When it comes to airport security, the news has focused on the shoe bomber and the terrorist shooting at the LAX El Al ticket counter. But in the background, something less dramatic but potentially even more dangerous has been going on?burglars have been sneaking into the hotel rooms of flight crews and stealing their passports, I.D. and uniforms.
This brings up the scary picture of terrorists, dressed as pilots and crew members, flashing their I.D.s and walking past security guards and taking over planes. Your next vacation or business flight could be manned by an all-terrorist crew.
Captain Steve Luckey, chairman of the Air Lines Pilots Association, which represents 66,000 commercial pilots, says, ?They could be used as a model to manufacture a series of uniforms so they could outfit a crew or they could steal enough of them to outfit a crew.”
Union leaders representing 6,500 Northwest Airlines pilots warned their pilots to look out for ?mideastern-looking males and females” who may be watching them at hotels, restaurants and bars, especially in major European cities. They say, ?The persons conducting the surveillance seem to pay special attention to air crew luggage and conversations.?
There?s been a lot of controversy about discrimination against Muslim-Americans since 911?however, if there was ever a time for racial profiling, this is it. If you get on a plane and see an all-male Middle Eastern-looking crew, it would be a good idea to change your travel plans.
Is the FBI up-to-date on terrorist plans? Find out why they dropped the ball on 911 from ?The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI? by Ronald Kessler, click here.
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