I was worried this week that this fine balance between noble public words and hard-headed security measures would be jeopardized by the case of the Secret Service agent. If he were to sue (which he would prefer to avoid), the result could be more sensitivity to discrimination — and less vigilance. That’s a fair enough tradeoff in most places, but not at 30,000 feet.
Then a conversation with the agent’s lawyer, John Relman, convinced me that the story could have a happy ending, especially if the Secret Service agent forced the airlines to upgrade certain security precautions. “The agent is not challenging the right of the pilot to say, ‘I want you to step off the plane, and one of the reasons is what you look like,’” Relman says. “What we are challenging is the refusal to let the agent back on to the plane without establishing that he was a legitimate security risk.”
BACKGROUND CHECKS
Here’s where the facts of this particular case are relevant. The agent says he gave the pilot the phone number for the Secret Service and the general White House number to verify his identity; the airline says the pilot was worried that the agent, were he a terrorist, could just have a friend or co-conspirator answer the phone. That was an overreaction. Sure, the pilot has the right to be wrong in his suspicions, but why are airline personnel so untrained in basic security measures like background checks? The particular problem in this case would be easy enough to solve with a computer password or central phone number that could verify which government employees are permitted to carry a weapon. Imagine the other advantages of such inter-agency coordination. If it had been in place before Sept. 11, the FBI and the INS, for instance, might have communicated with each other and foiled the whole plot."
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All I want is an apology from the Pilot. He should have called the Whitehouse. He had 90 minutes to do so and only one "problem" passenger. He called other people. The White House Phone number is no secret. He was either too lazy to bother or had alterior motives
I watched another pilot talk about how they pull away from the gate with planes loads of fares (that's you and me) when they know it will be hours before they can take off just so they will get paid more. Seems ther time doesn't count until they pull away from the gate. That is all we are to them fares. Not people. They could care less about us as long as they get a bigger paycheck. If I pee my pants so what If I can't eat for four hours so what If the President can't have his SS Agent. So what. Not worth the time of a phone call and the embarsement of a hunch being wrong.
Right....so you want the pilot wait at the gate while the government comes up with this phone system.
This phone system would have prevented 9/11....The reason the terrorists were able to board the aircraft with their weapons was because prior to 9/11 they were not viewed as weapons. Blades less than 4 inches were not considered weapons. Even if they were detected, which they probably weren't.
Most large airfields these days don't allow pushback until an aircraft can be placed in the stack for takeoff. If you get stuck on the ground, the pilot should be able to tell you when you are slated to takeoff. It should be in his clearance. If you really think the pilots are trying to keep you trapped on their jet for their pocket book, fly with Southwest. Their pilots are payed by the leg miles and not time.
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Bwaaaahhhha Ha Haa. He wouldn't be a "secret" servive agent if everyone knew what he was! Bwwa Ha Ha!
The pilot acted exactly as he should have.