Posted on 07/19/2004 10:15:47 AM PDT by jimbo123
Last Tuesday morning, WomensWallStreet.com (WWS) published my first-person account of a recent Northwest Airlines flight that I took from Detroit to Los Angeles called Terror in the Skies, Again? A heads up about this article went out in our Daily Cents email -- our subscriber newsletter which primarily features financial tips and information for women.
On Wednesday morning, the WWS page views were unusually high, something like 10 times the normal amount. Apparently our readers had been emailing the article to their friends, family and colleagues and everyone was reading it.
By Thursday morning, that number had again multiplied ten-fold. It felt like the shampoo commercial from my youth: they told two friends, then they told two friends, then they told two friends. We sat in the WWS offices reading through your emails, taking stock of what you had to say. As the afternoon went on, the number of people reading the article continued to increase and the telephone was ringing off the hook.
And then a powerful thing happened. The mainstream media started calling.
The following statement was made by Daniel Drezner, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, on his website danieldrezner.com:
I received a mass email linking to this disturbing first-person account by Annie Jacobsen... I can say that the e-mail sent to me and other bloggers was cc-ed to movers and shakers in the mediaspere -- Bill Keller, David Ignatius, George Will, Anne Applebaum, and Nicholas D. Kristoff. So they're certainly aware of the story... I'd like to see real journalists dig deeper into this.
Dig they did. NBC was the first major news outlet to contact WomensWallStreet. The producer I spoke with on the telephone said the FBI had confirmed that 14 Syrians were on the flight, they confirmed the details about what happened upon landing in Los Angeles, and they said that the accounts from the flight attendants regarding what happened during the flight matched the accounts given by me and my husband to the FBI after we landed.
Then I spoke with a producer from ABC. She explained that she could not get Dave Adams, Head of Public Affairs of the Federal Air Marshal Services (FAM), on the phone. So she asked me some of the questions that she had wanted to ask him: Where exactly did this band of 14 musicians play? What was the name of the band? Who booked the band and what kind of music did they play? Did anyone follow up and actually witness these 14 men performing at their desert casino gig? I had none of the answers, even though I had asked Adams these exact questions myself when we spoke last week. The ABC producer also asked me other questions which had crossed my mind after hanging up with Adams. Did I know anything about their return flight on JetBlue? Did the men go back to Syria? Did I believe FAM's story?
(Excerpt) Read more at womenswallstreet.com ...
I printed the original story last week and brought it home. My 21 year old son read it and summed it up in a few words. "These people are IDIOTS! They are so STUPID because they worry about offending someone, and they let the bad guys through, unhampered! I am not surprised at the TSA is fining the airlines and not doing the job of airline security, because the Transportation Secretary is a DemocRAT!".
He is definately getting some great real life political lessons recently!
You got it. I'll find something cool, with airplanes for those of us that buy the gas.
Never are they with a spouse, always alone, suit coat on, military style haircut, supportive shoes, etc.
I know we're not SUPPOSED to know but to calm a passenger who is obviously concerned, I'm sure they'll quietly tell someone.
Are you so certain that that was not the case? Personally, I think McVeigh knew a lot more than he told. I still wonder what happened to John Doe #2... There were just too many sightings..
As for this airline story, I'm not so sure that the lady in question isn't over-reacting -- although I do think that the whole scenario is suspicious.
I thought the part of the story where the FA said that they were surrounded by Air Marshalls was very strange. I really question if that statement would have been made to a member of the general public.
Really, wouldn't the best security check at an airport be "Please show your weapon has a clear chamber before bording". Then the game would be, "who splurged for the cor-bons".
That's good for me. I am nearing the point of asking the mods to remove all traces of me on this thread.
And after that they tell the passenger that the Captain is concerned.
Yep Marshalls are easy to spot. But a lot of Non-Marshalls look like Marshalls. Either way a flight crew usually wants the passengers calm. I think this lady was hyperventilating or something.
I really would like to ban a lot of people from flying or living in the Great Nation and send them home. Foriegn Muslims and then Lying Democrats. Both are a threat to our future.
Anyway I have been a good sport in spite of being jumped on. To understand me better go to my Profile Page and click, "It's personal", I posted it under my old Freeper name Flurry.
Later.
McVeigh was not alone. But he was not middle eastern.
You've got valid points. I don't think I've been one to jump on you too hard. You're right- trust then verify. But the story sounds legit.
This picture is haunting. For a long time I kept it in my office. I still think about this picture and I wonder about this man --- his daily life, what he did for work, what he did for play, what his thoughts were about the world. I think about this person. I think about the meaning of "dry run." And then I think about what it means to be politically correct. And I keep coming up blank.
BTTT
This part has always impressed me.
Bump...
I used to be a bouncer at a pretty popular bar in downtown St. Louis. You always learned to be very vigilant and position yourself appropriately. But if you panicked - you would cause mass chaos. the same goes nowadays.
Bump...she'll be on Scarborough Country tonight.
That is the missing piece to this puzzle. If, as was claimed by these 14 guys and the TSA, this band went on to play for a month at a casino, this whole story goes away and becomes something mundane (like these guys were doing cocaine in the bathroom).
If nobody can confirm what happened after they got to LA, then this story is relevant.
You make good points. I hope she's not embellishing the story at all. But at the very least, it's providing some of the airline employees a chance to vent some frustration, and also bringing the PC discussion back to the forefront.
Where is the orignal story? I read it from their website, I just wanted to see the comments on FR regarding this issue.
I can't believe this is the first I am hearing of this. This is outragous. We need a big round up and throw these scumbags out of the country once and for all!
If I was in the pilot's shoes, I would have done an emergency landing at the nearest airport and had the airport cops storm on board.
I was on a flight from LA to NY where a couple of drunk passengers became unruly. The pilot landed in Denver, cops came on board and we were back in the air in half an hour.
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