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Airlines Made the Decision to Cancel Flights: US officials
Interesting ...The specter of a biological attack was raised Sunday as a possible reason that a handful of transatlantic and domestic flights were canceled this weekend. One federal law enforcement source told CNN that the U.S.-bound flights were grounded mainly out of fears that terrorists would use the planes as "air taxis" to deliver biological, chemical or radioactive weapons material to cities in the United States. The source said the intelligence information was spotty and may be unreliable, and added that translation problems made the picture even less clear. According to this source, the intelligence centered on British Airways, Air France and several U.S.-owned airlines, which the source did not identify. In some cases, specific flights were highlighted, some of them through several weeks in the future. All flights mentioned in that intelligence have been canceled. The federal law enforcement source also said that at least one federal agency, the Department of Energy, was concerned enough about the latest intelligence that it asked that cities install radioactivity detectors. A key member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the United States would have no way to counter a biological or chemical attack on a U.S.-bound airliner. "I donât think so, and thatâs partly the problem of not checking cargo, and itâs partly the problem of biological weapons, which nobody has figured out really what to do about yet," West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, said on "Fox News Sunday." "Nobody has any idea about what to do about them on an airplane or on the ground." Outside the networkâs studios, Rockefeller added, "We donât know how to protect against any biological. ... You play it safe, and the plane doesnât fly, and people are going to have to get used to that, and people are not going to like that, but itâs what youâve got to do in this era." British Airways, Air France and Continental Airlines grounded several flights to the United States for security reasons this weekend. Three Air France flights to Los Angeles, California, were canceled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because of similar threats. British Airways canceled Flight 223 from London to Washington Dulles Airport on Sunday and Monday, and the return flight, Flight 222, both days. Flight 207 from London to Miami, Florida, on Sunday was called off as well. "We canceled these flights on advice from the U.K. government for security reasons," a spokeswoman for the airline said. Air France canceled Flight 026 from Paris to Washington on Sunday and Monday, the airline said. Also, Flight 378 from Paris to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was grounded Saturday, but the Air France Web site said it was called off for "operational reasons." Continental Airlines also canceled Flight 1519 from Washington to Houston, Texas, on Sunday because of security concerns, spokesman David Messing said. "We werenât able to obtain the necessary security clearance from the Department of Homeland Security," Messing said. He said the cancellation was not caused by the Super Bowl, being played in Houston. A senior U.S. official said the airlines, not the U.S. government, decided to cancel the flights. "We did not want to cancel" the French and British flights, the official said. "We have been working all week to try and prevent that. Once it gets into the airlinesâ hands, however, then this is what happens." Hmmm .... airlines donât want lawsuits (or deaths, of course). And the US wanted what? A chance to flush out and capture key terrorists and uncover their intended means of destruction? If bioterror, then it would be very useful to look at the genetic signature of the material. Capture and quietly turn someone? This reminds me of the French announcement that allowed a suspect to slip away before a previously cancelled flight. Posted by: rkb 2004-02-02 |
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