The Secretary of Transportation go after Continental Express about tarmac delay. Obama decides on a new TSA chief. Security Cameras at La Guardia miss entire episode of would-be suicide bomber Scott McGann.
Transportation Secretary: Continental/ExpressJet incident ‘very troubling’
Transportation Secretary LaHood registered strong concern with the overnight tarmac delay on the Continental Express jet in Rochester, Minn. The DOT is looking into whether any regulations or laws were broken by keeping the passengers on the plane for such an extended period.
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday that he has asked the Dept. of Transportation’s general counsel to determine whether Continental Airlines or ExpressJet Holdings “violated any laws” when 47 passengers were held overnight last week onboard an ERJ-145.
LaHood also said he has written a letter to CO demanding “an explanation.” On his “Fast Lane” blog, he wrote yesterday that “reasonable people are outraged at the idea of being stuck on a small plane for seven hours.” ExpressJet has apologized for the incident, in which passengers were not allowed to leave CO Flight 2816 after it diverted to Rochester [Minn.] International.
Congress told ex-FBI agent will run TSA
Word has leaked out that President Obama is ready to appoint, Eroll Southers, a former FBI agent, as the the chief of TSA, responsible for the nation’s defence against terrorism at airports and other transportation systems.
Erroll Southers would be the fifth man to run the Transportation Security Administration, which was formed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, according to a Capitol Hill aide. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the aide did not want to speak publicly about it before the announcement has been made.
As head of TSA, Southers would oversee a workforce of 50,000 airport screeners and be a main player in the discussions about whether to let them join a labor union.
Security cameras at La Guardia missed the action at last week’s bomb scare
It was an apparent lapse of airport security. Surveillance video cameras positioned at La Guardia Airport did not capture even a single frame of the would-be suicide bomber Scott McGann trying to blow himself up and two cops who wrestled him to the ground, according to a report in the NYPost.
“It’s amazing how eight years after 9/11 . . . you would think they would ensure seamless camera coverage,” said a source.
PA cops grabbed McGann, 32, as he “closed his eyes” and repeatedly clicked a trigger attached to wires running up his sleeve to what turned out to be a bogus bomb.
The incident — just feet from a federal Transportation Security Administration agents — shut La Guardia for hours, backing up air travel around the country.
