First on that list was the spectacular saga of TWA Flight 847, a Boeing 727 commandeered by Shiite militiamen in June of '85. Even before that crisis ended, Sikh extremists would blow up Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland -- the deadliest civil aviation bombing in history. The Abu Nidal group then murdered 20 people at the airports in Rome and Vienna, followed in short order by the bombing of TWA Flight 840 as it descended toward Athens. Abu Nidal struck again in Karachi, attacking a Pan Am 747 with machine guns and grenades. Then, in December 1988, Libyan operatives planted the luggage bomb that brought down Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in what would stand until 2001 as the worst-ever terror attack against a U.S. target. The Libyans later used another luggage bomb to take out UTA Flight 772 over Niger in September 1989.The writer is an airline pilot who is worried about the overreaction that will occur after the next incident.
Also occurring in that same span were the non-terrorist bombing of a Korean Air Lines 707 and the downing of a San Francisco-bound Pacific Southwest Airlines flight by a recently fired employee who burst into the cockpit and shot both pilots...
With respect to airport security, it is remarkable how we have come to place Sept. 11, 2001, as the fulcrum upon which we balance almost all of our decisions. As if deadly terrorism didn't exist prior to that day, when really we've been dealing with the same old threats for decades. What have we learned? What have we done?...
We continue enacting the wrong policies, wasting our security resources and manpower... Cargo and packages go uninspected while passengers are groped and harassed over umbrellas and harmless hobby knives. Uniformed pilots are forced to remove their belts and endure embarrassing pat-downs...
In the 1980s we did not overreact. We did not stage ill-fated invasions of distant countries. People did not cease traveling and the airline industry did not fall into chaos. We were lazy in enacting better security, perhaps, but as a country our psychological reaction, much to our credit, was calm, measured and not yet self-defeating.
12 November 2010
Airport security before 9/11
A column at Salon reminds us that we lived with terrorism long before 9/11/01, and our response was much more measured and less theatrical. He cites the period 1985-1989:
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In the 80's we also didn't have the internet, which I'm afraid, has made local events into global affairs. With knowledge comes power... not always in the right hands.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I'm officially not flying on commercial airlines as it requires allowing a complete stranger to either look at or touch one's genitals. Nope, not doing it. I'm also writing letters to the airlines explaining why they've lost a customer.
ReplyDeleteI'm more worried about the TSA than the terrorists now. Not a good state of affairs.
Three months after 9/11, my husband and I took advantage of the almost-free flights and traveled from Baltimore to Denver with a connection in either Wisconsin or Minnesota, I can't remember which. When we arrived at BWI, there was a 4 hour wait to get through security and army personnel with very large machine guns were everywhere. It wasn't until our trip home that the Denver airport security pulled my husband aside and emptied his backpack. He'd forgotten (from a long-ago camping trip) a folding hunting knife with a 6" blade in an inner pocket of the bag. So it seems that we breezed through the tightest security BWI could muster while carrying a deadly weapon.
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, it's a good thing they didn't find it. We'd have probably been shot.
Yes, we should inspect cargo more. Anyone want to pay for that? As far as passenger screening goes, I think it's fine. I fly a great deal and have never been upset. If you get all the metal off you, you walk through the metal detector no problem. If you don't bring knives and don't ignore the liquid rules, no problem. What they took your 16 oz bottle of shampoo? You poor delicate flower. If you have a metal hip, yes, you get a pat down. Oh, the humanity: they want to know if you have a gun hidden. Where do they get off? Let's just target Middle Eastern men? It's ridiculous that people complain. Maybe they should have a separate airline for people who don't want to bother with the indignity of people looking for underwear bombers. You don't have to take your shoesies off.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with people is that they're human. It's a fine line we walk everyday, and everyday we fall off to one side or the other.
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