Is This the Path to Another September 11th?
A Guest Post By Heath Suddleson
Did that title get your attention? Good! With yet another law suit pending against the airlines and one just settled out of court those who seek to “make a point” or “make a stand against discrimination” are actually desensitizing America.
A year ago it was a group of Imams who drew the attention of passengers as they began to pray while the flight was boarding. They were asked to leave the plane and were detained as a possible security threat. They sued the airlines for discrimination. Yesterday we heard that a group of Muslim women were overheard talking about the safest part of the plane to sit in when it crashes. Everyone was cleared from the plane, searched, the luggage searched, and then the Muslim women were not allowed to re-board the plane. This morning it was announced that a man wearing a t-shirt that read, “We will not be silent” in both English and Arabic was asked to cover his shirt by security officers. He just settled out of court for over $240,000. All of these incidents (and there are many others) are supposedly harmless people who were singled out because they fit a “profile” created from distrust. At best, each of these people I mentioned were either blissfully unaware that they were creating a scene, or more likely they were intentionally trying to be mistreated so they could make their point.
Now some make shake their heads ruefully at the amounts of money being collected in these lawsuits, but I have a different concern. That is our national security. As each incident takes place, lawsuits are filed and money is paid out. It will soon become the practice of airlines to ignore complaints from other passengers about suspicious activity lest they end up in a lawsuit. In fact, the out of court settlement for the t-shirt required the security officer to personally pay some of the money. What flight attendant will risk his or her own paycheck if this trend continues? The reason this becomes a path to another September 11th is because what prevents the terrorists from carrying out a similar attack is the vigilance of the other passengers and flight crews. Knowing that the passengers and flight crews are more aware of such behavior creates a barrier to such an attack being executed again. This awareness is much more effective than all of the screening and security that is conducted in the airport terminals. I know, I worked at two of our nation’s largest airports for many years before, during, and after 9/11. In fact, on 9/11 my office was at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just 1 mile from the Pentagon.
What can you do to stem the tide of incidents and lawsuits? Ask your Senators and House Representatives to sponsor a bill to indemnify airlines, crew, and airport personnel from acting in the best interest of our safety. Such a law already exists and it is called the “Good Samaritan Law” which prevents lawsuits of those who try to help in an emergency but may end up causing some damage in their attempt to help. If Congress passed a similar law it would allow those responsible for safety to keep acting in our best interests, and it would allow all of us to remain vigilant without fear of ending up involved in a lawsuit.
