Posted on 08/27/2002 4:52:54 PM PDT by SBeck
Fighter Jet Escorts Plane to Maryland
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:27 p.m. ET
LINTHICUM, Md. (AP) -- Two military jets escorted a US Airways flight to Baltimore-Washington International Airport after a ``miscommunication'' Tuesday between the pilot and air traffic controllers, officials said.
``The pilot said something to the control tower that was perceived as a possible security threat. What he said I don't know,'' said David Castelveter, a spokesman for US Airways, calling it a ``miscommunication.''
The miscommunication came shortly after Flight 1814 took off at 8:07 a.m. from Charlotte, N.C., for BWI, Castelveter said.
Two F-16 jets from Andrews Air Force Base were sent to intercept and escort the Airbus A319, said Maj. Ed Thomas of the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The plane landed about 9:30 a.m. and was boarded by FBI agents, who talked to the crew of five and the 45 passengers and concluded it was a false alarm, said FBI spokesman Barry Maddox.
Passengers were released from the plane shortly after 11 a.m. They said the plane's crew gave them little information and were unaware of a problem until the plane landed and was surrounded by police cars.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration were investigating.
Passenger Ebony Gill, 18, of Baltimore, said she was thinking of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as she waited for agents to clear the plane.
``It was terrifying,'' she said. ``But we're safe, and I guess they were just taking the proper precautions, and I can't complain too much about that.''
Now, if we could only buy the FAA and/or Homeland Security a clue......
The problem with reverse psychology like this is that it can be reversed any number of times. If "everybody knows" that they won't hit airplanes again, then wouldn't it be a good place for them to hit? The most likely place for them to hit will be a function of opportunity and desirability.
No, they won't....our bureacracy will have these draconian "security measures" in place long after what used to be Iraq is just another inlet in the Persian Gulf. There are easier plums, now, than airplanes....more of 'em and a whole lot easier.
The long term goal of terrorists is to provoke the targeted government into such overreaction that the people learn to hate and fear government oppression more than they hate and fear the terrorists. But the architects of 9-11 appear to have overestimated us. Americans are sheepishly welcoming the new police state with open arms, as evidenced by the compliant attitude of ...Ebony Gill, 18, of Baltimore... as she waited for agents to clear the plane. "It was terrifying," she said. "But we're safe, and I guess they were just taking the proper precautions, and I can't complain too much about that."
Miss Gill is ready for the brave new world. I prefer freedom to the "safety" of the rapidly-approaching police state.
No doubt. How many times during a football game does a team get away with the same trick play twice?
I got a kick out of your "tinfoil" comment! You know, my grandparents had faith that sanity would survive the New Deal, and that the temporary withholding of income taxes would end (as promised) after WWII. Sadly, there is no such thing as "temporary" emergency powers; autocrats and bureaucrats just love them too much to let them go...
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