Officials investigate how Logan security was breached on two flights

Boston Globe ^ | 09/12/01 | Justin Pope,AP

[village idiot]

BOSTON -- Logan International Airport officials defended their security system as investigators started tracking the hijackers who boarded two airliners at the airport and crashed them into New York's World Trade Center towers.

Two suspects flew to Boston from Portland, Maine, the governor of Maine said Wednesday. The Boston Herald quoted a source as saying five Arab men had been identified as suspects, including a trained pilot.

[village idiot]

hmmm......do we send a "Cruise greeting" to the United Arab Emirates?

[newzjunkey]

The UAE are, I suppose, allies and wouldn't be too unusual flying domestically in the US. They could easily have used fake passports.

I'm curious at the **obviousness** of the "evidence". Flight manuals, now a flight tape in a bag, and fuel consumption calculator (odd it wouldn't be in a carry-on?), etc., etc. Would they be that careless? Would it be by design? It's all very suspicious.

[11th Earl of Mar]

The Boston Globe reported one suspect's luggage did not make the connection. The bag contained a copy of the Quran, an instructional video on flying commercial airliners and a fuel consumption calculator, the newspaper said.

Thank God, for once, for inefficient baggage handling at airports.

[tobiasjodter]

I guess when you know you are going to die, maybe you don't care what you leave behind...

[ContemptofCourt]

Unless, of course, you are leaving a message....

[Spook86]

Howie Carr and other Boston talk shows hosts have railed at length about the atrocious security at Logan Airport. Among other things, they've pointed out the large number of recent emigres working on the tarmac, and even on the airport security detail. I'm sure we'll soon discover just how easy it was for the bin Laden organization to place operatives on the ramp at Logan, Newark, and Dulles. More disturbingly, it's almost a sure bet that more hijack teams boarded other jets yesterday, but were forced to de-plane when the FAA shut down commercial air traffic. The possibility of more attacks is very real.....

[gieriscm]

Most airport "security" is a joke. Before I knew it was illegal, I carried my pepper spray in my purse, onto airplanes. It was x-rayed many times, and the security staff never picked up on it.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Last night on FoxNews John Gibson said that the terrorists left a trail of crumbs, that they wanted credit for this. On the plane carrying Barbara Olsen, the terrorists ordered the passengers with cell phones to call loved ones and tell them they were going to die. These terrorists are not human.

[uncbob]

Airport security is not the answer to terrorism.
Swift overpowering retaliation and pre-emptive strikes are

[sneakypete]

>>In 1999, the major airlines at Logan and the Port Authority were fined a total of $178,000 for at least 136 security violations over the previous two years. In the majority of incidents, screeners hired by the airlines for checkpoints in terminals routinely failed to detect test items, such as pipe bombs and guns.<<

Despite all the "security measures" being taken and all the inconvenince laid on the shoulders of travelers,I have YET to read of a single terrorist being foiled or arrested because of all this crap. This is just more "feel good because we are doing something" pablum that has only lulled people into a false sense of security.

[rollin]

Correct.

Please tell me how stopping curbside baggage checkin would have stopped the hijackers of these four airplanes.

Answer, it would not!

More pablum and false security to pacify the sheeple.

[ravingnutter]

Well...it's official...knives are banned, including the plastic ones at airport concession stands, according to talk radio. As for baggage drop off at the curb being stopped, there are already people screaming that this violates the ADA. The ACLU should be stepping up to the plate at any moment...

[mafree]

I have flown in and out of Logan a number of times, and have long had the impresion that security there was lax compared to other airports. It's no surprise to me that they've gotten in trouble for security lapses in the past.

[I am still Casey]

Well...it's official...knives are banned, including the plastic ones at airport concession stands, according to talk radio.

Talk about a "closing the barndoor" mentality! Nothing like an overreaction.

No more plastic knives? Sure, that will work.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

"We have a very high security standard here," Lawless said. "We consider ourselves as secure, if not more secure, than any other airport in the United States."

Lawless is a disgusting liar.

A few weeks ago---maybe a month ago---WFXT, the local Fox affiliate in Boston, did an undercover investigation of the security system at Logan. It failed miserably, and the investigative journalists caught it all on camera. Producers were able to smuggle knives, simulated bombs, and simulated electrical detonating/eff with nav systems devices right through passenger check-in.

Several people lost their jobs. Many more were "sent back for more training."

Security at Logan is a JOKE. I've taken my Buck hunting knife and my Leatherman on any number of flights in my carry-on. The terrorists definitely ID'ed Logan as a gaping security hole. Ginny Buckingham's head should fly for this one.

BTW, I was in midtown Manhattan yesterday AM---drove down from MA the day before to catch the Sox/Yanks (got rained out). Even from that far away, the scene was straight out of a black and white WW2 movie....

[village idiot]

I'm curious at the **obviousness** of the "evidence"

you may have something there. I wonder what the Chinese have been up to. That would explain a delay in our retaliation. A war with China wouldn't be easy.

[village idiot]

Please tell me how stopping curbside baggage checkin would have stopped the hijackers of these four airplanes.

Answer, it would not!

Yes, and don't forget the huge loss of money in tips to skycaps.

[peteram]

Please tell me how stopping curbside baggage checkin would have stopped the hijackers of these four airplanes. Answer, it would not! More pablum and false security to pacify the sheeple.

And now, thousands of Skycaps are going onto the unemployment lines. (no joking implied)