Fighter escorts worry some

[missile_bender]

From USA Today

Pilots and air-traffic-control officials are expressing concern that U.S. fighter jets being deployed to escort some passenger flights could be creating unnecessary risks to commercial aviation.

Military fighters have shadowed at least a dozen commercial flights since U.S. officials raised the nation's terror alert level on Dec. 21, two sources who track the operations said. Typically, fighters are used to keep an eye on flights that, for a range of reasons, have been deemed suspicious by U.S. counterterrorism and intelligence officials.

...

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, fighters have raced to check out suspicious flights about 1,600 times, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Most of the flights were small, private planes.

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Wow. A new problem I didn't know we had. What the article doesn't mention is the high cost of these escorts, and the wear and tear on the airplanes, which have components that constantly need replaced. Oh, well, we can just borrow some more money to boost the defense budget yet again to pay for it.

Unembedded.com

[ConcernedCanuk]

1. "fighters have raced to check out suspicious flights about 1,600 times"

.
.
. 1600 times ! ! !

Sh_t ! !

- that's a good reason for concern, no ?

Ya know, dem pilots with itchy trigger fingers,

Their history of "friendly" fire fatalities,

Canuks in training exercises on the ground,

Brits in the air in Iraq,

People celebrating weddings. . .

So a passenger airline by "mistake" isn't a far reach . .

And you can bet ur ass if / WHEN that happens,

THAT "black box" will never be found . . .

hmmmm . . (sigh) . . (tremble)

THIS Canuks New Years Resolutions (list upgraded)

1. NEVER, ever cross the USA / Canuk border again

2. Never fly anywhere, ever.

so much for feeling "safer",

Credits go to King George and his minions

[Voltaire99]

4. Don't worry!

After the jets launch their missiles, the airlines are planning to turn the volume up on the in-flight Adam Sandler movie to ear-splitting volumes.

You won't notice a thing, but you still qualify to become an American heee-ro. ;-)

[mobuto]

8. Oh bullshit!

First of all, the rules of engagement require direct authorization by the President for any pilot to down a commerical airliner, so you're completely mistaken if you think decisions are being made by junior lieutenants in their first F-16.

How many friendly fire incidents have there been in the United States? None. All the ones you mention have been in war zones, where pilots just might be a little jittery for some inexplicable reason. Despite thousands of military missions being flown domestically each year, I can't think of a single instance in which an American pilot shot someone down by mistake.

The reason pilots have been dispatched 1600 times since 9/11 has been I think it was rather conclusively shown just how much damage planes can do when controlled by suicidal terrorists. There is now a very real threat to our major cities (the White House is less than two minutes by plane from a large airport), to nuclear reactor cores, to our transportation infrastructure (a plane crash into the Delaware Memorial Bridge on I-95 could cripple the East Coast's economy), to military facilities, etc.

I think given the threat, its better to err on the side of caution. Apparently you don't. Why not?

1. NEVER, ever cross the USA / Canuk border again
2. Never fly anywhere, ever.
so much for feeling "safer",

Well I personally feel a lot safer. Safe enough to fly six times in the last two weeks.

[peacebuzzard]

10. I fly every day to a different city it seems like, but.....

I think and many others I have spoken to, as well as numerous pilots seem to think that the flt. 800 TWA, the 747 that went down in the Atlantic shortly after takeoff was the result of mistaken missiles by a military operation. Stuff happens with itchy trigger fingers.:-(

[elfin]

2. I would not want to see them by my flight

I figure they are to shoot the plane down rather than "escort" it, even if the pilot cannot communicate for some non-threatening reason, or if some malfunction causes the flight to go off course.

[IbeaMoran]

3. It takes a worried man

To sing a worried song.

[missile_bender]

12. I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long.

Carter Family?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

5. No probleemo. They'll just take the money from Social Security.

[dbt]

6. Well and good. Where were these escorts on September 11, 2001?

*crickets chirping*

:freak:
dbt

[LeighAnn]

11. No Doubt. Not even when it was obvious

that a hijacked plane was heading towards DC

http://www.hereinreality.com/news/gameshow.html

[daleo]

7. How do they check out the flight anyway?

Do they look through the cockpit window with binoculars to make sure the pilot is dressed properly? Radio communication? Will a simple thumbs up signal do? Or do they just fly along for a while to make sure the plane is not being directed into a big building or a nuclear power plant? At what point would they decide the plane is a little too close to something, and has to come down?

[DemoTex]

9. Fighter interception

As a retired airline pilot, I have mixed emotions on this one. Mobuto has a point, in his usual low-key style. The decision is not in the hands of the F-16 driver. However, the only info back to our always-alert Mr. Bu$h might be from that newly-minted 1st El-Tee.

There is a good possibility that the intercepted airliner is "non-com" or "nordo" (no communications). Then the situation is a totally subjective evaluation of a young fighter pilot. I anticipated this kind of thing long ago. To that end, I always briefed my co-pilot on the use of the white hankey. Maybe, just maybe, the fighters will check fire if they see a white flag from the cockpit.

[preciousdove]

13. The US Military shoots journalists don't they?

It would take a extraodinary situation to get me into the air until this is over.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

14. Here is a factor that everyone seems to have overlooked:

what about the vastly increased workload of air traffic controllers, who now not only have to handle all the civillian flights, plus the military training flights but now also have to handle the "racing" fighter interceptors?

I would be less worried about some fighter jock accidentally shooting down an innocent plane than I would be about some fighter jock accidentally ramming an innocent plane that neither he nor the controllers noticed while he was "racing" to intercept some suspicious plane...

[saigon68]

15. Mid Airs---That's COLLISIONS sports fans

That would be the danger.

They never "Green Em Up" until they are ready to release the ordinance.

The MID AIR COLLISION is what you have to worry about..

What idiots, to have the FANG

****ing Air National Guard, in bad weather, chasing all over, looking for "SNIPE" in the sky.!!!!