The Dangers of Profiling
I am a white male adult of average height and weight. I have no discernible accent. I am generally friendly, and I make eye contact when speaking with someone. Nonetheless, I am occasionally singled out by the TSA for some form of additional scrutiny before boarding a flight. I recently watched a younger male […]
Aircraft Security
On September 11, 2001, the US airline industry was shut down. Shortly after flights resumed, I flew to Boston’s Logan (the airport from which one group of terrorists departed for the World Trade Center). I reassured my wife that there had never been a safer time to fly; security was insanely tight. Since that […]
Air Safety
Modern air travel is founded on a number of assumptions regarding safety. It is assumed that dividing 15 ounces of a dangerous liquid into five 3 ounce bottles makes it safe. It is assumed that pilots are physically healthy, mentally stable individuals (see “Jet Blue Pilot Goes Berserk, Subdued by Passengers”, USA Today, 3/28/12) […]