Security Issue

[WXGuesser]

I had an interesting experience while traveling recently, and it made me wonder about the security in airports...

I was traveling through a major Rocky Mountain area airport, and while waiting for my flight, I went to purchase some liquid refreshment before my flight. The little food court restaurant had one of my favorite brands of juice drink, so I purchased one and went back over to the seating area to await my flight.

It was then to my surprise that I realized the juice drink was in a glass bottle.

How easy would it be for Yahoo D. Terrorist to buy one of these, drink it, slip the bottle into his bag, go into the bathroom, break the bottle (inside a cloth item or something), keep it in his bag until he boards, and then use it as the 9/11 terrorists used their box-cutters? There is no security check after you enter the concourse.

Now, I can''t even have a nail clippers or a Swiss Army knife in my bag, but the airport can sell terrorists potential weapons at $3.00 a pop on the concourse?

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS A PROBLEM WITH THAT?

TANSTAAFL

 

[Chicken Taco]

You''re not the first person to spot this oversight and many like it. Unfortunately, as a pilot I deal with this nonsense on a daily basis. I''m flying the plane but I can''t carry a screwdriver for those ever-present loose interior trim screws or a wire coat hanger for my uniform jacket because I might use it as a weapon??? To do what, exactly? Hijack myself? I already HAVE control of the plane, I don''t need a weapon.

The problem is that our ever-vigilant force of the Thousands Standing Around are trained with reactionary logic. As you said a glass bottle could easily become a weapon. However, it hasn''t been done yet. Knives have been used, so now we use only plastic blades onboard and in the concourse restaurants. All blades of any sort are confiscated at the checkpoints. All reaction to historical events. Simple window dressing to make the average passenger FEEL safe. Any attempt to actually BE safe would reqire such "un-American" acts as paying special attention to likely terrorists based on ethnic background, issuing mandatory national ID documents, or building a trusted traveler database through background checks. But then again this is America, we couldn''t do such things HERE, could we???

..CT

 

[Barnstormer]

HOUSE AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE VOTES TO "CORRECT" AVIATION SECURITY LEGISLATION

On Wednesday, May 14, the House Aviation Subcommittee passed unanimously a large piece of legislation affecting aviation security, and there is plenty of encouragement for general aviation. Cited as the "Aviation Security Technical Corrections and Improvement Act of 2003," the legislation, if approved by the full congress, will provide some of the following: more reasonable procedures for flight training foreign students in aircraft over 12,500 pounds; provisions for banner towing operations to again overfly major sports stadiums; third-party review of TSA decisions regarding pilot certificate revocation on the basis of security; and the creation of a small business ombudsman within the Department of Homeland Security to look after the interests of small businesses impacted financially by security regulations.
"Much of what the subcommittee characterizes as 'corrections' are actually vindications for EAA and many other general aviation organizations who have advocated reasonable, prudent security measures that are commensurate with security risks," said EAA Vice President of Industry and Regulatory Affairs Earl Lawrence. "We will continue to voice concerns when we feel measures unduly burden general aviation pilots and businesses, and remain in continual contact with key administration and elected officials."
This legislation is the result of the hard work of many in the aviation industry and key GA supporters in Congress.

 

[JS]

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On 5/14/2003 1:29:38 AM Chicken Taco wrote:

You''re not the first person to spot this oversight and many like it. Unfortunately, as a pilot I deal with this nonsense on a daily basis. I''m flying the plane but I can''t carry a screwdriver for those ever-present loose interior trim screws or a wire coat hanger for my uniform jacket because I might use it as a weapon??? To do what, exactly? Hijack myself? I already HAVE control of the plane, I don''t need a weapon.

The problem is that our ever-vigilant force of the Thousands Standing Around are trained with reactionary logic. As you said a glass bottle could easily become a weapon. However, it hasn''t been done yet. Knives have been used, so now we use only plastic blades onboard and in the concourse restaurants. All blades of any sort are confiscated at the checkpoints. All reaction to historical events. Simple window dressing to make the average passenger FEEL safe. Any attempt to actually BE safe would reqire such "un-American" acts as paying special attention to likely terrorists based on ethnic background, issuing mandatory national ID documents, or building a trusted traveler database through background checks. But then again this is America, we couldn''t do such things HERE, could we???

..CT

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Thank goodness we don''t. Mandatory national ID documents or a trusted traveler database is un-American. What''s worse is that it woulnd''t do any good.

The 9/11 hijackers succeeded because our old policy was to cooperate with hijackers. That policy effectively ended before the day was over -- UA 93 was the first flight to demonstrate the new policy of beating the #### out of the hijackers rather than cooperating.

Who the hell cares if you have a glass bottle? It won''t do any good when you try to use it to hijack a plane and find scores of angry passengers killing you in response.