The Laughing Wolf

The Rules Have Changed Two

I submitted this to the New York Post today, but they did not bite as I had not placed a good hook in it, or with them. They were right on that, so rather than try to create a hook (which I thought was the recent spate of stories relating to these issues), I am simply going to post it here.

Shortly after 9-11, I wrote a small op-ed piece entitled “The Rules Have Changed” which focused on how the rules of dealing with problems on planes had changed. Before 9-11, the rules were not to fight, resist, or make eye contact. In short, hunker down and hope for the best. 9-11 threw that manual of operations out the window, and almost everyone in the industry and the flying public knew it.

It was even seen on 9-11 itself, when the passengers of Flight 93 took action and prevented that plane from being used in another attack. It was seen afterwards in many instances where passengers took down potential problems, including shoe bomber Richard Reid. Working together not as vigilantes, but as responsible Citizens, passengers and crews provided the true security on flights. The days of hunkering down were over.

From recent releases and security bulletins, however, it is clear that Al-Qaeda and related organizations have not gotten the message. It seems they think that they can still control and bamboozle the passengers and crew into cooperation, then suicide the planes. From this it would also appear that they have not realized that poking the sleeping giant is not a great idea. One would think the loss of the only government of which they approved, and a major supporter and financier of terrorism, might have given them a clue, but apparently not.

It is also clear that not all in government have learned the lessons. The FAA and the Transportation Security Administration are both failing to adapt to the changes. Some of the problems are not unexpected, but others constitute a willful disobedience that places all of us in jeopardy.

The fact that there are problems with the drastically increased Sky Marshall program is not unexpected. Indeed, many of the problems reported were forecast from both outside observers and people involved in the program as soon as the expansion was announced. Many of those fears have been realized, with people reportedly leaving the program in disgust amid charges of mismanagement, incompetence, and more. Still others are being placed on leave or dismissed because of problems with the background checks. Other delights include the Marshall arrested recently for allegedly pulling a gun during a dispute over a parking space at Kennedy Airport.

Many of these problems will be cleared up with time,and with proper oversight and public scrutiny. Others, however, may not. It is regrettable that the government did not take advantage of other opportunities, including the use of the huge cadre of government travelers, both civil servant and contractor, who are trained and could have been surged into security through additional training along the lines of the military security police augmenters program.

More critical is the disregard being shown by the FAA towards meeting the requirements to arm pilots. In the past, pilots were armed and this was ended as part of the anti-hijacking efforts of the 70s, since it was argued that the Sky Marshall program provided better security. The failure of the FAA to fully and completely meet the requirements to arm pilots who meet the qualifications could be argued to approach willful disregard for its obligations and the safety of the public. The foot dragging, the barriers being erected, and other related efforts to sabotage this initiative are not acceptable.

You, as a Citizen, have both rights and responsibilities and these apply to homeland security. You have the right and the responsibility to protect yourself and others if there is a problem, be it in a plane or elsewhere. The passengers and crews on a variety of flights have shown that by working together in a responsible manner, that problems can be prevented or stopped.

There is one other thing you can do to meet the obligations you have to protect yourself and others. You can contact the people you elected to represent you, and suggest strongly that these issues be addressed openly and immediately, for the safety of all. With the right encouragement, maybe everyone can learn the rules have changed.

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