jetset1

Although I haven't changed any future travel plans, it has been interesting reading other passengers accounts of the Detroit-L.A. flight. I was just wondering if this has alarmed anyone, or if you think it has been exaggerated.
Of course, unless one was actually on that flight, it's pretty easy to play Sunday quarterback too. J.

Craig

Just curious - where did you read accounts of other passengers on the flight?

jetset1

Craig: I signed up on the Women's Wall Street website when this story first came out.
Annie J. has since interviewed many more passengers, some of them have started writing to the FBI to obtain answers. The accounts were troubling.. it gives credibility to Annie's story if you take time to read the eyewitness accounts. Many posters here "jumped" on Annie, claiming she was hysterical. The part I found disturbing was the recent passenger who sat near one of the men, who took the McDonald's bag(quite full she claimed) with him to the bathroom, and came back reeking of toilet chemicals after ten minutes.
My gut feeling is that the events of this flight are being deliberately downplayed, so there won't be panic and airline backlash(loss of revenue). Like I said, I haven't changed my plans, but I wondered if anyone else had changed their mind about the serious nature of this since the story came out. J.

MikeT

If a crackpot like this loon can force you to change your plans, then you should be in a bunker somewhere in Idaho instead of travelling.

No one execpt the most lunatic fringe appears to be taking her seriously, despite all of her self-promotion

Spygirl

Jetset-please do a search under "Jacobsen" and read MY update on the Jacobsen story!

Craig

I have gone back to the www.womenswallstreet.com website and read Annie Jacobsen's follow-up articles. Indeed she says she has heard from other passengers who were on the Detroit - LA flight. It would be nice if someone from the mainstream press would interview these passengers as I don't think that at this point Annie Jacobsen has much credibility.

Merilee_Tucker

Does anyone remember shortly after 9/11 when actor James Woods came forward and talked about being a passenger in the first class cabin on an American Airlines non stop flight from Boston to LA that also carried 4 of the hijackers? He was traveling on August 1, 2001 and he said he was suspicious of the four men because although they knew each other they didn't sit together and they only made contact with each other with eye movements. Apparently the four men also didn't talk or move once during the flight to go to the lavatory or stretch and they didn't drink or eat anything. He called it to the attention of a flight attendant who had him talk to the first officer. A complaint was filed but supposedly it landed on a mountain of such documents and was never investigated. He said that he thought they were "casing" the plane and he feared being hijacked or worse. He also said that he was told by various govt officials to keep quiet. Anyway, I think these incidences will only increase because many people will always feel nervous if they see someone that matches the profile.

buckeyemom

Merilee-Here's the link to the Woods story found on snopes.com

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/woods.htm

jetset1

I didn't catch Ms. Jacobsen on any of her tv interviews, so I feel unable to really gauge her in some ways that seem important. Why hasn't Larry King interviewed her,lol?
I don't know. I have read many viewpoints and initially wondered if some were feeling afraid of the possibility of these man being legitimate threats, or why you feel that Ms. Jacobsen made something out of nothing.
I wonder too, if it had been a group of American males acting in the manner described, if the same "witnesses" would have felt the same and reported their accounts.

alvarki

I have read the articles and subscribed to the Women's Wall Street website as well. I do find her credible and the situation troubling. I have not changed plans either (and I have 3 trips planned from now until December!). However, I would like to the the airlines and government do more about the situation and help us feel safe again. The government needs to demonstrate how it is reacting to this sitation - if someone's VISA is expired - they need to leave immediately! Those men where allowed to stay.

pdxgirl

The visas were NOT expired. That is one of the false assertions in Jacobsen's article. The musicians were all in the country legally. I think it has been pretty thoroughly documented by now that Jacobsen overreacted to the situation. The Federal Air Marshals on the flight were more worried about her hysteria than about the Syrians.

Scarlett

I read the article then I read Snopes (Hysterical Skies).
I tend to think that there was a great deal of imagination combined with bad nerves that resulted in this article.
For example, someone posted on here that they saw a FA pour a drink and take it into the cockpit..from that came all sorts of conjecture about Drunk pilots, FA's and other imaginary scenarios.
jetset1, now and then, you might want to check Snopes.com and see what their updates are.

Craig

I'm not clear on whether the musicians visas were expired or not - seems to me, this issue has not been resoloved - anyone have some documented FACTS on this?

Scarlett

Who, here, would have Documented Facts on this ?

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/skyterror.asp

Craig

snopes.com is no more a legitimate source than annie jacobsen's web site.

Scarlett

Oh well, then I am clueless

BuffaloGirl

A large group of people acting strangely on a plane.......bringing alcohol into the cockpit.....these are legitimate concerns.

Our local talk radio personality (who's views I don't always agree with) has a lot of shows on terrorism with terrorism experts as guests. Anyhow, he always ends his show with the line "If you see suspicious people doing suspicious things, report them." I couldn't agree more.

Maybe it's my Italian upbringing, but I say if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck..........it isn't a cow!

Better safe than sorry. Too many people are afraid to speak up for fear of the possible backlash.

Scarlett

Oh, I agree! If I saw something suspicious I would be worried, but that does not mean that I believe every story that someone tells about seeing something suspicious..
Perhaps I caught the cynical New Yorkers way of looking at things, I need more proof than one persons story. And maybe more than one person seeing the same thing.

jetset1

Hmmm, still hard to know what happened. I'm surprised the tabloids didn't jump on this, or DID they already? I remember years ago, a flight between Anchorage and Portland, when a man seemed to pull invisible hairs from in front of his face. That made me nervous, just because he seemed out of the norm. I see where people would be hyperaware now, after everything, and maybe inflate the facts.I'd just like to see a new and recent official "follow up", to reassure the people who were upset about this incident...

April

Sorry, I had to laugh at the story about James Woods being suspicious of four men who knew each other but didn't sit together. Isn't that just American Airlines' usual method of seating? They couldn't manage to seat me and my husband together once. Not wanting to holler across the rows of passengers, we probably communicated through eye contact as well. Maybe the men were grumpy after dealing with the airline's ticket agent. Maybe they didn't eat because they didn't like airline food.