New airline idea: goal is to beat the odds

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Columnist Jeremy Clarkson, at The Sun, has come up with a brilliant airline concept: take it easy, and play the odds. He laments the fact that it takes “about six years” to check in and considers the security process to be troublesome. They won’t even let you keep your toothpaste!

Of course, we have all this security in place for a reason. There are many threats to safety … and it’s not just terrorism. We’ve had smokers on Saudi flights, and drunk passengers remain a perpetual problem. Yet, what are the odds of being killed by international terrorism? Clarkson puts it at about the same as drowning in a bathtub. Since the 1960s, he continues, eating peanuts and being struck by lightning have proved more lethal. Worldwide, there are approximately 70,000 flights every day, with only 50 or so hijacked in the past 40 years.

With no security, this number is likely to increase. Even if thousands of planes are hijacked a day, he observes, more than 60,000 will land as usual.

This leaves the unfortunate question, though. Mr. Clarkson: are you willing to take those odds? One in seven?

Not me …

Air France jet diverts after being told to stay clear of US airspace

by Scott Carmichael on

If you ever wondered just how serious the US takes its security policies, then read on, because even people on the terrorist watch list that are flying over the US are enough of a threat to force a plane to divert.

An Air France flight from Paris to Mexico had to make an unscheduled stop in Martinique when US air traffic controllers notified the jet that it would not be receiving permission to fly over US airspace.

That’s right – the plane was not en route to the US, just passing over some of it, on its way to Mexico.

On board the plane was Colombian Journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina, who works for Le Monde Diplomatique.

What makes the whole incident even more interesting is that Air France had only sent its passenger manifest to the Mexicans, but now it is clear that Mexico shares this information with the United States.

Hernando Calvo Ospina has written articles about the United States involvement in Latin America, and is currently writing a book about he CIA. The exact reason for him being on the terrorist watch list is unknown, and we’ll probably never know what criteria are used for adding people to it. Air France is considering asking the United States for compensation. Good luck with that.

Update: A commenter left this link to a detailed descrption of what happened, written by the “terrorist” himself.

Canadian hostages in Jamaican airport

by Tom Johansmeyer on

One man with a gun can do a lot of damage. A weapon-wielding nut-job held around 180 hostages on a Canadian plane in Jamaica yesterday. He chose the landing in Jamaica as his time to act. All passengers were eventually released unharmed, but five of the original seven crew members were still held hostage in the CanJet plane at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. (CNN reports that he’s holding six crew members.)

Only one shot has been fired, but nobody was hurt.

According to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, “It’s likely that two of the crew members may be locked up in the cockpit.”

CanJet says in a statement on its website, “A full security operation is underway and CanJet is cooperating fully with the local authorities.”

At approximately 11:30 PM local time yesterday, a man found his way onto chartered Flight 918, thanks to the effectiveness of fake identification cards at the airport’s employee entrance.

The latest development is that police are negotiating with the hostage-taker. He has asked for passage to Cuba.

Brit cops delete photos, fight terrorism

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Two Austrian tourists ran afoul of local police when they took pictures of the city’s famous double-decker buses. Klaus Matzka and his son, Loris, were clicking away on the streets of London while on vacation. Shots of a bus station in Walthamstow (in east London), however, got the cops interested.

The tourists were told by local police that they were not allowed to photograph anything related to transportation. They were thanked not only with deleted photos but with the collection of their passport numbers, hotel addresses and other personal deals.

After all, taking pictures of buses and bus stations could be a sign of terrorist activity.

London’s Metropolitan Police Authority says it has no knowledge related to a ban on transportation pictures in the city. Matzka observes, “Google Street View is allowed to show details of our cities on the web, but a father and his son are not allowed to take pictures of London landmarks.”

Feds spank spankers with arrest

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Two kids were arguing over a window shade on a plane. Sound familiar? We’ve all lived through it, and we’ve all griped about it. Unlike most parents, who seem to let their kids go on this way until they’ve exhausted themselves, Tamera Jo Freeman took decisive action, according to an article in the LA Times. After their fighting caused a Bloody Mary to spill into her lap, she spanked each kid on the thigh. Three times per perpetrator.

Apparently, this makes her a terror suspect.

A flight attendant responded to the situation, prompting Freeman to hurl obscenities and the remains of her tomato juice. Freeman has since been arrested and convicted under the USA PATRIOT Act. The chain of events that began with trying to keep her kids under control has turned Freeman into a felon.

And, she’s not alone. At least 200 people have been convicted under an amended version of this law, in most cases with no evidence of an attempted hijacking or physical attack on the flight crew. Loud voices, inappropriate language (this would land me in deep shit) and drunken behavior (ditto) have prompted arrest and prosecution, leading many to believe that the law is being misused.

Duh.

It’s time for us to be a bit realistic here. What Freeman did was inexcusable. Her approach to the flight attendant, both in language and in deed, was wholly inappropriate and certainly called for some sort of disciplinary action. Press charges, treat her like she treats her children … do what ever it takes. But to pursue the spanker as a terrorist? That seems like too much. It’s not like she went after the hell-raisers with a box-cutter.

I think the more appropriate punishment would be to make her fly to Cuba with drunken Irish hooligans.

[Via LA Times]