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Bad joke prompts Alaska airport evacuation
The manager at Alaska's main airport says he expects charges to be filed after a bad joke led to the evacuation of a terminal. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport manager John Parrott says the incident happened a little after 12 a.m. local time Sunday, and the terminal was cleared as authorities searched through baggage. (www.seattlepi.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Again, the point I was attempting to make was the response needs to be a measured one. Currently it is a one size fits all. Did the passengers needed to be subjected to rescreen in frigid temperatures? If it had been a real threat ( in-spite of the comment they could joke their way through the terminal - really?) did they search every nook, cranny, plant & trashbin in the evacuated terminal? Surely a real threat would not leave any device behind ( which obviously made it through initial screening) to be retrieved after a second screen. The irrational fear and supposed remedy will continue to expand to the point inertia will preclude any joy in travel. Think Horses not Zebras.
I agree the guy showed bad judgment, but was he alone? Would someone who is a serious threat make such an announcement before reaching the aircraft? Does the term 'piling-on' come to mind? Is there a possibility many people will have their yearly fitness report say 'stopped terrorist threat'? While it is good to error on the side of caution, at what point does common sense kick in?
And what happens if it isn't a joke? This sort of thing didn't start on 9/11, but it has received quite a bit more press since then.
The guy is an idiot but that does not justify closing an airport because he asked a question.
You missed his point. Security agencies need to know the enemy. True terrorists don't announce what they are going to do. You just see the flash and that's the last thing you see.
But that would be stereotyping the enemy, which means next time a terrorist group wants to strike, if they did that, would just make bomb jokes all the way to the gate.
Jihadists are notoriously poor at jokes. Their comedy routines, as everyone knows, suck. Probably the only people with less of a sense of humor, common sense or real brain waves, belong to TSA.