U.S. Law enforcement received around 10 phone calls this weekend that threatened incoming flights. NORAD resorted to sending two F-15 fighter jets to assist Air France Flight 22 to JFK airport from Paris after Maryland State Police contacted the FBI regarding the phone threats they received surrounding the flight. US police officials contacted the flight crew through radio to ask them if anybody on the flight was sick, and when the crew responded that there were not, they ordered the plane to be evacuated and searched. Once the entire plane was deboarded, a search was conducted, but nothing of importance was found. Threats have been reported by authorities in big cities all along the east coast, but so far searches have not turned anything up. Police know not all threats are legitimate, but they must handle every one in a professional manner to avoid missing anything. It's a good thing that all planes landed safely this memorial weekend, but law enforcement and the FBI will continue to investigate the threats to make sure there is no danger.
Did the NORAD make the appropriate decision in bringing out fighter jets or was it a bit of an overreaction to a nonexistent threat?
If law enforcement continues receiving phone threats on flights, what would be a best way to take care of them?
3 comments:
I think that NORAD has made the right move here in responding to the terrorism threats. Although they didn't find anything suspicious and it make seem like an overreaction, with everything going on in the middle east concerning ISIS, it wasn't unreasonable to go the extra mile to make sure everything was safe as possible. With ISIS gaining ground and their international numbers growing, the US is going to have to take every precaution necessary to make sure that the US remains safe while terrorists are abroad.
Better safe than sorry is a mantra that applies twice as much to US airtravel than anything else. That's why we have TSA and "Never Forget." I'm fine with the two fighter jets coming out. Sure, it was a false alarm and a ultimate waste of fuel, but it did give security. The possibility that something could go wrong combined with the full damage when something does go wrong keeps the cost of saying safe worth the government's time.
NORAD absolutely made the right move. You never ever want to have a tragedy happen and think "what if...?" Their actions were completely justified and it was a serious matter in my opinion. Nothing is more important than protecting our nation and maintaining our national security. I don't know of any other ways to go about checking planes and what not to limit bringing out fighter jets and going to such extremes over threats over the phone. Perhaps they can install cameras that have sensors for certain activities in each plane? I think we are fine right now and our nation is pretty safe and protected.
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