Homeland security, what do we pay them billions for?

[MrBlah]

5 minutes until wheels up and off to Dubai and they catch the NYC bomber, they were out on the runway taxiing to take off, On the no fly list. Paid CASH for a one way ticket. Breezed through security.

WTF do they do, other than cost us a lot of money, and hassle travelers over incredibly stupid things, like breast milk

[petrel800]

"You don't professionalize, until you federalize." -Tom Daschle

It's a government operation, what do you expect?

[Mongo]

Um, the HS peeps caught him. The airline blew the check of the no fly list and customs caught it. Be pissy about the airline, they dropped the ball on the ticket all the way through the check of the list.

[John]

Um, the HS peeps caught him. The airline blew the check of the no fly list and customs caught it. Be pissy about the airline, they dropped the ball on the ticket all the way through the check of the list.

Than there is a serious problem with HS procedure. Obviously we have no solid security in place or this could not have happened.

[Spicoli]

It's nothing more than a formality to give the illusion of safety.... Plus we get to provide these workers with lifetime pensions.

[KTM Rider]

Um, the HS peeps caught him. The airline blew the check of the no fly list and customs caught it. Be pissy about the airline, they dropped the ball on the ticket all the way through the check of the list.

Actually airlines are only required under current law to update their database against the No Fly list once per day. This guy wasn't put on the list until mid day on the day in question. It is conceivable, without knowing for sure, that Emirates Air updated their list for the calendar day in question prior to him being put on it and were in complete compliance with the current law. There is a move now to alter the requirement from 1 day to every 2 hours for updates.

Additionally, DHS was notified by the airline that a passenger purchased a one way ticket to the middle east with cash on the same day of the date of travel. DHS apparently didn't act on it immediately.

In light of those two explanations/events it would appear that actually its the DHS, not the airline, who is not doing their job effectively.:up:

[impalanar]

Actually airlines are only required under current law to update their database against the No Fly list once per day. This guy wasn't put on the list until mid day on the day in question. It is conceivable, without knowing for sure, that Emirates Air updated their list for the calendar day in question prior to him being put on it and were in complete compliance with the current law. There is a move now to alter the requirement from 1 day to every 2 hours for updates.

Additionally, DHS was notified by the airline that a passenger purchased a one way ticket to the middle east with cash on the same day of the date of travel. DHS apparently didn't act on it immediately.

In light of those two explanations/events it would appear that actually its the DHS, not the airline, who is not doing their job effectively.:up:

The question becomes, why aren't they comparing against a "live list?" Again, a DHS failure not the airlines.

[KTM Rider]

That would obviously be ideal. 2 hrs however is better than 24 I suppose and allows for an acceptable level of risk as one cannot buy a ticket for an international or domestic flight and be off the ground and in international airspace within a 2 hour span.

[Mongo]

Than there is a serious problem with HS procedure. Obviously we have no solid security in place or this could not have happened.

So we should outlaw anyone buying fireworks, some bags of fertilizer, propane and gasoline? That'll seriously mess up a lot of 4th of July parties other than the fertilizer...

[Mongo]

The question becomes, why aren't they comparing against a "live list?" Again, a DHS failure not the airlines.

Given the amount of people complaining about airfares I have a feeling a wholesale upgrade of the computer systems so they'll all work together and with the governments isn't really feasible.

[Mongo]

It's nothing more than a formality to give the illusion of safety.... Plus we get to provide these workers with lifetime pensions.

For the most part yep, it's mainly window dressing since Americans would freak the hell out at real security procedures.

[KTM Rider]

For the most part yep, it's mainly window dressing since Americans would freak the hell out at real security procedures.

Agreed. If Americans were to be forced to endure what one does when transiting the ben gurion airport they would not be happy and there would be lawsuits, "reverends" and the ACLU there protesting.

[winmutt]

Given the amount of people complaining about airfares I have a feeling a wholesale upgrade of the computer systems so they'll all work together and with the governments isn't really feasible.
What I don't understand is why the government isn't double checking the airlines db every time a ticket is purchased. Its not that hard and it SHOULD be checked both ways.

[MrBlah]

they are checking flight rosters, that's how they did catch this guy and stop the flight

[BUD]

Maybe we can look here for suggestions: http://securitysolutions.com/news/security_exposing_hostile_intent/