A USAirways flight from Philadelphia to Houston was diverted to Tri-Cities Airport in Tennesee after a bomb threat was found in a note on board. Reuters reports that although all 52 passengers were offloaded, it turned out to be another hoax.
Meanwhile, this woman, Janet Gregory, Age 66, was arrested in Charlotte, after she refused to hand over nail polish, which is now banned. She was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and communicating threats. She also apparently kicked a TSA agent while being taken away. More information here.
Another USAirways flight en route to Charlotte was diverted to Oklaholma City after an air marshal subdued a passenger who was involved in an unknown incident with a flight attendant. More information here.
A 21-year old man from Miami Beach, Yechezkel Wells, is due in federal court in California for allegedly calling in a bomb threat to Jetblue from a payphone at Long Beach Airport. He was apparently upset after arriving late for a flight Saturday night and being denied boarding. He and three friends were detained by the FBI. They were in California for a wedding.
With all this insanity, we advise you to consider carefully your actions as you travel. As Joe Brancatelli of USA Today advises, the summer has been problematic, and but unlike him we hope that things will improve for the fall.
The Toronto Star comments that: “we must not allow vigilance to turn into vigilantism.” We must learn to remain calm and careful and not panic because the passengers around us make us uncomfortable. Bringing into perspective last week’s Northwest incident, they go on to mention that, “It turns out the men were actually guilty of nothing more than failing to be sombre-faced, laptop-typing, Western-suited white business people. They were released, but only after being detained overnight.” While we are not quite sure about these men being singled out for not being Caucasian, we do agree they were guilty of not being sombre-faced and quiet. We’re unsure of why we don’t just handcuff everyone to their armrest who looks suspicious and be done with it.
Either way, with mass confusion about new security regulations, security based paranoia, and overall problems…the situation does not seem to be getting better right now. But we do encourage you to travel. Just remember, individualism may lead to your plane being diverted and you get a free night’s stay in your local FBI detention center.
