Posted on 01/08/2010 1:22:03 PM PST by xjcsa
Well if they are scrambling F-16s for every drunk on a flight, you’ll be hearing about it once or twice a day.
Seems like a lot of tax money to make sure a guy doesn’t vomit with extreme prejudice on a stewardess.
So they have two modes now- ignore or overreact. Somehow, this is not comforting to me. It also shows me they still aren’t serious in the WH.
Good thing the fighters were able to catch up. Where were they on 9/11?
Yep.
Maybe they are scrambling jets every time this happens to keep everyone sharp and make sure the system is working. Just a thought.
Could be. Pretty expensive drill though - unless this has become the new method.
These aren’t a new form of drills. When the 142nd in Portland got the alarm for the flight to Hawaii on Wed they were surprised when it wasn’t called off before they took off and more surprised they made the entire flight.
Well, if f22s and F16s are being scrambled to accompany planess just because some bozo on it got drunk and abusive, I say: send the drunk tha bill. No reason we taxpayers should have to pay for it.
Good to know that these warriors are there ready to keep us safe.
What could they do, though, if there really was a terrorist on board? Shoot the plane out of the sky?
I fully agree they should be charged for the costs and you’re right, the only thing they can do is shoot the plane down to save additional lives on the ground, should it come to that.
I don’t know and I’m only guessing but I have a hunch the order came down from high to NORAD or the FAA that fighter cover would be launched for these incidents. I say high because the One or his flunkies can say he’s doing something if something bad does happen, it’s the classic CYA, I could be wrong though.
how does it help to shoot down a passenger plane just to save the white house from getting crashed into
but then again I am predjudiced , because 150 innocent civilians have much more value to me than the white house or any other government icon
I agree with you there. Put armed air marshals on every flight, not just the overseas ones.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/air-marshal-surge-race-time/story?id=9493323
According to this article, there aren’t enough of ‘em. I wonder how many this “surge” is going to enlist.
Of course that won’t help stop flights like the 9/11 attacks, which were originating within the US. There are about 28,000 US commercial flights daily, according to one article on air marshals I read right after Christmas.
It was the second commercial flight to receive a military escort this week and the third plane diverted because of a passenger disruption. The three incidents coincided with heightened airline security following a Nigerian man's alleged attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day.
AirTran Flight 39 left Atlanta at 10:36 a.m. EST with 132 passengers and five crew members. It was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport at 2:20 p.m. local time.
En route, the male passenger refused to follow crew instructions to return to his seat and locked himself in the rear lavatory, according to AirTran officials. They said he apparently was drunk. The FBI identified the passenger as Muhammad Abu Tahir, 46, of Virginia, according to the Associated Press.
The AirTran pilot diverted the plane to Colorado Springs. Two F-16s were launched by the North American Aerospace Defense Command Region to intercept and escort the plane.
Local law enforcement and FBI officials met the AirTran plane at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport just before noon MST and detained Tahir. Security officers then used dogs to search the plane.
Tahir was being held at the El Paso County jail, the FBI said. Federal charges for interference with a flight crew were expected to be filed Monday, the Associated Press reported.
After a three-hour delay, the AirTran plane left Colorado; it landed at SFO just after 5 p.m.
Also Friday, a Hawaiian Airlines plane bound from Las Vegas to Hawaii was diverted to Los Angeles after a man allegedly harassed another passenger. And on Wednesday, NORAD dispatched two F-15s to escort a Hawaii-bound jet back to Portland, Ore., because of a disruptive passenger.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/08/MNT41BFNFF.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0c9Ugti3l
Mohammad.... there’s something about that name.....
It can be startling when you hear one of them knocking on the outside of your window -- and you're on a plane.
Yet ANOTHER case of a government "solution" causing the problem. Go back to the way it was in the 50's. Let everyone carry guns on, stop X-raying us and taking our temperature up our ass before boarding. Then if there's a problem on board that's unrecoverable, shoot down the plane. Seems unsporting to expect innocent people to accept getting shot down without allowing them the means to try and rectify the situation themselves first. See, there's almost ALWAYS a way to use freedom to solve a problem, and it ALWAYS works better than taking it away.
..take on an old Henny Youngman joke, him telling an uruly little brat on a plane to go play outside...
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