Flight Diverted to Florida
[Guest post by DRJ]
A Continental flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Bogota, Columbia, was diverted to Florida because authorities feared a passenger on the No-Fly list had been allowed on board:
“A Continental Airlines jet flying from Newark Liberty International Airport to Colombia was diverted to Jacksonville, Fla., earlier today over concerns a passenger was on the government’s watch list of suspected terrorists banned from commercial flights. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
Flight 881, which left Newark at 3:03 p.m., was diverted to Jacksonville International Airport at about 5:45 p.m. due to a “potential person of interest,” Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said.
***
The government was expected to investigate how the passenger was allowed to board the plane before he was positively deemed safe.Airlines are required to check the government’s no-fly list before issuing a passenger a boarding pass.”
Hopefully it won’t be long before the TSA and/or airlines can figure out how to identify whether a passenger is on a No-Fly list before a flight takes off.
— DRJ
…before a flight takes off?
And just what alternative universe are you living in?
AD - RtR/OS! (098720) — 1/29/2010 @ 9:44 pmGod forbid we end the insanity and just install the same screening methods El Al uses. I’d rather be called racist and live through my flight than be politically correct and die.
wherestherum (d413fd) — 1/29/2010 @ 9:47 pmRelax, the TSA is on the j*b, and your safety is j*b won!
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/29/2010 @ 10:10 pmdidn’t even think to forward this as a tip earlier today…
but if you followed my Facebook page, you’d have known. %-)
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/29/2010 @ 10:13 pmi’m thinking the acronym needs an update:
“Thousands Standing Around” has a certain catchy nature to it, but its a bit too playful for this level of ongoing potentially deadly incompetence.
my new nomination is “Those Stupid Assholes”, because its one of the first autonomic responses that burbles forth when i read or hear these stories.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/29/2010 @ 10:20 pmFunny how your luggage can miss making the flight but these dirty birds manage to get airborne.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 1/29/2010 @ 10:29 pmThis is kind of stupid. Let’s say there was a bad guy on the plane; he would know he’s about to get busted and blow up the plane when he realizes it has been diverted even if he got cold feet prior to diverting the plane and figured he’d just walk away without any problem once he reached his intended final destination. Think about it.
j curtis (5126e4) — 1/29/2010 @ 10:40 pmdon’t strain yourself there “j curtis”…..
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/29/2010 @ 11:00 pmAt this point it really won’t take much for the
flying pubic to get completely fed up.
Mr. President, this is the time to not be
nice.
Unfortunately, Obama is only willing to
Jack (e383ed) — 1/29/2010 @ 11:07 pmfight republicans.
don’t strain yourself there “j curtis”….
I choose to strain myself. Thank you very much. There is someone out there who is with me on this and saying “hey, that j curits is right!”. I’m not going to try to make the world agree with me on this or bust. I’ll just let the stupidity of the human race slowly eat at my heart until I die a man with contempt for everything he’s leaving. Good night.
j curtis (5126e4) — 1/29/2010 @ 11:21 pmI think jcurtis is giving the bad guys too
much credit, and of course, if there is a
bad guy on the plane, what really are the
choices?
Cunningly continue on to destination and
let the bad guy follow his plan, or try to
land as soon as possible?
I’ll take landing as soon as possible.
Jack (e383ed) — 1/30/2010 @ 6:52 amThe system worked!
Alan (07ccb5) — 1/30/2010 @ 6:54 am“God forbid we end the insanity and just install the same screening methods El Al uses.”
That would be insanity. A professionalized security corps? Who would want THAT? Though the ridiculous hassle might be a boost for train travel.
imdw (8f8ead) — 1/30/2010 @ 7:01 amHoly @#$% Cow. We have these things called computers. It’s a simple SELECT stmt against a database using the Flight list in the IN clause. Should take about 20 seconds to return any hits. This could be done when the person shows an ID. Which happens at least 30 minutes and often more than an hour before boarding. Any potential hits could bring up a physical description of the person (so you can tell when a 2 year old with the same name is not the 25 year old from timbuktoo).
Seriously. Do they use databases?
Corwin (60969b) — 1/30/2010 @ 7:51 am“…A professionalized security corps…”
Wasn’t that one of the rationalizations for creating DHS/TSA?
“If El-Al doesn’t fly there, and I can’t drive there; I’m not going!”
AD - RtR/OS! (90486b) — 1/30/2010 @ 11:48 amThat would be insanity. A professionalized security corps? Who would want THAT? Though the ridiculous hassle might be a boost for train travel.
Gee, how many terrorist attacks/attempts has El Al had in the last 10 years? How many have we had?
I’ll take El Al’s method’s. You can take the train.
wherestherum (d413fd) — 1/30/2010 @ 2:50 pm