Sacramento-area pilot punished for YouTube video (Weapon seized - CCW cancelled)

[shadowrider]

SACRAMENTO, CA - An airline pilot is being disciplined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting video on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.

Update: Whistleblowing pilot explains why he did it

The 50-year-old pilot, who lives outside Sacramento, asked that neither he nor his airline be identified. He has worked for the airline for more than a decade and was deputized by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit.

He is also a helicopter test pilot in the Army Reserve and flew missions for the United Nations in Macedonia.

-- snip --

At the same time as the federal marshals took the pilot's gun, a deputy sheriff asked him to surrender his state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon.

A follow-up letter from the sheriff's department said the CCW permit would be reevaluated following the outcome of the federal investigation.

-- snip --

The YouTube videos, posted Nov. 28, show what the pilot calls the irony of flight crews being forced to go through TSA screening while ground crew who service the aircraft are able to access secure areas simply by swiping a card.

"As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce. It's only smoke and mirrors so you people believe there is actually something going on here," the pilot narrates.

Video shot in the cockpit shows a medieval-looking rescue ax available on the flight deck after the pilots have gone through the metal detectors. "I would say a two-foot crash ax looks a lot more formidable than a box cutter," the pilot remarked.

http://www.news10.net/news/article.aspx?storyid=113529&provider=top&catid=188

[hobbit709]

1. It's all just a dog and pony show to justify themselves.

[spin]

6. Don't forget about all the money that is being made by companies that make ...

advanced imaging technology.

To add insult to injury TSA is terrible at catching anything.

Gaping Holes in Airline Security: Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA Screeners
Secret Tests At LAX, O'Hare, Newark Show TSA Screeners Missed Guns, Bombs

***snip***

Experts tell ABC News that every year since the September 11 terror attacks, federal agencies have conducted random, covert "red team tests," where undercover agents try to see just how much they can get past security checks at major U.S. airports. And while the Department of Homeland Security closely guards the results as classified, those that have leaked in media reports have been shocking.

According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles's LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago's O'Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.

***snip***

Sen. Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who called on the Government Accountability Office to conduct its own, independent covert tests of airport screening, decried the decision to classify the results as a national security secret.

"Those results aren't going to help terrorists figure out how to better attack us, and they certainly aren't going to give them any more motivation to try than they already have," Grassley said on the senate floor in September. "Keeping the results secret will accomplish one thing, however. It will ensure that the public has no idea how effective our airport screening strategy actually is."
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/loaded-gun-slips-past-tsa-screeners/story?id=12412458&page=1

It would appear that the idea is to shut up anyone who points out just how poor a job the TSA is doing.

[X_Digger]

2. It's not like this SSI (sensitive security information) was really unknown..

Folks have been complaining about the hypocrisy of ground crew security for a while now.

[spin]

9. I'm certain I have seen segments of the prime networks nightly news ...

dedicated to this subject.

I wonder if a individual who was on a ground crew managed to plant weapons or explosives on an aircraft if Homeland security would blame the pilot for the incident.

It's obvious that almost 10 years after the attack we are still very vulnerable.

[X_Digger]

11. Fact is, we always will be.. it's all security theater

The guy who loads up the beverage / meal carts outside the airport could stick a gun in one (they're specific to a particular plane on flights with meals.)

The guy who fuels up the plane could stuff a pocketful of ball bearings into the fuel system.

The ground crew who check the hydraulic system could plant a bomb in the landing gear..

...



There is no 100% safe way to secure an airport, either from a rogue traveler or employee. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can get back to flying with more than an ounce of shampoo and the slap & tickle from the TSA.

[Callisto32]

3. So he can be trusted with aircraft worth bazillions of dollars and the lives of hundreds...

but not a firearm.

[PavePusher]

4. Who would ever think about using a loaded aircraft as a weapon...?

No-one would ever be that crazy...

[Katya Mullethov]

5. Imagine the possibilities

Watching the disgraceful TSA performance , including this latest outrage, leaves me no doubt that the proposed federal NO GUN FOR YOU law championed by Chuck Schumer would positively result in federal abuse of law abiding gun owners. The list would become an axe grinding blacklist, with all the muscle of the feds behind it. Whistle-blowers, watchdogs, and anyone critical of government or politicians might find themselves suddenly on the list, much as this pilot has wound up with unexpected retributive government attention.

[Tejas]

8. I predict business for Amtrak will pick up,

as these politicos and their moronic agendas get run out of town on a rail.




(herp, be here all week, don't forget to tip your waiters, derp)

[PavePusher]

12. It might... if they had more routes available to useful places.

I live in Tucson and have family in Salt Lake, travel there several times a year. I'd love to ba able to ride a train, but the only routes take me east to St. Louis or west to L.A. and take four days.

And can you imagine the hue and cry that would be raised by some if there was an effort to build a north-south route? Likely by many of the same people who decry the abundance of cars?

Just to keep this on topic, I'd be traveling with skiis or bikes, in season, and, of course, firearms.

So I usually drive.

[Katya Mullethov]

13. I say I say I say I say ...That was a JOKE son .

One could add yet another line of mordacity - "And with the huge influx of passengers filling every seat , they will become a highly profitable operation . "
Because even the dullest knives know that if Amtrack were selling booze , meth , and pussy on those trains , they would loose an obscene amount of money doing that as well .

[spin]

14. Imagine how bad Amtrack would be if the TSA ran it. (n/t)

[PavePusher]

15. Something about....

being so incompetent they couldn't get laid at the Bunny Ranch with Franklins falling out of their pockets...

[one-eyed fat man]

7. this is bureaucratic bungling at is finest

FAR 121 is the chapter of regulations that covers airliners.

http://rgl.faa.gov/REGULATORY_AND_GUIDANCE_LIBRARY/RGFAR.NSF/0/65020f664e8c966786256a6500582f36!OpenDocument

Sec. 121.309

Emergency equipment.

(a) General: No person may operate an airplane unless it is equipped with the emergency equipment listed in this section and in Sec. 121.310.
(snip)
(e) Crash ax. Except for nontransport category airplanes type certificated after December 31, 1964, each airplane must be equipped with a crash ax.
(snip)

It details how many fire extinguishers, life rafts, bull horns, crash axes, portable oxygen bottles will be aboard an aircraft based on the number of passenger seats, where they will be stowed, how often they will be inspected, etc.

It is not classified info. It's a point and click away at FAA.gov.

Most of the security regulations are petty inconveniences designed primarily to placate the more stupid members of the flying public by giving the appearance that the government is DOING something!

[spin]

10. Should the TSA's new director also be punished for revealing the fact ...

that every test gun, bomb part or knife got past screeners at some airports?

The Secrets TSA Keeps
22 Dec 2010 08:27 pm

As the guardians of America's airports put travelers through naked body scans and invasive patdowns, ponder this:

Houston businessman Farid Seif says it was a startling discovery. He didn't intend to bring a loaded gun on a flight out of Houston and can't understand how TSA screeners didn't catch it. Nearing the height of last year's Christmas travel season, TSA screeners at Bush Intercontinental Airport somehow missed a loaded pistol, one that was tucked away inside a carry-on computer bag. "I mean, this is not a small gun," Seif said. "It's a .40 caliber gun."

Seif says it was an accident which he didn't realize until he arrived at his destination. He says he carries the glock for protection but forgot to remove it from his bag. He reported the incident as soon as he landed, shocked at the security lapse. "There's nothing else in there. How can you miss it? You cannot miss it," Seif said. Authorities tell ABC News the incident is not uncommon, but how often it occurs is a closely guarded government secret. Experts say every year since the September 11 attacks, federal agencies have conducted random, covert tests of airport security. A person briefed on the latest tests tells ABC News the failure rate approaches 70 percent at some major airports. Two weeks ago, TSA's new director said every test gun, bomb part or knife got past screeners at some airportsemphasis added
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/12/the-secrets-tsa-keeps.html