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Unbelievable. I listened to some moron of a spokesman saying that within seconds they would have identified him as not being a pilot.
This is the answer or an explanation of things working as they should?
Had the impostor had a gun or anything else destructive (hey, he got into the cockpit didn't he?) then what? Would it matter if someone identified him as not being a pilot then?
Time to really think about what we as taxpayers are paying for with the TSA.
The plane was at the gate and the cockpit door was open. The imposter didn't have the correct documentation for the jump seat and he was arrested. Yes, this is how it works.
The TSA had nothing to do with it. The imposter tried to gain access to the cockpit by producing fake ID, and not by threatening the crew with nail clippers or a 4oz bottle of mouthwash.
The plane was at the gate and the cockpit door was open. The imposter didn't have the correct documentation for the jump seat and he was arrested. Yes, this is how it works.
The TSA had nothing to do with it. The imposter tried to gain access to the cockpit by producing fake ID, and not by threatening the crew with nail clippers or a 4oz bottle of mouthwash.
The impostor didn't try to gain access to the cockpit, he got in and sat down. Big difference.
The TSA had everything to do with it. They check boarding passes and ID. They check baggage and even shoes. This guy bought the uniform at the bookstand? I don't think so.
Nothing worked. He got access. It was only because he didn't want to do more that he didn't. The access he had allowed him to do just about anything he wanted.
This was a security failure of significant proportions.
The report that I heard said that he had bought a ticket for coach class, tried to upgrade, and then approached the cockpit for the jump seat. There was no reason for TSA to deny him boarding (assuming that he didn't show them the fake IDs). Non-flying pilots in uniform are common sights in the passenger cabin. If they can't non-rev (fly for free) for what ever reason, it's not impossible to imagine that they would buy a ticket (if they really had to get somewhere).
When I was working (air traffic controller & airline pilot), I rode in the cockpit jump seat quite often. The procedure was to walk to the cockpit (again, the cockpit door was normally open while the aircraft was parked at the gate) and present your IDs to the captain. If the captain wasn't there, then you waited (e.g. sitting in the jump seat).
If this guy had in fact smuggled a weapon on board, then yes TSA would have been to blame.
Location: The Raider Nation._ Our band kicks brass
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TSA had nothing to do with this. Gate agents check boarding passes at the jetway door. Flight attendants stand in the FWD entry unless they are distracted. This guy was in a line of passengers that were boarding. Instead of making a right, and following them down the aisle, he made a left to the cockpit.
The pilots arrived after completing their outside preflight inspection, and figured out exactly what was going on.
At the very most, you could question a flight attendant. She may have been busy with another passenger, or she may have been fooled.
That has not yet been determined.
As easy (and often accurate) as it is to blame everything on the TSA, this particular incident has absolutely nothing to do with the TSA.
The individual in question had purchased a ticket and therefore had a proper boarding pass. He was properly screened right along with every other passenger and did not have any sort of prohibited items.
I'm not claiming it isn't a security issue, but not one that falls anywhere in the TSA's realm of responsibility.
Since when is the TSA responsible for checking a traveler's employment status?
Since the impostor was a ticketed passenger, the only layer of security that is involved with this situation is the flight crew. He had a boarding pass for security and the gate. The cockpit layer of security worked--the impostor didn't fly--so there's not a lot to talk about here except a few theatrical headlines about how an impostor "got into" the cockpit.
And on the subject of (read with dramatic voice) "getting into" the cockpit, maybe he just asked. Maybe he just walked in and the FA didn't think anything of a guy with a uniform walking in. The door is wide open and everyone from gate agents, to maintenance staff, to twelve year old kids, to jumpseating pilots can be seen "getting into" the cockpit at the gate.
The report that I heard said that he had bought a ticket for coach class, tried to upgrade, and then approached the cockpit for the jump seat. There was no reason for TSA to deny him boarding (assuming that he didn't show them the fake IDs). Non-flying pilots in uniform are common sights in the passenger cabin. If they can't non-rev (fly for free) for what ever reason, it's not impossible to imagine that they would buy a ticket (if they really had to get somewhere).
When I was working (air traffic controller & airline pilot), I rode in the cockpit jump seat quite often. The procedure was to walk to the cockpit (again, the cockpit door was normally open while the aircraft was parked at the gate) and present your IDs to the captain. If the captain wasn't there, then you waited (e.g. sitting in the jump seat).
If this guy had in fact smuggled a weapon on board, then yes TSA would have been to blame.
Wearing a Pilot's uniform is out of their purview I guess.
Sorry, you're missing something but stated it yourself. He buys a ticket for Coach and asks for an upgrade. He gets onto the plane and gets into the cockpit. Flight Attendant sees him and identifies him as a passenger, not a pilot.
He had a fake ID.
TSA failed. If it didn't have the policies and procedures in place to prevent this, they still failed but having them. TSA isn't limited to the people at the screening stations putting thrown away items into their pockets, it includes everyone through the the administration of the agency. Yes, I saw a TSA "agent" do just that, with nail clippers given as a gift, thrown into a bucket that then transferred into the agent's pants pocket. Were I not in a hurry I would have made a stink about it.
As for other things not supposed to get through, they do and have, all the time it is just that we usually swallow the BS about how secure the TSA has made flying.
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