Commercial Pilots Leak Secret TSA Christmas Memo

dannybananny

Jedi Council Member
By Kevin Barrett | TruthJihad.blogspot.com

Certain commercial pilots who wish to remain anonymous (and employed) have leaked an airline memo, apparently dictated by TSA, ordering aircraft operators to mistreat their passengers in response to the CIA/Mossad Christmas crotch-bombing extravaganza. One of the pilots writes:

So I got my liquids searched at the airport this morning. Pretty remarkable considering I was FLYING THE AIRPLANE! This is a message that my company sent me this morning that I thought you would enjoy. Please don't send this to anybody without asking me first. The airlines overreact to this stuff as I'm sure you're aware of.

I checked with another couple of pilots who confirmed the memo's authenticity. Then I asked pilot #1 if I could post it. He responded:

It's technically "Sensitive Security Information" which I can get imprisoned, sent to Guantanamo, tortured, or all of the above for leaking. Especially for leaking it to un-American, un-Patriotic, terrorist suspects/sympathizers like yourself! Anyways... If you use it, let me know.

So I'm using it and letting him know. Here is the security-sensitive memo:

On December 25, 2009, a terrorist attack was attempted against a flight traveling to the United States. TSA has identified security measures to be implemented by airports, aircraft operators, and foreign air carriers to mitigate potential threats to flights. These are among a series of activities within the security environment.

The in-flight portion of this Security Directive as described below applies to all scheduled and/or public charter flight operations departing from any foreign location to the United States (including its territories and possessions); IMMEDIATE implementation all measures in this SD is required for flights meeting the criteria noted above.

Among other measures being taken in the gate area including additional screening, the aircraft operator must ensure that the following procedures are followed during flight:
1. Passengers must remain in seats beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.
2. Passenger access to carry-on baggage is prohibited beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.
3. While over U.S. airspace, the flight crew may not make any announcement to passengers concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks.
4. Passengers may not have any blankets, pillows, or personal belongings on their lap beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.

Follow the appropriate Threat Level procedures for non-compliance.

To ensure the passengers are aware of the new directives, flight attendants on international departing flights should make the following announcements:

After the GET SETTLED briefing - “Due to new security requirements for international departing flights, you have encountered additional screening at the gate area as well some new procedures that will take place during flight. We apologize for the inconvenience but these new requirements are government mandated.”

Approximately one hour and fifteen minutes prior to arrival - “In about fifteen minutes, the seat belt sign will be illuminated for the remainder of the flight. At that that, all passengers must remain seated with no access to carry-on baggage and with all pillows, blankets and personal belongings stowed. If you need to use the facilities, put away items or stretch your legs, please do so now.”

If you have any questions, please contact a member of Inflight management, Flight Operations management, the on-call Inflight Supervisor of the on-call Chief Pilot.
 
Just for the record, I flew back into the States from Europe a few days ago and the only difference in the flight experience was that the in-flight tracking monitor was turned off for the last hour of the flight. When my ears began to pop, it was obvious we were descending for landing, but no landing announcements were made until after the landing gear was dropped. Even then, the only announcement was of the 'flight attendants prepare for landing' type.

We were not asked to remain in our seats for the last hour and fifteen minutes. There were no restrictions to access to carry on baggage (though carry on was limited to one small bag) and we were not told to keep blankets/pillows off of our laps. The airline was Lufthansa, so that might have been the difference since it was my understanding that Germany was not extremely responsive to the new directives in general. Screening at the German airport was heightened, though - body rubdowns and two passport checks by passport control (not just an airline employee who glances at your passport as you get on the plane). This delayed most, if not all, international flights by a little over two hours.
 
Have just looked at this mornings gaurdian uk newspaper online as i usually do around this time or after midnight uk time and was disgusted to see this following news item. It disturbs me that we hear from Liberty groups etc only that it is wrong to scan under 18´s when they should be saying it is wrong to do this to any one of any age ,full stop.

Any one know if the rays or whatever from these scanners are harmful to the human body? I cant see how they are not. Any way the article.

New scanners break child porn laws

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jan/04/new-scanners-child-porn-laws

The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned.

Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines are so graphic they amount to "virtual strip-searching" and have called for safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers involved.

Ministers now face having to exempt under 18s from the scans or face the delays of introducing new legislation to ensure airport security staff do not commit offences under child pornography laws.

They also face demands from civil liberties groups for safeguards to ensure that images from the £80,000 scanners, including those of celebrities, do not end up on the internet. The Department for Transport confirmed that the "child porn" problem was among the "legal and operational issues" now under discussion in Whitehall after Gordon Brown's announcement on Sunday that he wanted to see their "gradual" introduction at British airports.

A 12-month trial at Manchester airport of scanners which reveal naked images of passengers including their genitalia and breast enlargements, only went ahead last month after under-18s were exempted.

The decision followed a warning from Terri Dowty, of Action for Rights of Children, that the scanners could breach the Protection of Children Act 1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or a "pseudo-image" of a child.

Dowty told the Guardian she raised concerns with the Metropolitan police five years ago over plans to use similar scanners in an anti-knife campaign, and when the Department for Transport began a similar trial in 2006 on the Heathrow Express rail service from Paddington station.

"They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way," said Dowty, adding there was an exemption in the 1978 law to cover the "prevention and detection of crime" but the purpose had to be more specific than the "trawling exercise" now being considered.

A Manchester airport spokesman said their trial had started in December, but only with passengers over 18 until the legal situation with children was clarified. So far 500 people have taken part on a voluntary basis with positive feedback from nearly all those involved.

Passengers also pass through a metal detector before they can board their plane. Airport officials say the scanner image is only seen by a single security officer in a remote location before it is deleted.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We understand the concerns expressed about privacy in relation to the deployment of body scanners. It is vital staff are properly trained and we are developing a code of practice to ensure these concerns are properly taken into account. Existing safeguards also mean those operating scanners are separated from the device, so unable to see the person to whom the image relates, and these anonymous images are deleted immediately."

But Shami Chakrabarti, of Liberty, had concerns over the "instant" introduction of scanners: "Where are the government assurances that electronic strip-searching is to be used in a lawful and proportionate and sensitive manner based on rational criteria rather than racial or religious bias?" she said.

Her concerns were echoed by Simon Davies of Privacy International who said he was sceptical of the privacy safeguards being used in the United States. Although the American system insists on the deletion of the images, he believed scans of celebrities or of people with unusual or freakish body profiles would prove an "irresistible pull" for some employees.

The disclosures came as Downing Street insisted British intelligence information that the Detroit plane suspect tried to contact radical Islamists while a student in London was passed on to the US.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name was included in a dossier of people believed to have made attempts to deal with extremists, but he was not singled out as a particular risk, Brown's spokesman said.

President Barack Obama has criticised US intelligence agencies for failing to piece together information about the 23-year-old that should have stopped him boarding the flight.

Brown's spokesman said "There was security information about this individual's activities and that was shared with the US authorities."
 
I've been wondering where to place my post, thought about creating a new thread like "Airports, power cuts and traveling", but decided to post it here. If the Moderators can find a more suitable place for it, please suggest or move it.

So, here go my recent observations:

There were two incidents of unexplained power cuts at airports:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/200432-Spain-s-8-Canary-Islands-airports-suffer-flight-disruptions-delays-after-mystery-power-cut
and
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/200433-Power-goes-out-at-Reagan-National-outside-DC

There was another black-out on Dec 22:
(http://www.adn.com/money/industries/aviation/story/1065323.html)

Airport control tower blacked out by power failures

UNPRECEDENTED: Even backup equipment didn't work; plane traffic is light.

All power systems failed twice Sunday morning in the air traffic facility that guides planes into and out of Stevens Anchorage
International Airport via radar, the FAA confirmed Monday. The failures included two backup systems. [...]

There was an unexplained incident in Western Australia, not at an airport this time, but still affecting traveling:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/6651538/powerline-break-still-a-mystery/

Rail safety inspectors admit they have no idea what caused an overhead powerline to come crashing down on a train but insist the $1.6 billion
city to Mandurah rail route is safe. [...]

One thing is what's going on at nearly all airports, that's a total mess with all the screening, arrests and delays. There was a couple traveling from Germany to Egypt that had to cancel their vacations due to a joke made about terrorism (not very clever, yeah), there was a 'last minute kiss g'bye' followed by huge delays, bottles with honey, handcuffed people etc... I've never seen before so many articles about airports. That's just completely crazy, not to mention that humiliating.

But then we have that 8 months C's mentioned, and the power cuts may or may not have something to do with that:
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=15338.msg124850#msg124850

(Anart) Are they eventually going to just shut down international travel?

A: Yes

Q: (A***) How soon?

A: 8 months possible.


And there are the leaks from TSA. In December, they 'accidentally' put online their airport screening manual (I'm not sure that's the same as Barrett writes about):

The following article from USA Today contains a link to the manual:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2009/12/tsa-screening-manual-posted-online-reveals-secrets-1/1

ABC News is reporting that the Transportation Security Administration inadvertently posted its airport screening procedures manual on the Web.

The security breach resulted from blacked-out sections that could be undone by computer users and involves special rules for screening diplomats, CIA agents and police.[...]

"This is an appalling and astounding breach of security that terrorists could easily exploit," said Clark Kent Ervin, the former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow about stopping terrorist travel.

In fact, the document disappeared from numerous websites, but is still hosted by ABC News. Interesting reports on the story I found on a blog The Wandering Aramean. There are four posts there about that and evidently there were two leaked docs; the older one you can find on ABC News, but the link to the newer, a ruling from the US Merit Systems Protection Board, isn't working for me. Here are the four posts:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2009/12/the-tsa-makes-another-stupid-move/
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2009/12/tsa-document-is-gone-or-is-it/
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2010/01/another-tsa-document-redaction-failure/
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/tag/TSA/

petergreenberg.com talks about the 93 pp TSA manual:
http://www.petergreenberg.com/2009/12/10/tsa-answers-for-latest-security-gaffe/

The Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on the incident Wednesday morning. In addition to taking action against the TSA employees responsible for the indiscretion, Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the TSA is conducting an internal review to ensure a similar incident never recurs.

Throughout the hearing, TSA officials downplayed the significance of the leak. While some committee members called the manual a “textbook” for terrorists, TSA officials maintained that there was nothing in the report that a potential enemy couldn’t otherwise find out by simply observing screening procedures at airports.///

Are they deliberately provoking the leaks? I don't know, but would suggest to keep an eye on all that weird traveling stuff. Maybe there are dots that can be connected with time and some more digging.
 
anart said:
.... Screening at the German airport was heightened, though - body rubdowns and two passport checks by passport control (not just an airline employee who glances at your passport as you get on the plane). This delayed most, if not all, international flights by a little over two hours.

Yep, same for me. I just flew back to the states from France. We arrived at the airport a good three hours plus before our flight and only arrived at our gate about 40 minutes before boarding call. This was because the flight was delayed! We went through the typical security checks and an added security check for those flying to the states. They literally cordoned off a section of the terminal just for US flights. Again they searched our carry on, took everything out this time, full body pat down (including my daughter) and continually asked about our stay.

So there we sat, separated from all the other travelers - no access to stores for food or water. Thank goodness there were toilets!
 
"Airports, power cuts and traveling" continuing, things are getting weird:

Newark airport system down during crash land
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/200832-Newark-airport-system-down-during-crash-land

A crippled airliner landed safely at Newark Airport thanks to a veteran pilot's skill -- but the radio system used by the ground rescue team crashed just when it was needed most, The Post has learned.

At 8:50 a.m., the emergency system alerted rescue teams to the possibly crippled airliner approaching Newark. But soon after, a sergeant on the ground realized he couldn't communicate with his desk or other squads.

Using cellphones, cops alerted the crews to switch to backup frequencies. But by the time that happened, sources said, the Airbus had already safely skidded to its landing, with the 48 passengers and crew members on board scampering from the craft on emergency slides.

Sources said the radio failure was only one of a spate of police communications failures.

Airport patrol officers lost their radio contact at the same time the rescue frequencies went out, the sources insisted yesterday.

In addition, all parties had lost radio contact only hours before, from around midnight to 2 a.m., the sources said. ...

The problems began late Saturday, after utility crews were called to fix a major power surge at a PA facility in Hoboken, sources said.

Even Kennedy Airport was affected, losing the same communications capability between 10 p.m. Sunday to 2 a.m. yesterday.

EDIT: added one pagraph
 
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