Posted on 01/09/2002 3:39:27 AM PST by Byron_the_Aussie
US President George W. Bush is sceptical about American Airlines' claim that it removed an Arab-American agent in Bush's security team from a plane for being "hostile".
"I know the man, I am most appreciative of his service to me and my wife. He is an honorable fellow," Bush said.
"I would be surprised if he was hostile."
The US Secret Service, which is responsible for presidential security, said in late December it had launched an inquiry into why the agent, headed to Texas to protect a holidaying Bush, was removed from the aircraft.
The agent, speaking through his lawyers, said he was barred from the Baltimore (Maryland) to Dallas (Texas) flight because of his ethnicity, amid fears sparked by the September 11 terrorist strikes.
"If he was mistreated because of his ethnicity, I'm going to be plenty hot. That means angry," Bush said.
But he added: "I wasn't there, so it's hard for me to comment on something which I did not see."
Byron: "No way. They don't come less PC than me. "
If you're not pc then why do you immediately assume the pilot is to blame in this issue? That is a pc viewpoint. White American males are racists. Therefore this pilot acted purely out of a knee jerk racist response.
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
Me2, 3 and 4!
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
According to federal regulations, the pilot is THE safety officer on the plane, making him fully and solely responsible for all safety issues including letting armed passengers aboard.
Its not American's (AA) responsibility, its the pilots by federal law.
I think its logical to give this responsibility to the pilot because he has a vested interest. Who do you think should have it and another issue that has not been addressed is What should be the pilots priorities minutes before the flight. Also keep in mind he had two crew members who brought their concerns to him. How does he just dismiss them without looking into it for himself. What if something happened and one of the crew members got injured or killed, how does the pilot look the family of the crew in the eye ?
Personally, I think the pilot should have just bumped the guy at the outset and paid 100% attention to the plane. I don't want my pilot playing private eye an 1/2 hour before he is due to take off. I want him checking and re-checking his istruments.
I see all those therapy sessions are paying off. Keep it up - soon you'll be ready for out-patient status.
Kind of ironic (or disingenuous) coming from you. Looking over your posting history you seem to have a strange obsession with racial issues. From my experience people who fixate on race invariably turn out to be a closet bigots.
Uhhh.... "Support collective guilt?" How are we supporting collective guilt by pointing out that all of the terrorists were Arabs, and all of their sympathizers are Arabs, and all of the nations that celebrated and condoned the attack are Moslem? Turning that around and claiming that we said the reverse - that all Arabs or Moslems are terrorists - is sloppy dissembling. By your logic, we couldn't single out Australians for kangaroo poaching, we'd have to hassle the Kiwis and Canucks just to make it fair.
Why don't you take a deep breath, step back and think about what you are posting. You already sound like a bigot, and with some of these latest posts you are coming across as some kind of a wackjob. This is not meant as anything personal -- I'm only suggesting a different approach to getting your point across.
Nope. If he doesn't require the firearm in the performance of his duty aboard the aircraft, i.e. transporting a prisoner or protecting a VIP, the pilot can - and usually will - ask him to check the piece with his luggage. Happens every day. Ask any pilot.
The further from ground zero people are, the braver and cockier they get. It would seem that you're at least 16,000 miles braver and cockier.
Here is the DOT circular for clearance of armed passengers. http://cas.faa.gov/readingroom/circulars/carweap.html#top
Pilots don't clear armed passengers. It's supposed to be done at check in and security. According to the pilot's statement the American form he was givin by American personel was illegible. That's American's screw-up, not the agent's. The AA station manager is supposed to countersign the clearance form verifying identification. So why didn't the pilot contact the person responsible for the initial clearance instead of calling someone in ops 1000 miles away? Why didn't he talk to AA security instead of ops? Why did the pilot at first refuse to call the Secret Service and instead ask for photos of all "known terrorists"? Then, after refusing to call the Secret Service, he calls over a Baltimore airport cop, thinking he may be able to identify a secret service agent?? When ops finally called the Secret Service and found out the agent really was Secret Service, a reasonable person would have apolgized for the screw up and let him on the plane. Instead, they shift their ground and deny him boarding for being agitated! Of course he was agitated - the pilot failed to follow DOT procedure or common sense (call the Secret Service first instead of calling for mug shots, please) and refused him boarding! According to the pilot's statement the agent only became upset after it appeared he would be denied boarding.
Look at the vaunted "form" in the DOT circular. It just repeats the info that's on the ticket. So form one has a strike out to correct what? The flight number? Then he didn't check whether he was escorting a passenger or traveling alone? As if Captain Clouseau didn't already know? Then after being forced to fill it out for the third time he didn't sign? You'll see the signature line is far down the form after some text - and the captain already had two signatures.
The statement reveals what really happened here. The stewardess, undoubtedly trained in counter-terror operations, saw a book in his carry on with "Arabic style print." Gosh, we're at war in Afghanistan and against Al-Qaeda everwhere, and a passenger is reading a book on the Middle East? Whoda thunk?
According to the captain's own statement he disregarded the DOT and AA clearance procedure, at first refused to try to verify the agent's credentials, failed to contact the station manager who initially verified ID, failed to contact AA security, tried to verify Secret Service status through the Baltimore airport police, and used alleged "errors" on a form calling for information he already knew as a pretext to deny boarding. And after this Keystone Cops farce, the captain complains the man lost his temper! Mirable dictu!
LOL.
We just want security measures in place that (hopefully) will make it (relatively) safe to fly. I prefer an airline that takes a reasonably cautious approach to security -- when in doubt err on the side of caution. I don't think anyone is in favor of allowing "bad guys" on flights, but most of the security screening is done prior to boarding and outside the control of the airlines.
If profiling was not a significant part of this incident, then we will have been right all along. On the other hand, if profiling was a part of this incident, then I will still be happy since profiling is a perfectly rational approach to screening.
Sure sounds like the Prez is sending signals here. Not much support in these lines.
Almost as good as mine; I was stripped searched at the security check in and then when I went to get my boarding pass I was told I had been selected for a security check. They were different guys and they didn't make me strip but they did wanna see inside my carry on, give me the pat down and wave the magic wand and check the ID I'd shown at the ticket counter (I was flying on a Southwest Airlines coupon, thus the ticket counter), the security screening and the gate check in. I hope they finally figured out who I was. I was considering stapling my drivers license to my forehead by then or maybe a tasteful barcode tatoo.
Comrade, your papers are not in order....
Almost as good as mine; I was stripped searched at the security check in and then when I went to get my boarding pass I was told I had been selected for a security check. They were different guys and they didn't make me strip but they did wanna see inside my carry on, give me the pat down and wave the magic wand and check the ID I'd shown at the ticket counter (I was flying on a Southwest Airlines coupon, thus the ticket counter), the security screening and the gate check in. I hope they finally figured out who I was. I was considering stapling my drivers license to my forehead by then or maybe a tasteful barcode tatoo.
Comrade, your papers are not in order....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.