Flight 93 hijackers, from left: Ahmad Ibrahim A. Al Haznawi, Saeed Alghamdi, Ahmed Alnami, Ziad Samir Jarrah; bottom picture: crash scene in Pennsylvania

(CNN) -- Who actually put United Flight 93 into a death dive, causing it to slam into the Pennsylvania countryside on September 11, 2001, is revealed in the 9/11 commission report released Thursday.

The passenger revolt began at 9:57 a.m., nearly 30 minutes after the four terrorists aboard launched their takeover of the Boeing 757 loaded with more than 11,000 gallons of jet fuel.

As passengers charged the cockpit door, terrorist hijacker Ziad Jarrah began rolling the plane to the left and right, "attempting to knock the passengers off balance," the 9/11 commission report said. Jarrah told another hijacker in the cockpit to block the door.

By 9:59 a.m., Jarrah changed tactics and "pitched the nose of the airplane up and down to disrupt the assault."

"The [flight] recorder captured the sounds of loud thumps, crashes, shouts and breaking glass and plates. At 10:00:03 a.m., Jarrah stabilized the airplane," the report says.

"Five seconds later, Jarrah asked, 'Is that it? Shall we finish it off?' A hijacker responded, 'No. Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off.' "

Jarrah resumed pitching the plane up and down.

"In the cockpit. If we don't, we'll die," a passenger is heard saying.

"Sixteen seconds later, a passenger yelled, 'Roll it!' " the report says.

By 10:01 a.m., Jarrah stopped his violent maneuvers and said, "Allah is the greatest! Allah is the greatest!"

According to the report, he then asked another hijacker in the cockpit, "Is that it? I mean, shall we put it down?"

"Yes, put it in it, and pull it down," the other responded.

The passengers continued with their assault, trying to break through the cockpit door. At 10:02 a.m. and 23 seconds, a hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!"

"The hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them," the report concludes.

"The airplane headed down; the control wheel was turned hard to the right. The airplane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting, 'Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.'

"With the sounds of the passenger counter-attack continuing, the aircraft plowed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 580 miles per hour, about 20 minutes' flying time from Washington, D.C."
Struggle in the cockpit

The report says Jarrah intended to fly the plane into the White House or the U.S. Capitol. "He was defeated by the alerted, unarmed passengers of United 93," the report says.

The battle aboard the plane was burned into history by the story of one passenger, Todd Beamer, who used an onboard phone to call the FBI. At the end of his call, the operator overhead him say to other passengers, "Let's roll."

He and other passengers had learned of the attacks in New York and Washington after placing calls to loved ones.

In the weeks and months after the attacks, there were reports that officials believed passengers had overtaken the plane, forcing it to crash in the field in Pennsylvania. However, last year, officials began backing away from that theory.

Thursday's report gives no indication that passengers ever broke through the cockpit door, but it makes clear that passengers' actions thwarted the plans of the terrorists.

The report also gives harrowing details of the moments just before and after the plane was hijacked.

The plane, which had left Newark, New Jersey, for Los Angeles, California, at 8:42 a.m. carrying 37 passengers and seven crew members, received a warning from United flight dispatcher Ed Ballinger at 9:24 a.m.: "Beware any cockpit intrusion -- two a/c [aircraft] hit World Trade Center."

The message was sent by Ballinger to several aircraft to alert them of potential terrorists.

Two minutes later, at 9:26 a.m., pilot Jason Dahl appeared to be puzzled by the message and responded, "Ed, confirm latest mssg plz -- Jason."

"The hijackers attacked at 9:28," the report says. "While traveling 35,000 feet above eastern Ohio, United 93 suddenly dropped 700 feet. Eleven seconds into the descent, the FAA's air traffic control center in Cleveland received the first of two radio transmissions from the aircraft.

"During the first broadcast, the captain or first officer could be heard declaring 'Mayday' amid the sounds of a physical struggle in the cockpit. The second transmission, 35 seconds later, indicated that the fight was continuing. The captain or first officer could be heard shouting: 'Hey get out of here -- get out of here -- get out of here.' "

At 9:32 a.m., the report says, a hijacker "made or attempted to make the following announcement to the passengers of Flight 93: 'Ladies and gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit.' "

The report also says a woman, most likely a flight attendant, was being held captive in the cockpit. "She struggled with one of the hijackers who killed or otherwise silenced her," it says.

The report says at least 10 passengers and two crew members contacted family, friends or others on the ground. They reported the hijackers were wearing red bandanas, forced passengers to the back of the plane and claimed a bomb was aboard, according to the report.

Flight 93 was the only hijacked plane that day with four hijackers aboard. All other flights had five hijackers.

The report says a man who was denied entry and detained in Florida a month before the attacks possibly was supposed to have been the fifth hijacker aboard Flight 93.

"The operative likely intended to round out the team for this flight, Mohamed al Kahtani, had been refused entry by a suspicious immigration inspector at Florida's Orlando International Airport in August," the report says.

Al Kahtani is currently being held at the detainee center at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

REMEMBER

Terror In The Skies

Aug. 12, 2002

(Photo: AP)

9/11 Air Traffic Controllers

"Certainly after the events took place at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, suddenly everything became suspect, so even the smallest anomalies were scrutinized."
Air traffic manager Dave Canoles

(CBS) Air traffic controllers in Boston were the first to know something was wrong, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr. The radar-tracking signal from American Airlines Flight 11 was suddenly turned off with no radio explanation from the pilots.

"When we had a loss of communication and transponder we considered at that point in time a possible hijacking," said Glen Michael, Boston Center air traffic manager.

Within minutes, the Boeing 767 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. But the horror was just beginning.

Aviation officials briefed reporters Monday on their experiences on Sept. 11 at the New York Terminal Approach Control Center on Long Island.

At the New York Air Route center, controllers lost the signal of a second plane. Then they watched as the backup radar showed the westbound United Flight 175 veer sharply off course.

"We tracked that aircraft as it turned southbound then northeast-bound back toward Manhattan. I assumed at that point that that target was in fact the World Trade Center," New York air traffic manager Mike McCormick said.

Controllers tracked the hijacked jet for 11agonizing and helpless minutes.

"For 11 minutes, I knew, we knew, what was going to happen," said McCormick. "And it was difficult."

At FAA headquarters, attention shifted to a third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, flying below radar towards Washington, D.C. As the White House was evacuated, air traffic manager Dave Canoles ordered an assistant to a window.

"I said lets go out to the window and see what you can see," said Canoles. "He came back in pretty much simultaneously with the report of the loss of radar and report that there was smoke coming from the Pentagon."

At the FAA command center, the U.S. aviation system was ordered shut down. At the time, no one knew how many more planes had been hijacked. But controllers had suspicions about 11planes still in the air.

"Certainly after the events took place at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, suddenly everything became suspect, so even the smallest anomalies were scrutinized," Canoles said.

United Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania 20 minutes after the FAA grounding order. But then it was over. Over the next two hours, 4,500 planes were safely pulled from America's skies – an unprecedented action on an unparalleled day.

© MMII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DREAM:  7-20-04 - 

 I was living in a house with a large picture window at the front. It looked rather like the rolling dry hills of California.  Suddenly, it looked like someone was dropping bombs on something on the other side of that hill.  

Suddenly, I saw a group of Arab guys coming along the side of the field. They were wearing large wrap-around turbans and long robes against the heat. These weren't uniforms - they were all drab colors, yet different from each other as well. They weren't walking in the road - they were walking along the edge of the field.  They disappeared into a hole in the side of the hill they walked into. 

I was rather stunned by their disappearance, but when we got up next to where they disappeared, I could see into a cave-like aperture - covered over by dry corn stalks as a shade. Inside the Arab men had chairs and tables and were partying.

"And men shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. In that day men will cast forth their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.  (Isaiah 2:10:22)

I asked Joe what they were doing. He said that they were partying and waiting for what was coming. It had something to do with the 4 and the 5.

This happened several more times.  The men were always in small groups - I didn't count the men- it seemed like there was 11 or 12 of them in each group. 

Joe and I went back home and I saw what Joe was writing on the table.  He had outlined a paper - on the list he had the words  "pollen path 6", a few separate words, and "the day of the bright 11" 

It was followed by a couple more words. I didn't know what that meant - "the day of the bright 11"

http://quantumfuture.net/signs/signs38.htm

The Pollen Path
A Collection of Navajo Myths

Retold by Margaret Schevill Link

"The pollen path is the way between gods and men, and it expresses the harmony that should exist between them," writes Link. She illustrates this  stories translated directly from Navajo medicine men.

GLOBAL TERROR ALERT UPDATESArchived Alerts NOTE: All information is provided for your prayerful and careful consideration
ISSUE DATE *	LOCATION	ATTACK TYPE	TARGET	INTEL SOURCE	ATTACK PROBABILITY*
July 22	Los Angeles; NYC; Washington, DC	Aircraft used as missiles	NYC — UN building LA — downtown area DC — Pentagon, White House	military intel, jihadi websites, civilian intel	High
COMMENT: Mainstream news articles are reporting eyewitness accounts of dry runs on aircraft by Middle Eastern groups (6-14 men) scouting out specific flights to and from L.A. and New York. Also today, Amtrak was stopped and searched for explosives based on specific intel that there will be a major East Coast train bombing on the order of Madrid. As we get closer to the anniversary date of 9-11, it appears that the jihad forums are becoming more frequent in their postings to the "Big Day". I would strongly urge everyone reading this to be extra diligent and if you MUST travel from the East Coast to the West Coast, introduce stopovers into your schedule. Terrorist training manuals indicate the number of terrorists will be increased on the flights with the idea of over powering air marshalls and U.S. citizens. Extreme caution is advised.
* NOTE: Attack Probabilities are rated Threat Specific, High, Extremely High or In Progress

Flood of Non-Speaking Middle Eastern Males Crossing Border

July 23, 2004
From Chris Simcox
The Tombstone Tumbleweed

Border Patrol field agents have shared some disturbing information with the Tumbleweed as well as other civilian sources with the hope the information will make it to the general public.

The Tumbleweed has verified information that a flood of middle-eastern males have been caught entering the country illegally east of Douglas, Arizona. The increased patrols in the Huachuca Mountains area of Cochise County, seems to have diverted the flow of OTM's, "other than Mexicans" east to the Chiricahua Mountains. In the last month, the Tumbleweed has confirmed at least two documented accounts of Border Patrol agents encountering large groups of non-Spanish speaking males in the Chiricahua foothills and on trails along the high mountain areas.

On or about the early morning hours of June 13, 2004 Border patrol agents from the Wilcox station encountered a large group of suspected illegal border crossers, estimated to be around 100, just east of the Sanders Ranch near the foothills of the Chiricauha Mountains. 71 suspected illegal aliens were apprehended; among them were 53 males of middle-eastern decent.

According to a Border Patrol field agent, the men were suspected to be Iranian or possibly Syrian nationals. "One thing's for sure, these guys didn't speak Spanish and after we questioned them harder we discovered they spoke poor English with a middle-eastern accent, then we caught them speaking to each other in Arabic…this is ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously, and we're told not to say a thing to the media, but I have to," said the agent, whose name will obviously remain anonymous.

The agent stated the men were wearing the traditional uniform of migrants - baseball caps, tennis shoes, some had work boots, denim jeans and many had t-shirts with patriotic American flags and slogans. The agent added the following description "A curious thing I noticed was that they all had brand new clothing and they looked as if they had just been to the barber shop, you know, new haircuts. They were clean cut and they all had almost the exact cut of mustaches."

The information was corroborated by a local rancher in the area who reports that sightings of groups similar to these are on the rise. The rancher also reports that groups of heavily armed paramilitary drug smugglers have also been seen in the same area.

"We've had groups in the hundreds coming through again. They were gone for awhile but now they're back. And of course we have the drug mules again and many are carrying automatic weapons. Many other ranchers in the area have been frustrated with the lack of response from Border Patrol.

After calling over and over again, to the Wilcox headquarters, we might get a response a few hours later. We call them in to the Border Patrol, we only have the Wilcox station, and they're so darned far away. By the time they send in the helicopters these groups are long gone. I don't know how many they catch but they're coming through here heavy right now."

On or about the evening of June 21, 2004, agents from the Wilcox Border Patrol station apprehended 24 members of a larger group of Arabic speaking males located just east of the Pierce/Sunsites area of Cochise County. At least half of the males escaped capture and disappeared into the United States.

http://www.tombstonetumbleweed.com/tombstone/default.asp#iframe1

 

Terror in the Skies, Again?
By Annie Jacobsen

A WWS Exclusive Article

Note from the E-ditors: You are about to read an account of what happened during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that should be shared. What does it have to do with finances? Nothing, and everything. Here is Annie's story. 

On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son. Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old. What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit, and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back. Two carried musical instrument cases - thin, flat, 18" long. One wore a yellow T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg -- he wore an orthopedic shoe and limped. When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway with the group of men directly behind us.

My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I turned to the men behind me and said, "You go ahead, this could be awhile." "No, you go ahead," one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee. I thanked him and we boarded the plane.

Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the aisle from us (in seat 21E). The rest of the men were seated throughout the plane, and several made their way to the back. 

As we sat waiting for the plane to finish boarding, we noticed another large group of Middle Eastern men boarding. The first man wore a dark suit and sunglasses. He sat in first class in seat 1A, the seat second-closest to the cockpit door. The other seven men walked into the coach cabin. As "aware" Americans, my husband and I exchanged glances, and then continued to get comfortable. I noticed some of the other passengers paying attention to the situation as well. As boarding continued, we watched as, one by one, most of the Middle Eastern men made eye contact with each other. They continued to look at each other and nod, as if they were all in agreement about something. I could tell that my husband was beginning to feel "anxious."

The take-off was uneventful. But once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign was turned off, the unusual activity began. The man in the yellow T-shirt got out of his seat and went to the lavatory at the front of coach -- taking his full McDonald's bag with him. When he came out of the lavatory he still had the McDonald's bag, but it was now almost empty. He walked down the aisle to the back of the plane, still holding the bag. When he passed two of the men sitting mid-cabin, he gave a thumbs-up sign. When he returned to his seat, he no longer had the McDonald's bag.

Then another man from the group stood up and took something from his carry-on in the overhead bin. It was about a foot long and was rolled in cloth. He headed toward the back of the cabin with the object. Five minutes later, several more of the Middle Eastern men began using the forward lavatory consecutively. In the back, several of the men stood up and used the back lavatory consecutively as well.

For the next hour, the men congregated in groups of two and three at the back of the plane for varying periods of time. Meanwhile, in the first class cabin, just a foot or so from the cockpit door, the man with the dark suit - still wearing sunglasses - was also standing. Not one of the flight crew members suggested that any of these men take their seats.

Watching all of this, my husband was now beyond "anxious." I decided to try to reassure my husband (and maybe myself) by walking to the back bathroom. 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. 

When I returned to my seat I was unable to assure my husband that all was well. My husband immediately walked to the first class section to talk with the flight attendant. "I might be overreacting, but I've been watching some really suspicious things..." Before he could finish his statement, the flight attendant pulled him into the galley. In a quiet voice she explained that they were all concerned about what was going on. The captain was aware. The flight attendants were passing notes to each other. She said that there were people on board "higher up than you and me watching the men." My husband returned to his seat and relayed this information to me. He was feeling slightly better. I was feeling much worse. We were now two hours into a four-and-a-half hour flight.

Approximately 10 minutes later, that same flight attendant came by with the drinks cart. She leaned over and quietly told my husband there were federal air marshals sitting all around us. She asked him not to tell anyone and explained that she could be in trouble for giving out that information. She then continued serving drinks.

About 20 minutes later the same flight attendant returned. Leaning over and whispering, she asked my husband to write a description of the yellow-shirted man sitting across from us. She explained it would look too suspicious if she wrote the information. She asked my husband to slip the note to her when he was done. 

After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified. Before I'm labeled a racial profiler or -- worse yet -- a racist, let me add this. A month ago I traveled to India to research a magazine article I was writing. My husband and I flew on a jumbo jet carrying more than 300 Hindu and Muslim men and women on board. We traveled throughout the country and stayed in a Muslim village 10 miles outside Pakistan. I never once felt fearful. I never once felt unsafe. I never once had the feeling that anyone wanted to hurt me. This time was different.

Finally, the captain announced that the plane was cleared for landing. It had been four hours since we left Detroit. The fasten seat belt light came on and I could see downtown Los Angeles. The flight attendants made one final sweep of the cabin and strapped themselves in for landing. I began to relax. Home was in sight.

Suddenly, seven of the men stood up -- in unison -- and walked to the front and back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men spoke in Arabic among themselves and to the man in the yellow shirt sitting nearby. One of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked them to sit down. I watched as the man in the yellow shirt, still in his seat, reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small red book. He read a few pages, then put the book back inside his shirt. He pulled the book out again, read a page or two more, and put it back. He continued to do this several more times.

I looked around to see if any other passengers were watching. I immediately spotted a distraught couple seated two rows back. The woman was crying into the man's shoulder. He was holding her hand. I heard him say to her, "You've got to calm down." Behind them sat the once pleasant-smiling, goatee-wearing man. 

I grabbed my son, I held my husband's hand and, despite the fact that I am not a particularly religious person, I prayed. The last man came out of the bathroom, and as he passed the man in the yellow shirt he ran his forefinger across his neck and mouthed the word "No." 

The plane landed. My husband and I gathered our bags and quickly, very quickly, walked up the jetway. As we exited the jetway and entered the airport, we saw many, many men in dark suits. A few yards further out into the terminal, LAPD agents ran past us, heading for the gate. I have since learned that the representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Federal Air Marshals (FAM), and the Transportation Security Association (TSA) met our plane as it landed. Several men -- who I presume were the federal air marshals on board -- hurried off the plane and directed the 14 men over to the side.

Knowing what we knew, and seeing what we'd seen, my husband and I decided to talk to the authorities. For several hours my husband and I were interrogated by the FBI. We gave sworn statement after sworn statement. We wrote down every detail of our account. The interrogators seemed especially interested in the McDonald's bag, so we repeated in detail what we knew about the McDonald's bag. A law enforcement official stood near us, holding 14 Syrian passports in his hand. We answered more questions. And finally we went home. 

Home Sweet Home

The next day, I began searching online for news about the incident. There was nothing. I asked a friend who is a local news correspondent if there were any arrests at LAX that day. There weren't. I called Northwest Airlines' customer service. They said write a letter. I wrote a letter, then followed up with a call to their public relations department. They said they were aware of the situation (sorry that happened!) but legally they have 30 days to reply.

I shared my story with a few colleagues. One mentioned she'd been on a flight with a group of foreign men who were acting strangely -- they turned out to be diamond traders. Another had heard a story on National Public Radio (NPR) shortly after 9/11 about a group of Arab musicians who were having a hard time traveling on airplanes throughout the U.S. and couldn't get seats together. I took note of these two stories and continued my research. Here are excerpts from an article written by Jason Burke, Chief Reporter, and published in The Observer (a British newspaper based in London) on February 8, 2004:

Terrorist bid to build bombs in mid-flight: Intelligence reveals dry runs of new threat to blow up airliners

"Islamic militants have conducted dry runs of a devastating new style of bombing on aircraft flying to Europe, intelligence sources believe.

The tactics, which aim to evade aviation security systems by placing only components of explosive devices on passenger jets, allowing militants to assemble them in the air, have been tried out on planes flying between the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe, security sources say.

...The... Transportation Security Administration issued an urgent memo detailing new threats to aviation and warning that terrorists in teams of five might be planning suicide missions to hijack commercial airliners, possibly using common items...such as cameras, modified as weapons.

...Components of IEDs [improvised explosive devices] can be smuggled on to an aircraft, concealed in either clothing or personal carry-on items... and assembled on board. In many cases of suspicious passenger activity, incidents have taken place in the aircraft's forward lavatory." 

So here's my question: Since the FBI issued a warning to the airline industry to be wary of groups of five men on a plane who might be trying to build bombs in the bathroom, shouldn't a group of 14 Middle Eastern men be screened before boarding a flight? 

Apparently not. Due to our rules against discrimination, it can't be done. During the 9/11 hearings last April, 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman stated that "...it was the policy (before 9/11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory." 

So even if Northwest Airlines searched two of the men on board my Northwest flight, they couldn't search the other 12 because they would have already filled a government-imposed quota.

I continued my research by reading an article entitled Arab Hijackers Now Eligible For Pre-Boarding from Ann Coulter (www.anncoulter.com): 

"On September 21, as the remains of thousands of Americans lay smoldering at Ground Zero, [Secretary of Transportation Norman] Mineta fired off a letter to all U.S. airlines forbidding them from implementing the one security measure that could have prevented 9/11: subjecting Middle Eastern passengers to an added degree of pre-flight scrutiny. He sternly reminded the airlines that it was illegal to discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion." 

Coulter also writes that a few months later, at Mr. Mineta's behest, the Department of Transportation (DOT) filed complaints against United Airlines and American Airlines (who, combined, had lost 8 pilots, 25 flight attendants and 213 passengers on 9/11 - not counting the 19 Arab hijackers). In November 2003, United Airlines settled their case with the DOT for $1.5 million. In March 2004, American Airlines settled their case with the DOT for $1.5 million. The DOT also charged Continental Airlines with discriminating against passengers who appeared to be Arab, Middle Eastern or Muslim. Continental Airlines settled their complaint with the DOT in April of 2004 for $.5 million. 

From what I witnessed, Northwest Airlines doesn't have to worry about Norman Mineta filing a complaint against them for discriminatory, secondary screening of Arab men. No one checked the passports of the Syrian men. No one inspected the contents of the two instrument cases or the McDonald's bag. And no one checked the limping man's orthopedic shoe. In fact, according to the TSA regulations, passengers wearing an orthopedic shoe won't be asked to take it off. As their site states, "Advise the screener if you're wearing orthopedic shoes...screeners should not be asking you to remove your orthopedic shoes at any time during the screening process. "

I placed a call to the TSA and talked to Joe Dove, a Customer Service Supervisor. I told him how we'd eaten with metal utensils moments in an airport diner before boarding the flight and how no one checked our luggage or the instrument cases being carried by the Middle Eastern men. Dove's response was, "Restaurants in secured areas -- that's an ongoing problem. We get that complaint often. TSA gets that complaint all the time and they haven't worked that out with the FAA. They're aware of it. You've got a good question. There may not be a reasonable answer at this time, I'm not going to BS you."

At the Detroit airport no one checked our IDs. No one checked the folds in my newspaper or the contents of my son's backpack. No one asked us what we'd done during our layover, if we bought anything, or if anyone gave us anything while we were in the airport. We were asked all of these questions (and many others ) three weeks earlier when we'd traveled in Europe -- where passengers with airport layovers are rigorously questioned and screened before boarding any and every flight. In Detroit no one checked who we were or what we carried on board a 757 jetliner bound for America's largest metropolis.

Two days after my experience on Northwest Airlines flight #327 came this notice from SBS TV, The World News, July 1, 2004: 

"The U.S. Transportation and Security Administration has issued a new directive which demands pilots make a pre-flight announcement banning passengers from congregating in aisles and outside the plane's toilets. The directive also orders flight attendants to check the toilets every two hours for suspicious packages." 

Through a series of events, The Washington Post heard about my story. I talked briefly about my experience with a representative from the newspaper. Within a few hours I received a call from Dave Adams, the Federal Air Marshal Services (FAM) Head of Public Affairs. Adams told me what he knew: 

There were 14 Syrians on NWA flight #327. They were questioned at length by FAM, the FBI and the TSA upon landing in Los Angeles. The 14 Syrians had been hired as musicians to play at a casino in the desert. Adams said they were "scrubbed." None had arrest records (in America, I presume), none showed up on the FBI's "no fly" list or the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. The men checked out and they were let go. According to Adams, the 14 men traveled on Northwest Airlines flight #327 using one-way tickets. Two days later they were scheduled to fly back on jetBlue from Long Beach, California to New York -- also using one-way tickets.

I asked Adams why, based on the FBI's credible information that terrorists may try to assemble bombs on planes, the air marshals or the flight attendants didn't do anything about the bizarre behavior and frequent trips to the lavatory. "Our FAM agents have to have an event to arrest somebody. Our agents aren't going to deploy until there is an actual event," Adams explained. He said he could not speak for the policies of Northwest Airlines.

So the question is... Do I think these men were musicians? I'll let you decide. But I wonder, if 19 terrorists can learn to fly airplanes into buildings, couldn't 14 terrorists learn to play instruments?

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Gary Boettcher, Member, Board of Directors, Allied Pilots Association, said, "Folks, I am a Captain with a major airline. I was very involved with the Arming Pilots effort. Your reprint of this airborne event is not a singular nor isolated experience. The terrorists are probing us all the time." 

During a later phone conversation I had with Boettcher, he told me that based on his experience, it was his opinion that I was likely on a dry run. He said he's had many of these experiences and so have many of his fellow captains. They've been trying to speak out about this but so far their words have been falling on deaf ears. 

According to Mark Bogosian, B-757/767 pilot for American Airlines, "The incident you wrote about, and incidents like it, occur more than you like to think. It is a 'dirty little secret' that all of us, as crew members, have known about for quite some time." 

Rand K. Peck, captain for a major U.S. airline, sent the following email: "I just finished reading Annie Jacobsen's article, TERROR IN THE SKIES, AGAIN? I only wish that it had been written by a reporter from The Washington Post or The New York Times. My response would have been one of shock as to how insensitive of them to dare write such a piece. After all, citizens or not, don't these people have rights too? 

"But the piece was in The [Wall Street] Journal, a publication that I admire and read daily. I'm deeply bothered by the inconsistencies that I observe at TSA. I've observed matronly looking grandmothers practically disrobed at security check points and five-year-old blond boys turned inside out, while Middle Eastern males sail through undetained. 

"We have little to fear from grandmothers and little boys. But Middle Eastern males are protected, not by our Constitution, but from our current popular policy of political correctness and a desire to offend no one at any cost, regardless of how many airplanes and bodies litter the landscape. This is my personal opinion, formed by my experiences and observations."

This brings us to the heart of the matter -- political correctness. Political correctness has become a major road block for airline safety. From what I've now learned from the many emails and phone calls that I have had with airline industry personnel, it is political correctness that will eventually cause us to stand there wondering, "How did we let 9/11 happen again?" 

During a follow-up phone conversation, one flight attendant told me that it is her airline's policy not to refer to people as "Middle Eastern men." In addition, many emails have come in calling me a racist for referring to 14 men with Syrian passports as Middle Eastern men. For the record, the Middle East is a geographical region called just that: The Middle East. If you refer to people who come from countries in this region (including Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq) as "Middle Easterners," you are being geographically correct. We call people Americans and Canadians and English and French. I call my relatives who live in Norway Norwegians. So really, what is the hang-up?

The fact that I quoted Ann Coulter seems to have many people up in arms. I want to be clear -- there is no political agenda here. I quoted Ann Coulter for the information she had, not for who she is. Read the quote again and pretend Joe or Jane Doe wrote it. She states the facts. The facts she states are that 10 days after 9/11, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta sternly reminded airlines that it was illegal to discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion. 

Perhaps the title of Michael Smerconish's new book sums it up: "Flying Blind. How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11." On June 24, Smerconish testified before the U.S. Senate about the role political correctness plays in protecting airline security in a post-9/11 world. Click here to read his full testimony.

I keep thinking back to a photograph I saw in the Los Angeles Times called "Falling" by Pulitzer Prize winning AP photographer Richard Drew. It's a photograph of a man, his body is stretched out, one knee at a right angle, as if he's lying on a couch, watching television in the living room, relaxing and enjoying life. But he's not. It's a photograph of a man falling from one of the top floors of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This man jumped to his death, most likely because it seemed a less painful way to die than being engulfed in flames. 

This picture is haunting. For a long time I kept it in my office. I still think about this picture and I wonder about this man -- his daily life, what he did for work, what he did for play, what his thoughts were about the world. I think about this person. I think about the meaning of "dry run." And then I think about what it means to be politically correct. And I keep coming up blank.

The above article is based on the opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of www.womenswallstreet.com

editors@womenswallstreet.com

FROM: straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/ commentary/story/0,4386,261736,00.html (no longer available)

Protecting commercial planes from surface-to-air missiles gains urgency as terrorists enter the market for these SAMs. A laser-based system now being installed in 32 aircraft operated by Israeli national carrier El Al seems to have surmounted some of the serious technical difficulties plaguing other such defence systems.

By Anthony Paul

AS HE took his Boeing 757-300 off the tarmac at Mombasa airport in Kenya, Captain Rafi Marik felt the plane shake suddenly. He first thought the chartered airliner, packed with Israeli tourists en route to Tel Aviv, had hit a bird. Then he spotted two vapour trails passing a metre or so from his plane's left side.
In the wrong hands, surface-to-air missiles like these recovered in Afghanistan, could be real terror threats. -- REUTERS

'Only a minor technical mishap,' he reassured puzzled passengers. But Capt Marik realised what had happened: He and the other 270 people aboard had had the narrowest of escapes from an attack by terrorists armed with shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

The near catastrophe in November 2002 may turn out to have been a godsend for all air travellers, however. Within hours, Rafael - the Hebrew acronym for Israel's Armament Development Authority - launched a crash programme to improve the country's existing anti-missile device for aircraft.

A laser-based system now being installed in 32 airliners operated by Israeli national carrier El Al, and announced last month, is the result. If SAMs can be neutralised, airlines everywhere may eventually be able to counter this new terror threat. And though the cost of the new equipment is high, at least some of the serious technical difficulties plaguing other systems may have been solved.

Other nations are eyeing the Israeli advance. Earlier this year, American and British firms embarked on crash catch-up programmes.

RACE TO FIND PERFECT SYSTEM

THE French are said to have been the most provocative in their industrial espionage efforts. In May, French air force jets were reported to have dangerously manoeuvred several times around an El Al passenger plane in an apparent effort to inspect it for anti-missile systems. Paris is said to take the view that anti-missile flares may well be weapons requiring a licence. The French are also thought to have their own R&D programme.

Rafael and an Israeli avionics firm, Elbit Systems, have developed El Al's installation. Marketed under the trade name, Britening, the system carries the technical description 'Commercial Aircraft Protection Suite'. The airline expects all its aircraft to have the equipment by the end of next year.

The system works in three stages:

# It detects an oncoming missile;

# Tracks it;

# Then, laser beam jams the missile's target-seeking electronics, causing the warhead to miss the aircraft and blow up from afar.

High costs and some very stubborn technical problems have hindered development of civilian anti-SAM equipment.

Until now, aircraft in serious risk of missile attack - mostly military aircraft - have depended on systems that spew out flares when a hostile missile approaches.

The missile's electronics, programmed to seek out the heat from the target jet's exhaust, are suddenly confused by many heat sources. With a little luck, the warhead will chase a flare, not the target.

This system has obvious drawbacks for use on civilian aircraft. If the airliner was attacked in places most favoured by terrorists - take-off and landing paths up to a 30km-radius from airports - flares could either hit other aircraft or set fire to nearby buildings or foliage.

These possibilities, explained Mr Peter Harbison, managing director of the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, 'raise questions about airline insurance costs, already running at prohibitive levels for third party damage. An aircraft-generated fireball near a major airport would be a frightening prospect'.

Because of the danger, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Washington refuses to allow civilian planes operating in the United States to be equipped with the flare-based system.

In the wake of the Kenya incident, some Israeli aircraft were fitted with an interim anti-SAM system, also locally developed: Flight Guard by Elta Systems. However, its active radar-emitting warning system has been suspected of interfering with ground radars. This system also uses the problematic flares.

Cost is another serious inhibitor in civilian anti-SAM development. Currently available flare-based anti-SAM systems used aboard a limited number of aircraft (the American president's Air Force One, for example, and Israeli jets operating in the Middle East) reportedly cost about US$3 million (S$5.1 million) per aircraft to install.

'That sum equates to around US$300 million for anti-missile equipment for the Qantas fleet,' said Mr Harbison, referring to the Australian national airline. 'That is not much less than Qantas' best-ever annual profit.'

For Singapore Airlines (SIA), the cost of equipping its 83 aircraft in operation, 33 on order and 83 on option, could be as much as US$600 million. The Elbit System is reportedly cheaper - about US$1 million per plane - but that will still amount to swingeing totals for the inflation-plagued airline industry.

Asked to comment on the advent in Israel of the Britening system, an SIA spokesman invoked security needs.

'The safety and security of all our passengers and crew is of paramount importance to SIA and we keep our security measures under constant review.

'However, due to the sensitive nature of airline security, we are unable to provide further details,' she said.

Instead of using flares, the Britening system's laser beam addles the missile's electronic brain. To use a well-worn military euphemism, 'collateral damage' is still possible wherever the missile detonates, but it's unlikely to be as disastrous as a downed aircraft.

Three other companies' R&D teams are racing to compete. America's Northrop Grumman and United Airlines and Britain's BAE Systems have been cooperating on something currently known as the 'Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) anti-missile protection turret'. The US-British team plans to be in the prototype-developing stage for another 12 to 18 months.

Other companies are expected to join in: Anti-missile protection is about to become a major branch of the aerospace industry. A section of the US$32 billion Homeland Security Bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month authorises fresh spending on civilian anti-SAM R&D.

A PAST AND PRESENT THREAT

SOME specialists are optimistic that hostile missiles can be rendered more or less harmless by confusing their targeting electronics. General Hal Hornburg, commander of the US Air Force Air Combat Command, recently told Aviation Week magazine: 'I look forward to the day when we can convince any surface-to-air missile it is a washing machine in a rinse cycle.'

Nevertheless, all this activity comes none too soon. After all, the Kenya incident was nothing new. Aviation safety authorities believe that over the past 30 years or so, and mostly in Africa, shoulder-fired missiles have hit at least 43 civilian aircraft, downing 30, and killing more than 900 passengers and crew.

The most recent attack on a civilian aircraft occurred at Baghdad airport last November when a SAM hit a DHL A300 freighter during take off.