off the plane while some of them were questioned.”We had concerns with individuals on the flight, but threat reporting information led us to make the decision to have the flight escorted,” the national security official said, speaking only on condition of anonymity. “It was fact-related,” the official said, and not just connected to the passenger list the United States now receives from airlines flying to the United States.
The official added the long delay at Dulles was caused in part by weapons screening of passengers, and partly because authorities waited for some law enforcement specialists to arrive.
Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Jennifer Marty said officials began departing from the plane about 10:30 p.m., long after the 7:06 p.m. landing.The plane was kept several hundred feet from the terminal during the questioning.
Passenger David Litwick told WJLA-TV in Washington that he and his wife were not questioned, but at least one other passenger was. Litwick said four FBI agents spoke to a woman who appeared to be from the Middle East, repeatedly asking her why she was not traveling with her husband. — “U.K. Flight to U.S. Canceled After British Airways Cancels Flight to D.C. a Day After U.S. Authorities Board Its Jet at Dulles Airport,” The Associated Press, January 1, 2004
JANUARY 1, 2004 Thursday PM : (SOMEWHERE OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN : AIRLINE SECURITY : PASSENGER ON NORTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT FROM DETROIT TO HAWAII HAS TO BE RESTRAINED) In an incident over the Pacific on Thursday night, a passenger on a Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Honolulu had to be restrained after he approached the cockpit, airline officials said. The man was escorted to the back of the plane by two off-duty pilots who happened to be on board and was arrested when the plane landed. Thomas Becher, a spokesman for Northwest, said he could not say whether the incident was related to terrorism... Developing..- “Man Restrained After Approaching Cockpit,”The Drudge Report, Posted on 01/01/2004 8:46:00 PM PST by RWR8189