From: AOPA Online - Proof AOPA Airport Watch concept works
two men of Middle Eastern appearance walk into the FBO, pull out cash to pay for the flight, and present driver's licenses from two different states as ID. Office staff notices their car is registered in a third state.
...
Local police arrived shortly and hauled the suspects off to jail in handcuffs. Police discovered box cutters and other potential weapons hidden in the bags.And now (with apologies to Paul Harvey), the rest of the story.
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 was 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.
It's good to know that the people at the airport were alert and quick thinking. I think that regardless of who they work for or the motivation behind their "assignment" these people should be tried as criminals and jailed for their actions, as should their bosses. They want to prove that the system doesn't work? They should pay the consequences when it does work. To me, this is (at the very least) akin to calling in a false fire alarm. The classic scenario of "What if there had been a real emergency while officers were dealing with these asshats?"
There was a big discussion on #wordpress about the bias of the media, and it was argued that "the other" news services don't slant their news as much as Fox does... that they stick more to the "facts." Apparently, it's making the news yourself is un-biased though.
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