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| AIRPORT WATCH CONCEPT HELPS NAB 'BAD GUYS' |
| 2004-08-13 |
| This is from a newsletter I get through E-mail from the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). They have been working with their membership, fixed base operators (FBOs) and the flying public since 9-11 to foster greater security awareness at general aviation (GA) airports. (The link may not work right now.) Here's proof that GA airports really are small communities and that the "residents" know when something is amiss. On Wednesday, this led to the nabbing of some suspicious characters at St. Louis Downtown Airport. It all started when a man telephoned an FBO not far from the Gateway Arch and asked about chartering a helicopter. About an hour later, two men walked into the FBO, pulled out cash to pay for the flight, and presented driver's licenses from two different states as ID. Office staff noticed their car was registered in a third state and called the FBI and local police. FBO workers stalled the two suspects until the authorities arrived. After a little time behind bars, the two "terrorists" confessed that they were NBC employees from New York. Their assignment: A story on how "easy" it is to get information and directions to a helicopter and then hijack it. St. Louis was their first attempt; the network reportedly planned similar tries to penetrate security at airports around the country. "This incident demonstrates the validity of the Airport Watch concept," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "Vigilant pilots and airport workers make the best security force because they know who does and doesn't belong at the airport. They can easily spot the things that just don't seem right." |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #6 Angie, it would have been more gentlemanly to have waited to struggle with her once they were 50 of so feet above the prison. The he could have booted her ass out the door when she went for the 2nd gun, landing her in a place where her broken bones could have been treated at the prison infirmary. Shooting her was OK, though. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-14 12:31:56 AM |
| #5 Man, too bad Allen Barklage isn't around. For a couple of decades Barklage flew a traffic copter for several St. Louis radio stations. He also ran a charter service, and was once hijacked: On May 24, 1978, Barbara Oswald hired a helicopter from a St. Louis helicopter charter service. She said she wanted to fly over some real estate that she was considering purchasing near Cape Girardeau. Once in the air, Oswald hijacked the chopper at gunpoint and forced pilot Allen Barklage to fly to the Marion [Illinois] prison, ordering him to land in the prison to free [Garrett Brock] Trapnell [airline hijacker] and three other inmates. However, Barklage struggled with Oswald, took her gun, and shot her to death when she reached into her purse for another gun. Barklage died in 1998, when he crashed his home-built helicopter. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2004-08-13 8:08:27 PM |
| #4 I predict that the ACLU will come out against the profiling of sucpicious characters by private citizens. Soon Nancy Pelosi will proffer legislation to establish people with beady eyes and also people with unibrows as protected classes. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-13 4:50:11 PM |
| #3 Hang in there, Emily. Remember, the "bad guys" just got out of jail, where they were abused and humiliated. It will take them time to |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-08-13 4:26:21 PM |
| #2 So...where's the NBC story on how difficult it is to charter a helo in St. Louis? *crickets chirping* |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-08-13 4:21:35 PM |
| #1 And the reason this worked is....anyone ? Correct, Mr. Bueller: these were private citizens with a stake in stopping suspicious characters, rather than covering their bureaucratic butts. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2004-08-13 4:09:20 PM |