Homeland security conceeds defeat

Betting that the TSA is going to do anything resembling effective and meaningful rule making in the wake of this event would be like betting on the Generals at a Harlem Globe Trotters game.
 
"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that the aviation security system failed when a young man on a watchlist with a U.S. visa in his pocket and a powerful explosive hidden on his body was allowed to board a fight from Amsterdam to Detroit."

Answer lies in the first sentence...stop issuing Visa's to people of questionable affiliations. End of story.
 
What kind of authority does DHS have in Amsterdam, anyway?

Seems to me that the Lagos and Amsterdam airport peeps are the ones who dropped the ball.
 
Hacker15e said:
What kind of authority does DHS have in Amsterdam, anyway?

Seems to me that the Lagos and Amsterdam airport peeps are the ones who dropped the ball.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on that. From what I have heard the majority of problems are with flights coming into the country. I don't know all the facts here but per haps the US government should have done a little more investigating prior to issuing the VISA.
 
Hacker15e said:
What kind of authority does DHS have in Amsterdam, anyway?

Seems to me that the Lagos and Amsterdam airport peeps are the ones who dropped the ball.
Click to expand...

Correct.

The DHS/TSA does not conduct screening in AMS.

In fact, I think the screeners in AMS are subcontractors.

That's one of the most pleasant airports in the world to go through and sadly, some dork and whatever group he represents is going to wreck it for the rest of us good, law-abiding people that just want to get on a flight and go home.

I guess it's time to buy some stock in companies that produce chemical sniffers.
 
Let's see.. single man, buys ticket with cash, no bags, recently refused visa re-entry to Britain due to activities, father had notified local embassy of his sons activitie, on a data base... ummm.. nothing to see here. Move along.
 
All I know is that yesterday I went through security at YYZ around 4pm. The people ahead of us in line (we were working so were allowed to cut in line) had been there since 1030am. It was taking 6-7 hours for people to clear security because of the "new security measures".

Kinda defeats the purpose of flying, and probably really not all that effective.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
The people ahead of us in line (we were working so were allowed to cut in line) had been there since 1030am. It was taking 6-7 hours for people to clear security because of the "new security measures".

.
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For some short leg flights, why even bother flying, with those wait times?
 
MikeD said:
For some short leg flights, why even bother flying, with those wait times?
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KC to St. Louis was already inefficient - that is prior to any "new" things they do. I can leave my house and be at a clients in St. Louis in about 3.5 hours - and enjoy the entertainment and nicotine along the way vs.:

1) Drive to KCI, park - 45 minutes
2) Be there an hour before - 1 hr.
3) 50 minute flight
4) Land in St. Louis, get rental car, be at clients - 1 hour

Flying=3:35
Driving=3:30

No TSA screening
Gas vs. Cost of Ticket
Freedom to leave/return on my schedule

Pretty soon the number for KC to Oklahoma City will be similar to the KC-St. Louis numbers and the only flight that will really make sense is KC-Dallas and like distances.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Correct.

The DHS/TSA does not conduct screening in AMS.

In fact, I think the screeners in AMS are subcontractors.

That's one of the most pleasant airports in the world to go through and sadly, some dork and whatever group he represents is going to wreck it for the rest of us good, law-abiding people that just want to get on a flight and go home.

I guess it's time to buy some stock in companies that produce chemical sniffers.
Click to expand...

The company to invest in will be the one already producing the whole body x-ray that is starting to go in. DHS i'm sure will now go back and press congress for more to be placed around the country, even though more of those thing would not have prevented this.
 
Are these the ones that whenever I fly out of Miami or JFK I see them sitting idle in the corner?
 
ILSstud said:
"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that the aviation security system failed when a young man on a watchlist with a U.S. visa in his pocket and a powerful explosive hidden on his body was allowed to board a fight from Amsterdam to Detroit."

Answer lies in the first sentence...stop issuing Visa's to people of questionable affiliations. End of story.
Click to expand...

Lets see here, the man did NOT appear on the watch list until AFTER the visa had already been issued. It is not that easy. 9/11 Hijackers applied for visas in April 1999. Two whole years before the attack.

Hacker15e said:
What kind of authority does DHS have in Amsterdam, anyway?

Seems to me that the Lagos and Amsterdam airport peeps are the ones who dropped the ball.
Click to expand...

I think the problem started in the KLM Office in Lagos. But then again cash is probably common place there. Now, was the trip one way or round trip. It was round trip, and would not prompt any real concerns imo. Next, I would cite the security in Lagos for not looking at using common sense. No checked bags for a trip from Lagos to Detroit? That was the other mistake.

What needs to be done is what is done with airport operations. ICAO like standards for at least international flights. Certain particular equipment and information sharing I find quite essential and could have certainly averted this case.
 
Without going into detail, we got a list of new protocols yesterday via memo in our "virtual v-files." Basically, TSA is shuffling the extra stuff onto flight crews. I read it and immediately thought "Um.....if the screening stuff actually WORKED, we wouldn't need to do your jobs for you."
 
Awesome....I hope all of you are writing your elected officials about this. I sent off letters to Senator Bill Nelson, my local congressman, and a generic letter to the TSA...not that it will do any good but hey.
 
So, this is where we sit:

People at the KLM office in Nigeria and security in the Netherlands screwed up.

The DHS decides that to "do something" they'll institute a bunch of measures that have absolutely zero to do with fixing the root cause of the problem.

Got it.

Way to go, Janet. Yet another DHS success story.
 
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