The "Rest of the Story" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

derg

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The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

From the NY Times:
[ QUOTE ]
In another indication of the turmoil resulting from the increased security
measures, an American official said that the cancellation of the British
Airways flights was not in response to United States safety concerns, but
rather was prompted by the refusal of British pilots to fly with armed marshals
on board. The United States put other nations on notice earlier this week that
it would not allow certain suspicious flights into its airspace without armed
marshals on board.

In addition to the flight cancellations, foreign airliners have been escorted
into American airspace by F-16 military fighters, and a Mexican flight from
Mexico City to Los Angeles was turned around in mid-air.

The events have left both domestic security officials and international
travelers on edge over the prospect of another attack by Al Qaeda. American
officials said they were determined to avoid the kind of missed warning signs
that preceded the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, even if it meant inconveniencing
travelers.[ QUOTE ]
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Related topic:

As a response to the U.S. adding Brazil to the list of possible terrorist-originating countries, a Brazilian judge has ordered that all U.S. citizens arriving from the States be fingerprinted and questioned, beginning January 1st.

Apparently its raising hell at Brazilian immigration/customs. Lines forever, and pissed off travelers.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

I’m sure if the Brazilians want to play a game of tit-for-tat they’ll feel the economic sting of fewer Americans traveling to brazil, long before the lack of Brazilian tourists begins to even be noticed by US businesses.
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Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

But it's all complete and utter BS. So, bin Laden's hiding in Brazil? I think a tall skinny Arab wearing a turban would stand out there.

And these flight delays and cancellations are complete trash, too. One of the people who the Bush administration accused of being a terrorist was a child!

If there is specific intelligence about a person, why not pull that person off the flight along with whoever is travelling with him, and let the flight continue?

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Bin Laden is laughing his ass off at us right now.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

its exactly what these terrorists want us to do...we get all scared, and begin cancelling things, and people stop traveling, and the ripple effect hits the economy....they are hurting us without actually attacking
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

No aircraft is 100% safe!

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But you've gotta wait until 2030 for the book!
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Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Will Delta be around in 2030?
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Its just more of this anti-gun on an airplane, or anti-gun altogether BS. I say if the foreign airlines don't want to take responsibility for the security of their flights, to hell with them. As anti-gun as the British are, it doesn't surprise me at all that British Airways flights would be cancelled for the reason mentioned in the article.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Seems to me that if there is a system in place to get guns onto an aircraft, then that system can be exploited by the bad guys. Does every US carrier have Air Marshals on each international flight (both outbound and inbound) ?
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

I think its all international flights for all carriers, but i know its also domestic flights....recently there was a woman from pittsburgh on a US Airways flight and she started yelling at the FA, and assaulted the Air Marshall on board...She also ended up biting a cop....but, there was an air marshall on board when the flight was only about an hour long, so i wouldnt be suprised if they monitored all international flights
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Ouch, that's pretty bad.

Sky Marshalls are NOT supposed to get involved with passenger problems on the airplane whatsoever, and there's a good reason for that which I won't discuss on a public website.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Paul Gray said:[ QUOTE ]
Its just more of this anti-gun on an airplane, or anti-gun altogether BS.

[/ QUOTE ]
So why is an "anti-gun on an airplane" attitude BS?
Sounds like a legitmate concern to me. I'd want to have final say on the carriage of 'weapons of small scale destruction' on my flight.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

[ QUOTE ]
So why is an "anti-gun on an airplane" attitude BS?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's all about the incorrect notion that firing a handgun on an airplane will take it down. So a marshal's 40 cal. pistol puts a hole in the cabin, bfd. During WWII our bombers over Europe were taking CANNON fire from Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmits. A lot of them were lost, but there were also a boat load that made it back, some with almost the entire tail shot off.

[ QUOTE ]
I'd want to have final say on the carriage of 'weapons of small scale destruction' on my flight.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's fine with me. But at the same time if your flight happens to be the one that gets hijacked next, well, you know the rest of the story...
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

Here is the British Pilot's Association comments on security and armed sky marshalls: Balpa
Explosive decompression, or any other possibility of an errant bullet, are not the reasons that they have concerns with armed sky marshalls.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

[ QUOTE ]
During WWII our bombers over Europe were taking CANNON fire from Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmits.

[/ QUOTE ] The B-17s and B-24s that flew over Europe were not pressurized. By all accounts though the Fort was one helluva plane...
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

The B-29 was pressurized (though I believe it was used more in the pacific than Europe). The crews on B-29s still had oxygen masks though incase enemy fire did indeed cause decompression.

Same is true with passenger jets. They have those yellow masks that drop from the cabin ceiling, as I'm sure you probably already knew.
 
Re: The \"Rest of the Story\" behind the British Airways flight cancellations...

The ammunition used by Sky Marshall’s is modified to fire at lower FPS (feet per second) much like the specialized ammunition used in “silenced” weapons.

This means that the likely hood that a projectile would pierce the airframe is highly unlikely. The use of standard ammunition would be extremely dangerous to both airframe and occupants.

Whatever the Brits objections, they will come in second to our legitimate national security concerns.
 
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