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| Pilot Security |
| 2003-09-10 |
| The United States refused to let five foreign pilots fly into U.S. airspace after security checks showed they could pose a risk to the country. Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security, said the department had recently expanded the scope of its checks on 6,000 foreign pilots who are required to pass security clearances before being allowed to fly into the country. Do we plan to pull aircraft over to the curb to insure that an approved pilot is flying the plane? "We have directed additional checks through the FBI’s Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force and other agencies. As a result... we did have five foreign pilots that were denied permission to enter U.S. airspace because of security concerns," Hutchinson told reporters. That would be really inconvenient if my fuel tanks weren’t full. He did not identify the nationalities of the five pilots or whether they worked for commercial airlines or were flying private planes. Wonder where they went to flight school? |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #4 Guess I missed the boat on this one. I saw this as classic Bureaucratic buffoonery. Ms Hutchison appears to be trying to convince us that we are safe from a semi trailer blowing up in the Holland Tunnel because the DMV says that 99% of all truckers with valid US liscences are known not to be Jihadis. I am not interested in the slightest what the security picture looks like from her office in Washington. I want to know: 1. What percentage of planes that land in the US or pass through US air space are approved foriegn pilots? 2. How is the pilot's actual identity checked when they land? 3. How the identity of the pilot is currently being validated as the plane enters US airspace in flight? This program looks like window dressing to me. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-10 8:24:15 PM |
| #3 As far as Im concerned, unless they are former pilots in the Air Force/Navy/Marines or Coast Guard, they are suspect. Not citizens of the US? even more so, foreign national? line forms to the right buddy. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-9-10 4:31:59 PM |
| #2 Precisely. Five pilots... big deal. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-10 4:03:11 PM |
| #1 Five out of six thousand is a pretty teensy percentage. Good or bad? You be the judge. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-9-10 2:37:55 PM |