USPA News

WHEN DOES “GETTING THE STORY” GO TOO FAR?

By now most everyone in GA has heard the story of two Middle Eastern men—employees of NBC NY—who attempted to get a national news story on how easy it is to hijack a helicopter for a terrorist attack. Confirmed by USPA President Steve Uslan, it happened on August 11 at the St. Louis Downtown Airport, when they called the FBO about a charter flight, obtained directions to the business, arrived an hour later, and produced drivers licenses from two different states, with a car registered in a third state.

Being suspicious, as you can well imagine they might be, the mechanic delayed the men while the secretary called the FBI and local Police, who arrested the men. They were ultimately released when NBC vouched for them.

The two men were on assignment by NBC to get a story of how easy it is to charter a helicopter for a terrorist attack. They had stayed in a local hotel and had bought box cutters, knives, and other potential weapons which were hidden in their baggage. They had also taped the initial phone conversation to use in the national story.

Being the small community that GA is, it is no surprise to us that the FBO staff responded as they did. But can you imagine the reaction of non-aviation types had their plan succeeded? And it was later learned that although this was the first such attempt, NBC planned other potential stories around the country.

Good news reporting or bad? Helpful to national security or harmful? Builds more security confidence in Americans or less? You be the judge. But I’m thinking there are endless opportunities in our “free” society where terrorists can potentially wreck havoc. In the GA community we know who belongs and who doesn’t, and what does and doesn’t make sense at airports, and we’re probably far more secure than many other forms of transportation and public facilities.

With the burning desire to “scoop” for viewer numbers to the point of creating stories, we now have to watch out for both the “real” and the “make believe” terrorists. What a shame.

Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association

Posted by Jan at August 17, 2004 08:56 PM