Lapses Allowed Suspect to Board Plane

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Why was Faisal Shahzad permitted to board a flight for Dubai some 24 hours after investigators of the Times Square terrorism case learned he might be connected to the attempted bombing?

Though Mr. Shahzad was stopped before he could fly away, there were at least two significant lapses in the security response of the government and the airline that allowed him to come close to making his escape, officials of the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies said on Tuesday.

First, an F.B.I. surveillance team that had found Mr. Shahzad in Connecticut lost track of him — it is not clear for how long — before he drove to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the officials said. As a result, investigators did not know he was planning to fly abroad until a final passenger list was sent to officials at the federal Customs and Border Protection agency minutes before takeoff.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/nyregion/05plane.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Great...same damn thing happened with Umar Abdulmutallab, the shoe bombing suspect. And with the 9/11 hijackers, who overstayed visas. GRR! Darn it government! :banghead:

[NYC_SKP]

1. Thanks to TSA, we can be fairly certain that no small bottles of shampoo were taken aboard.

Which should be a comfort to us all.

:sarcasm:

[Lugnut]

5. +100 n/t

[No Elephants]

10. Well, I do get ticked when terrorists have lustrous, manageable hair.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. And every passenger was screened while barefoot

[FrenchieCat]

2. He Didn't get anywhere.....due to the final Passenger list, which is the one that counts.....

But yes, still, they have to get this right at all levels!

[jaysunb]

8. Even if the plane had taken off

he was still caught.

The plane would have been turned back or diverted as soon as it was known he was on it.

Much ado about nothing. Nit picking at it's finest. :evilfrown:

:hi:

[woo me with science]

13. Well, they definitely deserve credit for catching him quickly,

but I would not call dismay over his boarding the plane "much ado about nothing."

He should never have been able to board. And it was a dangerous situation for the passengers around him, to capture him there.

[flamingdem]

3. And they make sure to irradiate us with those da*m scanners too nt

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. The god damn indignity & frustration that I & all the other travelers have suffered

for what seems like forever & this SOB traipses right the god damn hell through. The whole fucking lot of the TSA & all the rest ought to be horse whipped & then shit canned.

[DallasNE]

6. Why Do We Even Have No Fly "Lists"?

If Visa can run an authorization check on a credit card in a fraction of a second then why is there not a no fly database that can be electronically checked in a fraction of a second when someone attempts to buy an airline ticket. It is inexcusable that 1980's technology is still being used by the airlines and their government partners.

[DeSwiss]

7. Inter-departmental and inter-agency communications may still be down.....

...but granny pat-downs and full body x-rays are up!

[JDPriestly]

9. Evidence of intent to flee would have been useful at a trial

had one been necessary. Also that same evidence would be useful in making sure no bail will be permitted. I don't think a judge would allow bail in a case like this anyway, but the fact that there is no question about this man's intent to escape is not necessarily a bad thing.

The plane had to have permission to leave the airport. Maybe they really didn't know he was getting on the plane until the last minute. Maybe they did.

They have no obligation to tell the public the truth one way or the other. In fact, they should say as little as possible.

[RC]

12. Hog wallow. Attempting to board the plane is evidence enough.

It can be assumed the plane will leave. That is its purpose.

[No Elephants]

11. He's in jail. We cannot expect people to be perfect. However, they do need to be using

up to date technology for more than scanning us.

[ShortnFiery]

14. Anything! And I mean any ... damn ... thing to keep the unwashed masses' eyes off of GREECE.

:evilgrin:

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. The unwashed masses want to play Playstation

Not follow international economics and geopolitics.

[ShortnFiery]

19. It will become real interesting here when they come for OUR pensions.

And they will take parts of our Social Security in the very near future. Will another "little league" terrorist plot or more oil leakages be soon POPPING UP OUT OF NOWHERE in order to keep us distracted from being robbed blind by our TRUE ENEMY? That is, those within the mega-enriched criminal bankster cartel. :(

[babylonsister]

15. How about, "quick action caught the suspect"? Seriously,

if he hadn't been caught in NY, he would have been arrested in London or Dubai. But leave it to the nyt to put the negative spin on, and I'm sure that will be today's talking point. :eyes:

[WolverineDG]

21. and it wasn't the government that didn't get him on the list in time

it was the airline that didn't use the updated list until just before take-off.

dg

[high density]

16. Ah, so this is going to be the GOP narrative

53 hours and 20 minutes wasn't fast enough in catching the guy. "Why did he get let on the plane?" Probably because he didn't have liquids or small knives on his person. Wake up dumbass Senators, this is the screwed up system you have subjected us all to over the last decade.

[KharmaTrain]

20. He Was Caught, Wasn't He???

Instead of citing right wing talking points, people should pay attention to some important facts here. He was caught when his name showed up on the no-fly list and was checked against the final manifest. Since he bought his ticket at the last moment that set off a red flag that led to his apprehension. While I'm no fan of the regressive TSA games that are more hat than cattle, this part worked. It was also reported that the reason he was allowed to board did two things. First, they could monitor his calls (which they did) and look to see if there were others with him. Next, by getting him on the plane, they had him cornered. It made his capture easier...even if it may have inconvenienced a few passengers by returning to the gate.

There's a lot more to this story that I expect will be played out over the next days and weeks. Too many scary elements yet others that are a massive disconnect. The scary part is how close someone could drive a lethal car bomb close to such a massively populated area. Many major cities have gone to prohibiting street parking in their downtown areas for security reasons. Maybe NYC will have to look into similar measures around Times Square and Lower Manhattan.

The disconnect is how "Rube Goldberg-ish" this device was. Some cite South Park, I also saw an episode about how to blow up a propane cannister on a recent episode of Mythbusters. This was an amateruish effort that would make McVeigh laugh. It's as if this attempt was made to fail but to create a wave of fear due to the possibility...and if that's the case, it's succeded.

[UTUSN]

22. Yip, PATAKI has been drenching the media with his carping "concerns" & hypotheticals

like, "Why didn't the Administration catch him BEFORE he did anything?!" And WHAT IF the plane had taken off, and WHAT IF WHAT IF!1

Uh, now I remember PATAKI was governor on 9-11. Hmmmm...

[KharmaTrain]

23. Where's Rudeeeeee???

I would have thought Ghouli911ni would have slimed his way onto this stage...he "owns" New York City, doesn't he? :sarcasm:

Yep...the corporate media went into overdrive with their hypotheticals fueled by shitstains like Pataki whose desperate to stay relevant. I'm seeing way too much of this douchenozzle these days.