Afraid to fly since 9/11?

Stephen Kramer, Cartoonist ^ | 9/27/03 | Stephen Kramer

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I heard recently (possibly a FoxNews story or interview) that the terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda are actively trying to recruit people who do not fit the typical Arab profile (dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair). In fact, there was a blond-haired, blue-eyed person of Polish immigrant living in Germany who made headlines last year.

Terror Suspect’s Departure From Germany Raises Concern in Other Nations

Excerpt:

A German man under investigation for links to top figures of Al Qaeda slipped out of the country last month, withdrawing his four children from school, terminating his lease and obtaining visas for Saudi Arabia without attracting any attention from the police, according to German officials.

Christian Ganczarski, 36, a Polish immigrant who until recently lived in the western German city of Mülheim, had been under investigation since the German police overheard a telephone call from Nizar Nawar, shortly before Mr. Nawar detonated a bomb on April 11 in front of the Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba. The blast killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists.

Mr. Ganczarski is a figure who German prosecutors say may have been able to provide unique knowledge of Qaeda cells. Under interrogation, he has admitted to traveling five times to Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, including once about a month after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"This suspect stands out from all others because he has had contact with the inner circles of Al Qaeda," said Kay Nehm, Germany's chief federal prosecutor, in a recent interview. "We do not find such a witness every day. He is someone who knows a lot."

He is also a European Muslim convert, which might pose some concern to investigators. "The blond-haired, blue-eyed Al Qaeda terrorist is an investigator's nightmare because he does not fit the typical profile," Col. Nick Pratt, a professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, said in an interview.

Until recently, Mr. Ganczarski, who was unemployed, lived in Mülheim, near the industry of the Ruhr Valley. As a child, he immigrated to Germany from Poland under laws providing for the return of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe.

In the mid-1990's, Mr. Ganczarski converted to Islam. The police believe that he was recruited by Al Qaeda in nearby Duisburg. The suspected recruiter, Elfatih Musa Ali, also under investigation in connection with the Tunisian blast, left Germany for Sudan in May, according to the German weekly Der Spiegel.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I see that Christian Ganczarski was arrested by the French in June of this year.

[LPStar]

I fly as much as I can. I'm more afraid of insane drivers in the merge lane than I am of flying, and statistics prove I am correct.

[null and void]

I really do feel a bit better knowing a first hand report from someone who has personally seen people "on profile" searched. I've gotten several reports of them being utterly ignored.

I like the system Mexico used (and may still be using) Push a button, get a green light go through, get a red light get inspected.

Of course, Mexico doesn't have the same ideas of rights as we do being based on Napoleonic code, rather than British common law.

I find random searches in this country somewhat repugnant, but less so than reverse profiling, where anyone who actually looks like the known perps is scrupulously left alone for fear of being accused of discrimination!

I have talked to three people who've personally seen granny being searched on three separate occasions, while mohammad breezed through.

I'm glad there is some balance!

[null and void]

Yup! But to avoid checking people who match the profile of the only known perps is insane.

Fortunately I've gotten the first first hand report that I've heard that this is no longer the case.

[null and void]

I learned to drive in LA. Where else can you get a black belt in driving?

[SandwicheGuy]

It is sad that they are making the "security of the planes" an upward position path for they persons that use to bag our groceries at the food store.

Yeah, I know one, he freely states that it is the easiest way to get into Federal service. His sole goal in life is to get a Federal job. Nice guy, and one of the better ones. But the ones I generally run into ... They are Americans too, but damn I would never have a beer with them. 'Just doing my job, mon, just doing my job.' Yet we hanged people for doing their job at the end of WWII. How can they square 'doing their job' with the constant harassing of their fellow Americans?

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

Thanks, I have to put up, or be arrested, I have to fly.

Sucks to be you. =) I understand, completely. My last job required quite a bit of flying and there was really no way around it. You just can't drive from coast-to-coast quite fast enough. Maybe that Autobahn isn't such a bad idea! ;) Corporate Ferrari's, anyone?

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I wanted to post this last night, but I couldn't find it:

DEATH BY: YOUR ODDS
Cardiovascular disease: 1 in 2
Smoking (by/before age 35): 1 in 600
Car trip, coast-to-coast: 1 in 14,000
Bicycle accident: 1 in 88,000
Tornado: 1 in 450,000
Train, coast-to-coast: 1 in 1,000,000
Lightning: 1 in 1.9 million
Bee sting: 1 in 5.5 million
U.S. commercial jet airline: 1 in 7 million Sources: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California at Berkeley


Killed by Airline Crashes

While there are risks in using all forms of transportation, commercial airline travel is one of the safest. From January 1982 to March 2001, a period of 19.25 years, there were a total of 8,109,000,000 passenger enplanements. During that same time period, there were 2,301 fatalities (120 people killed on average each year), and 348 serious injuries. This amounts to a 0.00003% chance of being seriously injured or killed in a commercial aviation accident. This is far less than any other mode of transportation. [Source: NTSB, Passenger Fatalities, 1982 through March 2001.] 


The NTSB wishes to make clear to all......(that the list of airline crashes)...... cannot, by itself, be used to compare the safety either of operators or of aircraft types. Airlines that have operated the greatest numbers of flights and flight hours could be expected to have suffered the greatest number of fatal-to-passenger accidents (assuming that such accidents are random events, and not the result of some systematic deficiency). Similarly, the most used aircraft types would tend to be involved in such accidents more than lesser used types. The NTSB also cautions the user to bear in mind when attempting to compare today's airline system to prior years that airline activity (and hence exposure to risk) has risen by almost 100% from the first year depicted to the last.
updated February 2003

[headsonpikes]

If I wanted an anal probe, I'd fly by UFO...

Quote of the day! LOL!

[sandlady]

He is also a European Muslim convert, which might pose some concern to investigators. "The blond-haired, blue-eyed Al Qaeda terrorist is an investigator's nightmare because he does not fit the typical profile," Col. Nick Pratt, a professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, said in an interview.

Excellent example of a reason to screen beyond "middle eastern looking."

[Exit148]

Long before 9/11, during the height of all the hijackings, I was waiting for a coast to coast flight and noticed a man who immediately got my attention.

He was 40/50ish, dark, bearded, dressed in dark unpressed clothes and had a small satchel. He kept that bag close, between his legs, and sat straight up in his seat, looking straight ahead or down. I mean, he really stood out! My mind was filled with all kinds of scenarios. On the flight, he sat quietly and I never saw him get up. I didn't see the bag.

When we got to San Francisco, I last saw him surrounded by family (who looked just like him) and he was smiling and talking away! LOL! My fertile mind had judged a perfectly innocent traveler. Lesson learned.

[hadaclueonce]

I always want an Isle seat, heck you cannot see anything out the windows any way. I want to be ready to at least throw this "old tired body" in front of someone. Heck, they will not let me play football anymore, I will take one for the team.
Never ever forget...

[xp38]

I could be wrong but I don't think any train from Canada goes to Alaska. You can fly there of course or take a cruise ship up there and depending on conditions drive.

[tiamat]

I am pretty sure there is/was a train that went across Canada.

I'll see what I can find.

Tia

[xp38]

There are trains that go across Canada for sure but not up to Alaska is my thinking. Perhaps you are mixing up the Canadian Rockies with Alaska. Many postcard scenes of trains in the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta could make you think Alaska.

[inPhase]

Yeah, each day is precious.

Autobahn is awesome. But their greens want to bring in a limit 160km/hr I think, maybe less

and they have cameras installed to check speed on the backroads of SE/SW Munich/Baveria and enforce violations.

[tiamat]

Acch!

And I got sidetracked and never DID look!
You are probably right.
Still would be awfully fun to go!
i love trains.

Tia

[Pan_Yans Wife]

When he converted to Islam, he should have considered a name change. I doubt "Christian" is that popular for a first name.

[Spirited]

"Unless you are flying out of Chicago/Midway, that's a different story."

Better add D.C. to your list. They are phobic.
Family has flown umpty trips since 9/11. Put daughter on plane to UK last night. She will bounce back and forth to Europe several times through March. Others are also going in other European and U.S. directions.
The problem isn't the trip although the seats have gotten so tight you need to stay with airlines that give you more space. The trouble is the jack-rabbits who inspect your person and steal from your checked baggage(which must remain unlocked for no other good reason).
I would feel safer if concealed carry was allowed and pilots were all armed. The rub is the inmates (government elites) are running the assylum and they think everyone is as mental as they are.