Posted on 09/27/2001 9:12:23 AM PDT by Solson
Thursday September 27 11:04 AM ET Bush: Use Guard to Protect Airports
By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - President Bush urged governors Thursday to call up National Guard units to protect U.S. airports while he implements a long-term plan to secure airlines from terrorist attack. The package includes putting the federal government in charge of airport security.
Hoping to reassure jittery travelers, Bush also proposed spending $500 million on aircraft modifications that would deny or delay access to cockpits.
Terrorists hijacked four airplanes Sept. 11, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth crashed in Pennsylvania, apparently after passengers struggled with the hijackers. U.S. air travel has dropped sharply since the attacks.
The White House released an outline of Bush's air-security plan shortly before the president left for Chicago, where he was discussing the proposals with airline workers.
Hundreds of workers gathered outside an airport hangar to greet the president. Two jets were parked nose-to-nose at the event - one each from United Airlines and American Airlines, the carriers hijacked Sept. 11.
For the second time this year, Bush was having lunch here with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and brother of Al Gore's campaign chairman last year.
Bush said Wednesday he was offering the ``confidence-boosting measures and some concrete proposals'' to ``convince the American public it is safe to fly.''
``One of my concerns is that this terrible incident has convinced many Americans to stay at home,'' Bush said. ``And one of the keys to economic recovery is going to be the vitality of the airline industry.''
Bush's plan includes:
-Expanding the use of federal air marshals aboard commercial airliners. ``The requirements and qualifications of federal air marshals are among the most stringent of any U.S. federal law enforcement agency,'' the White House statement said.
-Spending $500 million on plan modifications, including efforts to restrict the opening of cockpit doors during flights, fortify cockpit doors to deny access from the cabin, alert the cockpit crew to activity in the cabin and ensure continuous operation of the aircraft transponder in the event of an emergency. The transponder allows air controllers to track a plane.
-Putting the federal government in charge of airport security and screening, including the purchase and maintenance of all equipment. The government would supervise passenger and baggage security and perform background checks on security personnel. Uniformed federal workers would manage all operations; federal and nonfederal workers would share the security work.
``Fully implementing the extensive security proposal may take four to six months,'' the White House statement said. ``During that time, the president will help ensure that every airport has a strong security presence by asking the governors of the 50 states to call up the National Guard - at the federal government's expense - to augment existing security staff at every commercial airport nationwide.''
Bush's trip to Chicago was the second time he has traveled on Air Force One since the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks on New York and Washington that left nearly 7,000 dead or missing.
White House officials said the administration has several other options under consideration, including installing cameras to monitor jetliner cabins. Bush also hopes to reopen Reagan National Airport outside Washington, the only airport still closed due to the Sept. 11 attacks, but is not yet convinced that flying there would be safe, aides said. He is examining options that could lead to the reopening of the airport.
Bush's plan does not include arming pilots, action requested by the pilots themselves. ``There may be better ways to do it than that, but I'm open for any suggestion,'' Bush said Wednesday, as aides privately confirmed that he is cool to the idea.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta boarded a commercial flight Thursday at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to demonstrate his confidence in the air system. He was bound for Chicago to join Bush, accompanied by Jane Garvey, head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mineta waited in a long line at a BWI security checkpoint. He placed a leather bag on a scanner's conveyor belt, took out his keys and walked through the metal detector. It beeped, prompting a security guard to give Mineta a thorough sweep with a hand-held detector before allowing him onto Concourse A.
Mineta called the system safe, secure and stable.
Bush's father, the nation's 41st president, planned a news conference at Logan Airport in Boston to reassure Americans before flying from Boston to Houston.
The White House is also eager to convince the public that life is returning to normal, and getting Americans back onto airplanes is part of the effort.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the number of commercial flights each day had returned to near normal, now at about 5,500, compared with the maximum before the attacks of 6,500.
However, relatively few people are on those flights. Delta Air Lines, for example, says its planes typically are only 35 percent filled.
Hey, Scott. I think every person on the planet knows this by now.
Just like it was in charge of security at Pearl Harbor, Ruby Ridge, Waco, the Oklahoma City Federal Building, the Pentagon, the WTC, the day President Reagan was shot -- and the day JFK was murdered!
Can't wait!
To paraphrase an old Southern expression "If the pilots ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
It seems like an easier solution would be to have standards for security checkpoint employees, and let the private sector handle it. We don't need more government goons who will abuse their power and then be immune from prosecution therefor.
I am all for less government intervention as well. However, the employers of these people need to do something to keep them on the job and alert.
1. Find a way to minimize the high turnover rate of employees.
2. It's great to have multi-lingual people in this position, however make sure that one of those languages IS English.
3. Train them in the use of firearms and/or the marshall arts. At least make them LOOK intimidating.
4. Update their knowledge on the latest "tricks" used to smuggle weapons and how to recognize them.
Otherwise, bring on the 6-foot-4 marine national guard in fatigues with a sidearm. At least to send a message that we are not fooling around.
We're getting some mixed signals from the White House.
On one hand, you have George W. Bush authorizing the military to shoot down hijacked airliners that might be headed toward targets in major cities. But on the other hand, Bush is apparently opposed to the idea of arming airline pilots. What's the deal here? Bush is perfectly willing to blow airplanes and the people in them out of the sky to protect people on the ground--but he won't give pilots a fighting chance to stop the hijackers from taking control of the aircraft? Does that make sense to anyone?
Let’s hope that Bush hasn’t been swayed by the anti-gun mania of the left? Has Bush fallen for the anti-gunners' lies that guns in the hands of civilians are a danger to all? If so, he may not realize that the majority of airline pilots are ex-military. They have a greater familiarity with guns than the average citizen. Under various proposals, pilots who want to arm themselves against hijackers would have to go through rigorous training similar to the training air marshals receive.
(Comment by Bachert: PARENTHETICALLY, I UNDERSTAND THE NEED TO BE THOROUGH, BUT WHY THE HELL MUST THESE AIR MARSHALS UNDERGO 32 WEEKS – 32 WEEKS -- OF TRAINING? IF IT TAKES THEM THAT LONG TO BE BROUGHT UP TO SPEED TO DRAW, AIM AND SQUEEZE OFF SOME BAD GUYS IN THE CONFINES OF AN ALUMINUM/TITANIUM TUNNEL, YA GOTTA WONDER ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE RECRUITS COMING TO THE PROGRAM. WANNA BET THAT IF THE “AUTHORITIES” DO RELENT AND LET THE PILOTS ARM THEMSELVES – WHICH, BY THE WAY, THEY ALREADY CAN UNDER CFR14.108.11!!! – THEY’LL “CATCH-22” THEM OUT OF THE NOTION BY DEMANDING THEY TAKE THAT 32 WEEK COURSE! IF THAT HAPPENS, ASK YOUR ALLEGED REPRESENTATIVE “WHY?”)
Guns in the hands of civilians are used to stop crime more than 7,000 times every single day.
Is Bush concerned that the pilots' guns might be taken away from them in a fight and used against them? If so, he probably isn't aware that when guns are used defensively, they're taken away from the victim less than one percent of the time. Is Bush worried that a stray gunshot will cause rapid and catastrophic decompression in the aircraft, ripping the plane's frame apart? It's never happened in real life--only in movies like "Goldfinger." A spy thriller isn't exactly the best teaching tool for the physics of decompression.
Or is Bush worried about accidental discharges in the cockpit? They're really negligent discharges. Proper training will prevent pilots from discharging their guns negligently. Only a fool places his finger on the trigger when he's not ready to shoot. It's usually the leftist gun grabbers who support the notion that military and police authorities should be the only ones with the guns. They think government officials should be the only ones with the ability to use deadly force.
Think about it. Who would you rather have as the last line of defense against a hijacker who wants to turn an airplane into a flying bomb? A blank-faced, minimally-skilled airport security worker who couldn't get a job at the local McDonald's, or an armed pilot? Of all the security improvements that have been thrown around since September 11, armed pilots are most likely to have prevented the hijacking of four commercial airliners and the deaths of 7,000 people. The terrorists took advantage of the gun-free atmosphere. They achieved their mission--and they only needed to use knives.
Let's hope President Bush comes around on this issue.
That's great. I'm all for the free-market system. One thing I wonder about is, there are airports like the one I use (Orlando International) that have security points in general use areas. In other words, these security checkpoints lead to multiple gate areas where there are several different airline companies operating their gates (with the exception of the Delta airside terminal - that's exclusively Delta Airlines/ComAir).
So, which airline is paying these people? Or are they being paid by the Airport Authority?
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