Quote:
Originally Posted by HouseRulz
Alright, with respect to the TSA incident, I have to play devil's advocate.
W0X0F, I know you have made clear on multiple occasions that you consider TSA to be a farce in many instances. And I agree the organization is very much reactionary, and not so much forward thinking. That being said, it's difficult to argue that through all the mis-guided policies, silly shoe inspections, liquids in plastic baggies, and miscellaneous other policies, that the TSA has somehow managed to prevent another major terrorist incident.
Maybe it's out of luck, but when you consider that in 9 years, 1 month, and 8 days, not one serious incident has occurred in the U.S., that has to be worth something.
I'm all for civil liberties, but I also believe that air travel is a convenience, not an absolute right. Thus, I believe that those who make there living off of air travel, should have to choose whether they are willing to give up a little bit of personal freedom.
I understand the argument that if an airline pilot wanted to commit a suicide terrorist act, they wouldn't need a gun, knife, bomb, as they are at the controls. But I think the FedEx 705 incident teaches us that just because a pilot has flown several hundred/thousand flights to date, doesn't ensure they are eternally stable. We have a phrase in our lexicon, 'going postal', which unfortunately is well understood by most Americans. If a pilot ever decided to "go postal", instead of shooting the five co-workers closest to his cubical, he could try and take down a 757 with 190 passengers into a populated area. In a real situation, it would be a fair fight between the unstable pilot and the stable one. If the unstable on had a gun/knife/weapon, it would quickly become an unfair fight. And with the cockpit locked as per modern policy, there would be no outside intervention.
I agree that TSA follows a philosophy whereby you throw a bunch of policies up against the wall and see what sticks; but Americans' collective resistance to reactionary policies only underscores the resistance likely towards forward-thinking policies. It may be an imperfect, and perhaps crappy way to create policy, but in our society, it's about as effective as policies can get.
I think that you and your peers are the men and women the flying public look up to most. Even in this day and age of budget travel for all, we all always take a peak at the guys with the gold stripes and hats. You are still a source of calm when flying, and still a target of awe in the airport.
No matter how much disdain you may have for TSA and their inefficiency, and no matter how much you and your representatives may choose to influence policy behind the scenes, your collective willingness to tow the line of acquiescence in public is a critical step in encouraging the public to put safety ahead of expedience. As bad as TSA might be, I reiterate....9 years, 1 month, 8 days. That pretty damn good!
I don't really know where to begin, and I certainly don't want this thread to focus on issues of this kind. I'm interested in airplanes and flying. The TSA and security issues are a thorn in my side and make my job a lot less fun than it once was.
Having said that Still, I comply with all required security screening and I never give any grief to the individual TSA workers who are, after all, just doing the job they are trained to do. Hate the game, not the player. I understand that this is the world we now live in. (And I also realize that, being in uniform, I set somewhat of an example to other travelers. Your point on this is well taken.)
Your point about stopping a pilot who has weapons (and thus making the fight with his fellow pilot an unfair match in the hypothetical "going postal incident") is fine. But when I have a pair of cuticle scissors confiscated as I did in Norfolk, or fingernail clippers, as I did in Jackson, MS, I have to wonder about it. Seems like eyewash to me. What is being served by these actions? I sometimes have the urge to shout "The emperor has no clothes!" (BTW, as a consequence of these confiscations, my manicure, which was once above reproach, has suffered enormously.
)
As I think I have pointed out before, the big difference between security screening here and elsewhere in the world is that we focus on "things" (shoes, liquids, etc) rather than people. It's political correctness gone mad when my 79 year old mother is constantly subjected to secondary screening when she travels (non-revs seem to get selected for this far in excess of any random selection).
There's a benefit/cost consideration here that I think is way out of control, and there's also a point of diminishing returns (how much additional security for what added increment of safety?). I know there are those who would say "no cost is too great", but can we really sustain that approach?
I live with it because I have to, but I honestly don't get any great feeling of security from the process I observe. It's just the music we must all dance to now.
That being said However, I realize that removing all security screening would be madness.
BTW, the threat level at every airport in the U.S. has been Orange for as long as I can remember. Does anyone think this color coding makes any sense? When they announce it over the airport P.A. several times a day, does anyone stop and think, "Wow, Orange. I better be on my toes today." Will it ever be Green, or even Yellow, again. Of course not.
And what, exactly, does "Orange" mean to anyone? There are no guidelines for what, if anything, we should do differently. It seems to be there just to put casual travelers on edge (or maybe the theory is that they will feel safer: "That's right, we're at Orange. Nothing's getting by us today".)
Or is the intended audience the would-be terrorist: "You heard us, m-f'er: Level Orange. We're looking at
you! And we could step it up to Red in a heartbeat, so back off!"
[/Rant]
Quote:
Originally Posted by nolimitfiend
Perhaps we can get back to the "Ask a question, get a great answer from OP" format?
Yes, I agree. This might be a worthwhile topic of discussion and I would encourage anyone who wants to pursue it to create a new thread.
I still owe some posters answers to aviation questions and I'll try to get caught up today.