Posted on 05/08/2002 4:22:15 PM PDT by looney tune
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - Attracting little attention, the passenger walked quietly up the aisle of the plane and disappeared behind a partition close to the cockpit. Moments later, he jumped out, brandishing a large knife and shouting, "I take this plane in the name of Allah!"
But before he was able to gain control of the airliner, the sharp pop-pop of gunfire rang out and the hijacker fell to the floor, dead. The confrontation was over in seconds. The attacker was killed by air marshals posing as regular passengers on the flight.
Although it was only a simulated hijacking, the exercise was a dramatic display of the speed and tactics of the federal air marshals in the war against terrorism.
Hoping to calm the fears of jittery travelers since the Sept. 11 attacks, federal officials Tuesday gave the media a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of how the marshals are trained - including their deadly marksmanship on the firing range.
"If we have to fire our guns, we're aiming for a hit, to put them down. We're not looking to wound," Brad DeLauter, a firing-range instructor, said bluntly of the shoot-to-kill philosophy.
In the rush to improve airline security, the federal government is expanding dramatically the air marshal program. An aggressive recruiting campaign is under way, along with plans for a major buildup at the marshals' principal training ground, the Federal Aviation Administration's William J. Hughes Technical Center here.
More firing ranges, classroom space and training facilities will be built at the technical center in coming months to support the extraordinary growth, officials said. Currently, there is a scramble to find enough space to accommodate the trainees.
In the months since the terrorist attacks, the government has been flooded with more than 130,000 applications from people wanting to become air marshals. Officials overseeing the program won't disclose the number of people who will be hired, citing security reasons.
However, it is known that the government wants to create a veritable army of air marshals to fly on domestic and international flights. On Sept. 11, there were only 32 marshals on duty, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has divulged.
"There are many more flights being covered today, certainly more than before 9-11," said Tom Quinn, director of the federal air marshal service.
"You can see the number of flights being covered is significant ... both domestically and internationally," he added.
He was referring to flights being tracked inside an operations center known as "mission control." Stocked with computers and sophisticated communications equipment, the darkened room includes an electronic plotting board that shows many planes making their way across the United States.
Donald Anderson, assistant special agent in charge of systems operation control, explained that each flight displayed on the board is being protected by air marshals at that particular time. The specific flights and the number of air marshals on board are classified.
Complex computer software helps to determine which flights are guarded. To some extent, flights that have air marshals are selected randomly, but law-enforcement officials constantly are assessing possible threats to determine if more protection is needed, Anderson said.
"Threat-based analyses will always take precedence," he said.
Mission control, tucked inside a squat building on the grounds of the FAA Technical Center, provides round-the-clock support for air marshals across the country. It includes new automated systems and software put into action following the terrorist attacks, making the operation far more sophisticated.
"This deals with the tactical deployment of the federal air marshals - minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day," Quinn said.
While computers and high-tech communications equipment are modernizing the air marshal corps, old-fashioned firearms training remains at the heart of the program.
Air marshals must be highly skilled with firearms and go through some of the most rigorous training for federal law-enforcement officials. They must, after all, be able to take down hijackers without hitting any of the passengers crowded into the same jetliner.
Tuesday's media tour included a look at outdoor firing ranges and an indoor "shoot house" configured to resemble the cabin of a commercial airliner. News cameras were prohibited to protect secrecy. The firing ranges are hidden deep in the woods of a remote section of the FAA Technical Center, about 10 miles west of Atlantic City.
Using their handguns, six air marshals went through a series of drills representing the type of firefight that could be expected during a hijacking attempt. At first, they blasted away at large stationary targets from close range, then progressed to more difficult shooting that involved smaller moving targets.
For even more realism, the marshals train on board a wide-body Lockheed L-1011 jetliner packed with dummy passengers. Plastic bullets, however, are used for drills on the plane.
In one chilling scenario, air marshals simulated a fatal hijacking attempt by an armed man. Emerging from behind a partition with a large kitchen knife in hand, the hijacker menaced passengers for a few moments before he was shot dead by marshals.
Steven Mosley, an air marshal and training manager, said the events of Sept. 11 made it clear that hijackers are willing to die during their terrorist acts. As a result, air marshals must not hesitate in stopping terrorists, because the hijackers may not be willing to negotiate, he said.
"It was quite evident after 9-11 that they won't do that anymore," Mosley said.
Next time the snake will attack a different vulnerability.
That's what terrorism is. That's why we have to be vigilant, armed and ready.
Maybe someone can tell me which 'measure' put in place after 9/11 would have prevented 9/11?
Instructions for handling a Taser to guard an airplane cockpit: (1) Drop the taser (2) Grab the fire axe.
Well, as the plane is "packed with dummy passengers" it's not suprising they aren't that interested. However I'll bet the trainee marshals are watching every move the non-dummy "passenger" makes.
Leaving this media feeding propaganda aside.
Reality, terrorists will outnumber the marshal, and their first move will not be to wave a knife in the name of Allah.
It will be to identify the marshal, kill him, and take his gun away from him.
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