Posted on 05/13/2005 3:07:53 AM PDT by endthematrix
D.C. police officials had no idea that fighter jets and helicopters were being deployed over Washington to intercept an errant plane on Wednesday, even though they had a sergeant in the nation's homeland security command center and the ability to monitor what was taking place at their own headquarters.
At the Homeland Security Operations Center, a command post built after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the D.C. government was relying on a sergeant to keep track of any potential crisis. But it was not until the air scare was nearly over that he got word to police commanders
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Knowing of the DC police Dept, just as well they did'nt know anything.
Answer:
.....it didn't fit the....'profile'....?
I thought the whole point of all the reorganization was to keep everyone in the loop? You mean bureaucratic reorganization didn't work? How can that be?
"if we don't know what's going on, how are we going to respond incompetently?"
I was a sergeant that my superiors counted on to raise the alarm. I would have looked at the same facts and reacted the same way. C-150 (stupid pilot) wandered into restricted airspace (happens all the time) shadowed by a F-16 capable of shooting him out of the sky at any time. I’m going for a cup of coffee. Call me if something unusual happens.
I guess sergeants aren’t to be trusted with decisions.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ I agree,
I've heard the poor law abiding can't even conceal and carry in DC, the cops aren't gonna protect all those people anyways when the real crap hits the fan, and they will be too busy fearing for their own lives if the terrorists really decide to strike.
" Watcha gonna do, bad boy, bad boy, watcha gonna do when the dunkin donuts conks out? "
With that said I realize how the media would have gone into a frenzy had we shot down that plane only to realize it was not some terrorist plot but two clueless dumbos fiddling with their lives (flying in a no-fly zone without having the ability to know exactly where you are should be classified in the same category as Russian Roulette and Kissing Cobras ....suicidal). Anyways, had the plane been splashed i can assure you that the media would have been talking about it for the next 5 months. It would have eclipsed their silly rants over Abu Ghraib.
All the same by not immediately splashing it we sent a clear message to Jihadis. Guess either way the result would not have been perfect (which is why i think some sort of action should be taken against those pilots ....at the very least their pilot licenses should be affected in some detrimental way. Their stupidity could have been far worse and even cost lives ....i.e if they were shot down there is a chance the debris could have damaged property or hurt people based on where they were when they finally turned).
Now the terrorist know as much about what we don't know as we know about how much we don't know!
Our leadership and defense planners are so bright!
"The funny thing about the whole incident is the message it gave to Jihadi scum. Basically that they can get quite close before lethal action is implemented."
Good point. We need to get tougher. Some idiot comes within a certain number of miles, shoot the guy down and ask questions later. That's what we all expected anyway.
Maybe the senate should have their own radar system. But that would seem kind of odd, for Senator Kennedy and Schumer to be checking in on the 'Senate Radar System'. There could be a 'Senate Radar Committee'. They should not feel completely reliant on the president for safety, I suppose. But it would get weird.
I think the reason this A/C was not shot down was the collateral damage issue. With buildings evacuated, and thousands of innocents now out in the streets, a "blowed-up" cessna would kill more than a couple of stupid pilots (and, I'm a pilot.. so I feel fine calling them on this), as it likely WOULD kill totally innocent bystanders on the ground. Thus, the powers that be needed just one more thread of terrorist intent to pull the trigger. A meandering C150 did not fit the bill...
Is there a way for their licenses to be revoked? I don't think they should be allowed to waltz off scott free.
I heard on WMAL this morning that the sergeant did not have the required security clearance to be told about this emergency. Also, Police Chief Ramsey's hotline to the FAA was disconnected. More of the same from DC government.
all it takes is an FAA notice requesting the pilot surrender his license, and then hearings would be in order to determine that restricted airspaces were violated, and the appropriate punishment. Wasn't one of the guys a student pilot? That would mean he only had an aviation medical.
A while back, I did some interactions with the DC govt. Made a grown man want to cry.
If too many alerts are given out, the MSM goes into full hysteria mode. Are they ever happy about anything?
Here is the nightmare scenario I came up with: small plane able to carry 600lbs of payload, trainer type with large wing area that makes it easier to fly, like maybe a Cessna 170. Ceiling is 14,000 feet.
Plane is loaded with jihadi + 400lbs of explosives. When target is within range of the glide path (C170 could glide 10 miles or more at 14000 feet), plane is oriented toward target, engine shut off, altimeter turned off (if it was even on).
Pilot rides the plane down; on first seeing intercept aircraft, radios in that his engine is not working/makes other excuse, in order to delay being fired upon. Then does other things while getting closer to the target... and eventually hits it while ground control dithers over giving him more time to fix the engine.
AT each major airport there are fuel tanks that contain a million gallons or more of fuel. A hit on one of those would be bad.
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