Canada's airlines announce new security measures in wake of Xmas attack attempt

[CougarKing]

Aside from the report below, people should also remember this other report from 2007 about Canada having the world's best air marshals.

From the Canadian Press via Yahoo News

By The Canadian Press

CALGARY - WestJet says that effective immediately, passengers on its flights to the United States will undergo a secondary search.

The Calgary-based airline says all passengers on U.S.-bound flights must submit to a pat-down search, and carry-on luggage, which will be limited to one bag per passenger, will be searched by hand.


Air Canada also announced stricter security measures and urged passengers to arrive at airports early for U.S. departures.


The moves follow the arrest Friday of a Nigerian man who's alleged to have tried, but failed, to detonate an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit. The flight landed safely.

WestJet says it anticipates its new security procedures will result in delays at the airport and possibly in delayed departures as well.


Passengers are advised to get to the airport for trans-border departures three hours before the scheduled flight time.


WestJet says it's acting in co-operation with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and that the new procedures will remain in effect until at least Dec. 30.

 

[observor 69]

Hmm ..."pat-down search,"  now that part could be fun.  ;D

I know I'm just a dirty old man.  >

 

[vonGarvin]

It took me a while to find a Workplace-Friendly version of this pic, but is this the future in airport security?

>

 

[medicineman]

If it goes that way, this stuff will follow though Dave :

http://www.medicalexamglove.com/gloves/medline_aloetouch_nitrile_12.jpg

and:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:K-Y.jpg


MM

 

[dapaterson]

Was at Toronto Island today.  Long delays on all US bound flights due to the 100% carry on verification prior to boarding plus the 100% pat-down.  Mind you, Porter has a decent lounge with computers for use, free wifi, free coffee, tea, soft drinks and some snack food, so the crowds were less ornery - in fact, I overheard a few Americans who were havign their first experience with Porter and they were pleasantly surprised by the level of service.

I'm certain the US gates at Pearson were somewhat less pleasant...

(Here's hoping this gets either resolved or down to a science before I head south for a cruise)

 

[GAP]

Hmm ..."pat-down search,"  now that part could be fun.  ;D

I know I'm just a dirty old man.  >

Yah, Yah....until you run across some Earth Mother in spandex that grins wider and wider with each pat, ...............then returns the favor.... :

 

[HollywoodHitman]

Here's a shocker....WestJet is going to have delays on their departures.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Maybe if their security measures were more thorough than taking someones toothpaste and deodorant away we wouldn't ha dudes sneaking IEDs onto planes.

 

[a_majoor]

Or maybe if we treated these events as acts of war and reacted accordingly:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2U2MTlmNDQ1ODg0MmQzODI0MGY5ZGJlMGI0NzlkNzA=

Allegedly Allergic  [Mark Steyn]

Jonah, your allegedly alleged reader's observation on "clinical legalism" is just right. Putting aside the stuff that was just plain wrong (this guy's an "isolated extremist" - oh, yeah?), the President's remarks had a horrible desiccated complacency. "Alleged..." "suspect..." "charged..." - because this is no different from a punk holding up a gas station, right? In all their alleged allegedness, this Administration has an allergy to the concept of war, and thus to the tools of war, including strategy and war aims. In essence, they've accepted a Fort Hood model for this challenge: every so often, something will happen and people will die, and we'll seal off the crime scene and take the alleged suspect into alleged custody. But it's reactive, and it cripples our ability to prevent the death of innocents.

There's a difference between an alleged suspect (which is what he is is the President's fantasy) and an enemy combatant (which is what he is in reality). If this were a war, we would question him about who he hooked up with in Yemen, who did he meet with in London, and maybe get a lead on attacks to come. Instead, the authorities, having issued the Knickerbomber a multi-entry visa, having permitted him to board the plane, and having failed to detect his incendiary unwear, now allow him to lawyer up and ensure that we'll never know who he knew in Yemen or anywhere else.

This would be a big enough gamble in the best of circumstances. Up against the broader background  Derb discusses, it makes disaster inevitable.

 

[x512er]

Christmas Day Underwear Bomber Pleads Not Guilty; The First Of Many I’m Sure
January 8, 2010 | Posted by Shannon Bell
"The Christmas Day underwear bomber pleads not guilty. There’s a sentence you don’t write much, but with the Obama Administration in power and the brain trust in Washington you better get used to it. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab pled not guilty, fully expecting a plea deal from the aforementioned Obama Administration in exchange for information concerning his Yemeni contacts.



How about instead of the underwear bomber pleading not guilty and copping a plea in exchange for information, why not send the little jackass to Guantanamo Bay and waterboard him until he gives up the exact same information? Oh wait, I forgot that would be cruel and unusual punishment or torture or something like that.

Abdulmutallab has admitted to being trained by Al Qaeda in Yemen. Obama seems to have had some sort of epiphany on the matter by admitting that the terrorist is an Al Qaeda affiliate and tried to blow up flight 253 bound for Detroit.

Well, the case of the underwear bomber is going to peter out now, he’ll cop a plea with the government for information that we could have acquired otherwise and he’ll be on his way. This is just a harbinger of things to come with this incompetent Administration.

Every terrorist from here to Asia will be looking to strike a deal with Obama’s government because they know they can. The underwear bomber pleads not guilty, what’s to stop them from doing the same? Even KSM can lawyer up and plead not guilty if he pleases. He’s already been through the “harsh” techniques that should be used on these guys; all he needs to do now is make a deal.

Using the underwear bomber pleading not guilty, terrorists will be emboldened to commit acts of terror and not fear the consequences of being caught. As long as we have a group of sniveling, politically correct bureaucrats in charge, the underwear bomber won’t be the last not guilty plea we here out of Al Qaeda terrorists."
  http://www.theadmonition.com/?p=2689
 
Not guilty? Was someone forcing him to try to commit mass murder? ???

    Fasten your seat belts, we'll be experiencing some turbulence.....  :-\
   

 

[JBoyd]

What the article doesn't say is that the accused would not speak and the judge plead not guilty on his behalf.

A young Nigerian man, wearing a white T-shirt and tennis shoes, did not speak much Friday during his first public court hearing to face charges of trying to ignite a chemical-laden explosive on a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab gave a one word answer — “yes” — when asked whether he understood the charges against him. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Randon entered a not guilty plea for the 23-year-old, who could face up to life in prison on the most serious charge — attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/christmas_day_bomber_to_be_arraigned_Ky5FfaM7t5a9VXOyLO8UIM#ixzz0c55nCXPf

 

[The Bread Guy]

Reviving necrothread with 2 updates:

A young Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a packed airliner bound for the United States on Christmas Day 2009 returns to court Monday to stand trial for one of Al-Qaeda's biggest plots.

Jurors are to be selected this week before Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, popularly known as the underwear bomber, contests charges that he tried to kill nearly 300 people aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The trial will be closely watched as it comes three days after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaqi in a US air strike in Yemen. American intelligence officials have repeatedly linked US-born cleric Awlaqi to the Christmas Day operation.

The prospects of court room drama are high as Abdulmutallab, 24, fired his attorneys and has insisted on representing himself. Finding jurors who say they are able to consider the evidence impartially could also prove difficult.

The Christmas Day plot was foiled when explosives stitched into Abdulmutallab's underwear failed to detonate and only caused a small fire, allowing passengers and crew members to restrain him ....

Agence France-Presse, 3 Oct 11

Two US officials say the drone strike in Yemen that killed Anward al-Awlaki appears to have also killed al-Qaida's top Saudi bomb-maker.

Officials say intelligence indicates Ibrahim al-Asiri also died in the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the death has not been officially confirmed.

Al-Asiri is the bomb-maker believed to have made the explosives used in the foiled Christmas Day airline attack in 2009 and last year's attempted cargo plane bombing ....

The Associated Press, 30 Sept 11