Another 9/11 is just a matter of time.
Especially when those who should give a damn about safety don't. Found this via Religion of Peace at www.myfoxphilly.com;
A South Jersey woman got the scare of her life when she tried to report suspicious activity on board a plane Philadelphia International Airport.
The woman shared details of her terrifying ordeal only with Fox 29 News on Wednesday.
Now, she's wondering if it was some kind of sick joke or a test run for a terrorist.
Fox 29's Dave Schratwieser reported that 12 days after her red-eye flight from Los Angeles, the US Airways passenger is still upset over an incident on her flight, the reaction to it by the flight crew, and the lack of reaction from authorities.
"I was trembling, and I was just completely frightened," said the mother of three.
She won 't soon forget her latest US Airways flight from L.A. to Philadelphia after she encountered a passenger on board who scared the daylights out of her.
"He starts talking to himself. Then he goes, 'Detroit, huh-huh-huh,' like that, and it was really, really frightening," she said. (I'm starting to favor allowing concealed carry on airplanes, this is one reason why.)
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said the passenger was Muslim and repeatedly made a reference to the latest terrorism incident in Detroit on Christmas Day with the so called "underwear bomber."
The passenger immediately told a flight attendant, who then told the pilot before the plane even left the gate.
What the flight attendant said next shocked the passenger: "'The pilot has asked me to ask you if you think we should leave the gate.' And I looked at her, and I said, 'What?'" (The pilot is looking to the passenger for guidance? WTF!!)
The woman told Fox 29 News no one from the flight crew spoke to the man or investigated further. Then, the pilot made a call to the flight attendant.
The passenger said the flight attendant, "Looks at me and says, 'We need an answer.' … She's like, 'We're gonna go, but I'll keep an eye on him.'" (I can understand the passenger being speechless, you'd expect something in the way of decisive action from the pilot and crew in these circumstances. Giving the "shipyard salute" aka shrugging the shoulders isn't really to be expected.)
The flight took off. The woman sat terrified for five hours all of the way to Philadelphia.
Then, just before the plane landed, the pilot ordered everyone to remain seated. The passenger said that's when the man got up, walked to the rear of the plane and put his backpack in an overhead bin, then went to the bathroom. (And no one stopped him? I know if I got up to use the can at that time there'd be an attendant on my butt PDQ)
"I'm like, 'This is it, this is how I'm gonna die,'" she said.
No one questioned the woman or the suspicious passenger in Philadelphia.
When she tried to report it to the Transportation Security Administration, Homeland Security, US Airways, even the FBI, she got nowhere.
"He listened to my entire story, never took my name, the flight information, nothing, and told me that, if there was an issue, US Air would have contacted them," the woman said. (Too bad she didn't get the agent's name and have it pasted all over this story.)
The woman said US Airways told her if the man got through security, there's nothing to worry about. ("The system worked", right?)
A TSA spokesperson told Fox 29 that if you have an incident like this onboard a flight you should immediately report it to a TSA customer service person at the airport when you arrive. (Fat lot of good that does after the fact.)
Think I'll take a train if theres a need to travel. Maybe a bus would be better.
3 comments:
with this negligence, the next one might as well be a dirty bomb. then washington d.c. will be a really quiet place for the next 500 years.
Ditto on the train. Never was a big fan of flying anyway. What happens if you run out of gas? There's no AAA to bring you a gallon or two.
On a serious note. What happened to moral obligations or good ol' fashioned common sense?
Geeeeshh!
Pops
Rick, a dirty bomb is an increasing possibility. But the thought of Foggy Bottom being quiet has some appeal.
Pops, moral obligations are a thing of the past. I rediscover that everytime the topic comes up these days. Seems the prevailing mindset is, "So what's in it for me?"
The same goes for common sense.
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