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Hijack scare blamed on TSA screwup at Florida airport
It may appear that we tend to pick on the TSA a lot here on Gadling, but the agency is just a never ending source of stuff for us to write about. The latest incident involving the people that run airport security comes from Northwest Florida Regional Airport. Several minutes after a Delta Airlines jet departed from the airport, TSA officials made a call to have the plane turn around and head back.
Unfortunately, they failed to notify the local Air Force base. When the base noticed the plane taking a different course than they had filed, a call went out to local law enforcement. The call history showed that the security staff at Eglin Air Force Base advised of a possible hijack attempt. The request asked for "anyone available, including a SWAT team".
It took 20 minutes for dispatchers to confirm that there was no hijack attempt, and that the plane had been asked to return so they could screen a TSA staff member. According to TSA officials, there had been "some discrepancies" in the way they screened their own employee.
As is often the case, the TSA is "reviewing the incident" and will take "appropriate action if necessary". I'm sure that makes us all feel much safer.
Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines, Airports
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dansamga Nov 9th 2009 8:44PM
TSA is a JOKE! It stands for "Time Standing Around" or "Try Staying Awake". I travel frequently for work. There may be a diligent few who take their job serious but the overwhelming majority have no idea what they are doing. My checked baggage is often rummaged through and just stuffed back in the case however they feel like jamming it in. There is always one or two over inflated egos at the metal detectors, they are easy to spot. A month ago they had no job and suddenly they become Barney Fife with an attitude. There are some who will confiscate what they want in the name of security. If you have any electronic devices other than a camera, they are dumbfounded and want to perform a swab test on it. They then rummage through the bag with no idea what they are looking at and take everything out without paying attention to how it was neatly packed before they started......then when they are done they will say "Should I repack it or do you want to". This one in NEw Orleans was particularly sloppy about the process so I told him he should and he just started stuffing things wherever he felt like it. I asked for his Supervisor who was even less intelligent than he was. They have no respect for people's property. They have less respect for people. If they want to check out people's checked bags, they should have to identify themselves by an I.D. number on the card they stick in the bag so if you have a complaint, you can trace who checked the bag and they can be held accountable. More than once they have failed to secure the latches and my bag has come rolling out at baggage claim with contents following after it. PRetty sad for a bag that has military style latches. Most of the just want to get paid to stand around and chat with their buddies and check out the females at the airport.
cqdeed Nov 9th 2009 9:03PM
AMEN !!! I stopped flying because of these jerks. I'm a retired Naval Officer and have flown about a million miles. I used to fly everywhere I went. Not any more. Being treated like a terrorist by these high school dropouts every time you fly is uncalled for. They took my 81 year old mother into a room and made her strip to her bra and panties. She was flying to the next state over on a round trip ticket and she is the type that is compliant with authority. No way in hell she fit ANY profile of a terrorist. They had no reason for what they did. They said is was part of a routine random search. BULL !!!
aclay Nov 10th 2009 11:10PM
your an uptight asshole lol...
D Crawford Nov 9th 2009 9:44PM
As a former TSA employee, it is not fair on how they do things. They threw a recertification exam on us after the first year that they were organized, without warning, and when you did not pass, they only allowed you one time to re-take the test, with little to no prior training, and when you failed, they fired you. No explanation other than we're sorry. I gave the Fed Gov 21 years, and in my 21st year of service, I was removed from the system. I tried to fight my case, and was told my case wasn't good enough for reconsideration. This took place in 2003. I and others were let go, and now when all of airports are failing, the TSA employees are being retrained with full-time pay. And better yet, you no longer need to be recertified every year. No more testing for recertification!! Ain't that a blank! Please, don't take your best or designer luggage to the airport, you won't recognize it when you get it back.
Shon Nov 10th 2009 12:30PM
Not true.
TSA Nov 9th 2009 10:58PM
TSA still does the recertification every year. Whoever told you they didn't miss led you. As for those "radom" acts of additional screening to those that "don't fit the terrorist profile" I ask, what is the "terrorist profile"? Those terrorist or any other person or persons that are seeking to do harm, will use your weakest point against you. Therefore if we let little old ladies and little babies through without any screening, guess what the next terrorist will be dressed as. I do fold the clothes and repack as nicely as possible, sometimes even better than the owners did. I take my job seriously and professionally, so does the rest of my team. If there are those agents out there in other airports not doing the same, shame on them and they should be replaced. We need the security, but we also need to be professional about it.
Kimberly2 Nov 9th 2009 11:23PM
Good thing they didn't fire on the plane in question. (Could you just imagine how they would handle that one....YIKES!) I hope they take this as a huge RED FLAG that the system has a huge HOLE in it!
I just flew last week, had no problems...but I still hate flying anymore it is not fun at all! I still say the airlines did this to themselves, They had sooo many chances over the years to get security in check but they got really, really GREEDY!
john Nov 10th 2009 12:33AM
First off a recent writer asked what a typical terrorist looks like. How about the Major at Ft. Hood for starters. Then look to the mideast and the people that hate this country with a passion. Little kids and 80 year old ladies have never fit the profile of any terrorist . The only reason these people are picked to have additional screening done is to satisfy the requirment so the muslims can;'t say they are being unfairly picked on. If it were up to me I would search every single one of them going through security. As the old saying goes, better to be judged by one then carried by six.
Ondway Nov 10th 2009 3:08AM
I was one of the first TSA employees. I did not need the money. I did my job out of duty to our country. This was my way of showing terrorist that they did not scare me.
I was not a throw my chest in the air high school drop-out. I am a married mother of 2, and will soon be 51. Like TSA stated above, I was careful with passengers bags. I made sure that everything was placed back the same way I took it out. I was told many times that people had praised me to my supervisor. I was put on first class baggage check per the airlines request. It did not matter to me, first class, economy, all were treated the same by me.
Yes, I saw several that did not take their job seriously. But for every deadbeat there were 2 serious employees. We made sure nothing slipped past. Without going against the oath I took, there are reasons that people of both sexes and ages are screened. I have no idea why an 80 year old woman would be asked to strip to her bra and panties. That is something I can't answer, but I would not have taken that approach.
Please don't clump all TSA screeners in the same category. Just like in any field, you have those that take their job seriously and those that only want a paycheck. It is the ones that want a paycheck that are/will be weeded out.
Believe me, I was responsible for taking many prohibited items out of bags. Due to a health problem, I had to step down. I hope to return to work one day. I will always be proud of the duty I performed for you the public.
MoreTSA Nov 13th 2009 1:24AM
First of all there is no profile for a terrorist so all the people who say every muslim needs to be screened is just ignorant. Second for those of you who care more about how the TSO repacks your bag or god forbid asks you to empty your pockets shame on you, you are the first to complain that there is to much security and i can guarentee you will be the first to complain that not enough is done if something ever happens again. I have seen little old ladies stopped and searched not because the TSO was being mean or because they were picking on an old lady but because that old woman had a loaded .357 magnum in her purse and was trying to bring it on the plane. TSA has to be right 100% of the time when it comes to screening persons going through the security checkpoints. Terrorists only have to get it right once so just think about that the next time you see someone get stopped for additional screening when you fly and if you get a chance make a TSOs day and say thank you rather then cursing at them because you have to take your shoes off.