Follow up on airplane scare ,Racial Profiling issue

[SirFozzie]

In this space was supposed to be installment No. 6 of my multiweek dissertation on airports and terminals. The topic is being usurped by one of those nagging, Web-borne issues of the moment, in this case a reactionary scare story making the cyber-rounds during the past week.

The piece in question, "Terror in the Skies, Again?" is the work of Annie Jacobsen, a writer for WomensWallStreet.com. Jacobsen shares the account of the emotional meltdown she and her fellow passengers experienced when, aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Los Angeles, a group of Middle Eastern passengers proceeded to act "suspiciously." I'll invite you to experience "Terror" yourself, but be warned it's quite long. It needs to be, I suppose, since ultimately it's a story about nothing, puffed and aggrandized to appear important.

Full Story: 14 Syrians were musicians, not terrorists (http://salon.com/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index.html)

[Ksyrup]

I'm not sure I get his point. Her article wasn't so much about the fact that these people were terrorists (because she didn't know whether they were or not), it was a description of what occurred on the flight.

Now, if she embellished and/or lied about certain conversations, etc., that's one thing. But I don't think she had the hindsight that this guy does about who those people actually were. And in fact, I don't see anything in his story that suggests he's been able to confirm who they were, either (other than a statement I suppose I should give as much credence as he gave to statements in her story). As I recall, she at least tried to determine what evidence had been gathered to back up the claim they were musicians, but was not given that information.

Personally, I think a story like this, whether it ultimately amounts to something or not, is good to keep our awareness up. I'll admit that I haven't been as completely aware when I travel lately, as I was the first 2 or 3 flights after 9/11.

[CraigSca]

Forgive my negligence, but are Syrians allowed in the US?

[Subby]

Is it just me or does she have the same melodramatic, sensationalistic writing style of our own beloved HornsManiac?

I knew the goateed-man I had exchanged friendly words with as we boarded the plane was seated only a few rows back, so I thought I would say hello to the man to get some reassurance that everything was fine. As I stood up and turned around, I glanced in his direction and we made eye contact. I threw out my friendliest "remember-me-we-had-a-nice-exchange-just-a-short-time-ago" smile. The man did not smile back. His face did not move. In fact, the cold, defiant look he gave me sent shivers down my spine.
“Kyle, tell us about HornsManiac” came out of her mouth and when those words hit my ears my stomach knotted up, I felt queasy, and could barely breathe. I was speechless both from shock and from the physical sickness that had just overcome me. “It seems you are quite the character in your secret life, aren’t you?” Umm. Umm, actually... “Stop Kyle, we are here to let you know that we are not comfortable knowing about some of the things you do or could be doing both at home and here in the office. It is funny, Kyle, that I never knew you used drugs and associated with drug users. I also never expected you to be the type that meets women online during business hours, especially with a romantic mindset. Does your wife know that you boast about your ability to so easily cheat on her? Finally, I would have never thought you could possibly violate the trust and lose the respect of so many people that liked you.”

[Jets80]

Here is another link for this story which I also saw on a Cable news show the other night... really really weird stuff.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=14249

[Ksyrup]

That's the original article...or am I missing something?

[SirFozzie]

That's the original story.

She's really doing herself a service when she said (quoted in the first story I grabbed up there).. "Ok, so they are really musicians.. but if they can teach terrorists how to fly airplanes into buildings, isn't it conceivable they can teach them how to play musical instruments, too?"

[Jets80]

I Could not get SirFozzie's link to work so I did not know you already posted it.

[Jets80]

Dola.. Just something in the Article which made me think was when it talked about the restaurants that are "inside" the terminals (after you go through the metal detectors) You can eat there using metal utensils before boarding the flight.
Damn there is still probably 100's of ways for these guys to sneek stuff on plans.

[SirFozzie]

Just checked it myself, the link works fine, or it's the top story on salon

[Maple Leafs]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

Unfortunately, while it's nice to read someone taking a critical look at the scary airplane story, the piece itself is incredibly poorly written. It's the same old trick: imply racism, then throw wild suggestions around ("Let's ban all Syrian flyers! Muslim airlines too!") in an apparent attempt at satire.

I'd like to see someone with a little bit clearer head take a shot at the same premise. Or at least do a hard followup on the original article -- maybe someone could even track down one of the "musicians"?

[Mr. Wednesday]

Dola.. Just something in the Article which made me think was when it talked about the restaurants that are "inside" the terminals (after you go through the metal detectors) You can eat there using metal utensils before boarding the flight.
Damn there is still probably 100's of ways for these guys to sneek stuff on plans.Why bother sneaking metal utensils on the plane, when they give out metal utensils with the meal in first class?

(For a while, you only got a plastic knife up there, but they've returned to using a metal knife.)