Mrivc - Watch Out For The Passengers. They will be watching you. This situation seems to be similiar to what you mentioned about the tourney you are attending soon..
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Joe Sharkey, New York Times
July 26, 2004 TRAV0726
Something extraordinary happened June 29 on Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles. The plane was met at the airport by federal agents and police responding to radio messages from the pilots about concerns that 14 Middle Eastern male passengers had been acting suspiciously.
But was the episode a dry run for a terrorist attack? Or was it an innocent sequence of events that some passengers misinterpreted as a terrorist plot?
The story of Flight 327 was first told in a 3,300-word article, "Terror in the Skies, Again?" by Annie Jacobsen, a freelance writer from Los Angeles, published this month at www.womenswallstreet.com.
I have spoken with Jacobsen and with an official of the Federal Air Marshal Service, who confirmed the gist of her narrative, if not her interpretation.
On June 29, Jacobsen; her husband, Kevin; and their 4½-year-old son boarded Northwest 327 in Detroit. The Jacobsens noticed a group of six men of Middle Eastern appearance. One wore a large orthopedic shoe. Two carried what appeared to be small musical instrument cases. One wore a yellow T-shirt and was carrying a big McDonald's sack.
Then the Jacobsens watched a second group of Middle Eastern men board. These men were in communication with the first group, Jacobsen said, and "they all seemed to be checking in" with yellow shirt.
Jacobsen's article describes the men's "unusual activity." Ignoring the "fasten seat belt" signs, the men went frequently and in succession to the lavatories, and congregated near the galleys in twos or threes. Yellow shirt gave her a "cold, defiant look" when she caught his eye.
About two hours into the flight, Kevin Jacobsen approached a flight attendant who said the crew were aware of the behavior, including the fact that parcels like the McDonald's bag were carried into the lavatories.
"She said ... they were passing notes to each other, that the pilots were aware of it, and that there were people on board who are 'higher up than you or me' that were watching them," Kevin Jacobsen said. He presumed, correctly, that this was a reference to federal air marshals.
As the plane was in its final approach to Los Angeles, at the stage of a flight when even the flight attendants are strapped into their seats, "suddenly, seven of the men stood up in unison," Annie Jacobsen said. Some walked toward the back lavatories and some toward the front. Two stood by the aircraft door. The flight attendants remained silent, she said.
Then the plane landed without a problem. On hand were officers from the Federal Air Marshal Service, the FBI, the TSA and the Los Angeles police. The 14 men were questioned and released. The Jacobsens also were questioned for more than an hour.
"They were members of a Syrian band" traveling to a gig at a casino near Los Angeles, said Dave Adams, a Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman, adding that their names were run through "every possible" data bank and terrorist watch list.
"Nothing came back."
"This is an individual's perceptions," he said of Jacobsen's account of the flight. "Obviously, since 9/11, everybody's antennas have risen, and people are very concerned when they see something like this." He said that onboard air marshals didn't intervene because the men weren't interfering with the flight crew.
Even so, he said, he had no doubt that "most of the stuff did happen" as Jacobsen described it.
Annie Jacobsen isn't convinced. No one has disputed her facts, she said, and she asked why the Syrian band hadn't been identified. (I couldn't locate them, by the way). She wrote of receiving numerous e-mails from airline crew members, several of whom said they believed that terrorist-team dry runs had happened on flights. She said "political correctness" has become a "major roadblock for airline safety."
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Joe Sharkey, New York Times
July 26, 2004 TRAV0726
Something extraordinary happened June 29 on Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles. The plane was met at the airport by federal agents and police responding to radio messages from the pilots about concerns that 14 Middle Eastern male passengers had been acting suspiciously.
But was the episode a dry run for a terrorist attack? Or was it an innocent sequence of events that some passengers misinterpreted as a terrorist plot?
The story of Flight 327 was first told in a 3,300-word article, "Terror in the Skies, Again?" by Annie Jacobsen, a freelance writer from Los Angeles, published this month at www.womenswallstreet.com.
I have spoken with Jacobsen and with an official of the Federal Air Marshal Service, who confirmed the gist of her narrative, if not her interpretation.
On June 29, Jacobsen; her husband, Kevin; and their 4½-year-old son boarded Northwest 327 in Detroit. The Jacobsens noticed a group of six men of Middle Eastern appearance. One wore a large orthopedic shoe. Two carried what appeared to be small musical instrument cases. One wore a yellow T-shirt and was carrying a big McDonald's sack.
Then the Jacobsens watched a second group of Middle Eastern men board. These men were in communication with the first group, Jacobsen said, and "they all seemed to be checking in" with yellow shirt.
Jacobsen's article describes the men's "unusual activity." Ignoring the "fasten seat belt" signs, the men went frequently and in succession to the lavatories, and congregated near the galleys in twos or threes. Yellow shirt gave her a "cold, defiant look" when she caught his eye.
About two hours into the flight, Kevin Jacobsen approached a flight attendant who said the crew were aware of the behavior, including the fact that parcels like the McDonald's bag were carried into the lavatories.
"She said ... they were passing notes to each other, that the pilots were aware of it, and that there were people on board who are 'higher up than you or me' that were watching them," Kevin Jacobsen said. He presumed, correctly, that this was a reference to federal air marshals.
As the plane was in its final approach to Los Angeles, at the stage of a flight when even the flight attendants are strapped into their seats, "suddenly, seven of the men stood up in unison," Annie Jacobsen said. Some walked toward the back lavatories and some toward the front. Two stood by the aircraft door. The flight attendants remained silent, she said.
Then the plane landed without a problem. On hand were officers from the Federal Air Marshal Service, the FBI, the TSA and the Los Angeles police. The 14 men were questioned and released. The Jacobsens also were questioned for more than an hour.
"They were members of a Syrian band" traveling to a gig at a casino near Los Angeles, said Dave Adams, a Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman, adding that their names were run through "every possible" data bank and terrorist watch list.
"Nothing came back."
"This is an individual's perceptions," he said of Jacobsen's account of the flight. "Obviously, since 9/11, everybody's antennas have risen, and people are very concerned when they see something like this." He said that onboard air marshals didn't intervene because the men weren't interfering with the flight crew.
Even so, he said, he had no doubt that "most of the stuff did happen" as Jacobsen described it.
Annie Jacobsen isn't convinced. No one has disputed her facts, she said, and she asked why the Syrian band hadn't been identified. (I couldn't locate them, by the way). She wrote of receiving numerous e-mails from airline crew members, several of whom said they believed that terrorist-team dry runs had happened on flights. She said "political correctness" has become a "major roadblock for airline safety."
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