Flight Attendant: Uniform, ID, Key Stolen
By Melanie Lefkowitz and Simone Weichselbaum
Staff Writers
July 15, 2002
Police are investigating a flight attendant’s report that her Delta Airlines uniform, identification and a key used on airplanes were stolen from her Astoria apartment during a break-in this weekend, officials said Monday.
The attendant, who shares an apartment on Crescent Street near LaGuardia Airport with three other airline employees, told police Sunday night that she came home from work to find her apartment door open and several items missing, including her uniform, flight book, bag tags, two cartons of cigarettes and about $20, police said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the theft does not appear to be related to terrorism but it is being investigated by the NYPD-FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force just in case.
“At this point we have no reason to believe it’s anything but a burglary for profit,” Kelly said, “but again, we’re much more sensitive now.”
The woman was returning with her roommate Saturday night from a three-day trip when she said she discovered the break-in, police said. She reported the theft the following day.
The missing key is used to open an overhead bin containing defibrillator equipment, said a Delta Airlines spokeswoman, Dee Baker.
In the past, police said, such keys could access cockpit doors but since Sept. 11 security has been tightened.
“Flight attendants don’t carry or ever have in their possession keys to the cockpit,” Baker said.
Police are investigating whether any of the items reported stolen had been missing previously. Baker said she was unaware of the flight attendant reporting anything lost or stolen before the break-in.
A neighbor of the women, Susan Santos, said she noticed their apartment door slightly open Friday but thought nothing of it at the time.
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.