Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11 [Hardcover]

Michael Smerconish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

Radio talk show host Michael Smerconish asks the question: In a post-9/11 world marked by constant threat of terrorism, why do the Department of Transportation and the Transportation Security Administration continue to jeopardize airline security by enforcing outdated screening regulations that cater to political correctness? The policy in question-disallowing airline security screeners from using profiling to target young Arab males for secondary screening-goes against the basic police investigative strategy of using pertinent information to pinpoint suspects and prevent further terrorist attacks. The issue first came to light during the 9/11 Commission hearings, and Smerconish's investigation gets to the heart of it. Drawing from U.S. Government documents, testimony from the 9/11 hearings and the June 24, 2004 special Senate hearing, on-the-record conversations with major airline officials and government representatives from the TSA and the Pentagon, personal experience, and various news stories and first-person accounts, Smerconish weaves together a stunning portrait of our flawed and failing airline security structure, and offers a strong solution.Includes audio CD with testimony from the 9/11 Commission hearings, testimony from a special U.S. Senate hearing about airline security, and excerpts from Smerconish's radio program including conversations with 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman, U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and John McCain, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flying with his family, Smerconish, a radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist based in Philadelphia, twice had his eight-year-old son chosen for "secondary screening"—and was twice able to substitute himself without incident, despite his carrying odd-looking electronic broadcast gear. Mulling the ease with which he made it though the process, he then learned of a federal policy to fine airlines "if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning." (The actual testimony from an airline industry rep was that the Justice Department said a screening system would be discriminatory if it flagged more than three people of the same ethnic origin.) Contacting the Department of Transportation, Smerconish was told secondary screening is random or behavior-based. Tracing down the decisions that led to these policies in detail—and decrying the policies themselves—Smerconish argues that the U.S. should give some weight to stereotypes. His hero is an immigration inspector in Orlando in 2001, who stopped a Saudi national (likely the 20th hijacker) who became visibly upset when asked why he lacked a return ticket. Designed to provoke Congress to address the tension between nondiscrimination and airlines' capacity to refuse passengers, this book, with its senatorial foreword, may do just that.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Before you get on another airplane, read this book." -- Glenn Beck, nationally syndicated radio host

"Fasten your seatbelts and prepare to be enraged. This incisive book is a must-read for Washington policymakers and airline passengers." -- Michelle Malkin, nationally syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times bestsellerInvasion

"Michael Smerconish has produced a shocking, accurate and very readable contribution to the debate surrounding airport security." -- John Lehman, 9/11 Commissioner and former Secretary of the Navy

"Michael Smerconish is saying what many Americans are thinking-we need to have this debate." -- Sean Hannity, Hannity & Colmes

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Running Press; 1st edition (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762423765
• ISBN-13: 978-0762423767
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,635,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exposes the absurdities that pass for airline security, October 6, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11 (Hardcover)

To put it bluntly, "political correctness" has made a chronic mess of post-911 efforts to secure our country from Islamic terrorist attacks on our airlines, on our seaports, on our borders, on our infrastructure, and on our cities. Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues To Compromise Airline Safety Post by radio talk show host Michael Smerconish focuses specifically upon our airports and airlines and how anti-profiling tactics (first developed during the Clinton Administration and perpetuated under the Bush Administration) put 590 million airline passengers at risk every year for the past three years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Flying Blind exposes the absurdities that pass for airline security these days, but even more importantly, offers practical, effect, applicable solutions for fixing the problem of insecure airports, foolish nitpicking while the larger picture is ignored, and the shell game that's been going on (such as federalizing baggage inspector and airport security personnel by simply changing the color of their uniform jackets but providing little or no in service training to better do their jobs) to disguise just how vulnerable we continue to be. Flying Blind is a highly recommended wake up call -- especially in this time of a presidential politics charged atmosphere of posturing and disassembling by all sides.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Dose of non-PC Reality, September 7, 2004

By 

Raymond J. Markey "Ray Markey" (Haddon Heights, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11 (Hardcover)

Plain and simple, we all know who hijacks planes and commits acts of terror around the world. We know their region of origin, their religious views, and yes, what they look like. Michael lays out a compelling case that when it comes to airline safety, we need to profile NOW if we hope to identify these 1terrorists and keep them from ever taking down another American flight. Anyone tired of the pro-Muslim, pro-ACLU figureheads out there spewing PC venom will thoroughly enjoy this book. And if you hold the other point of view, give this one a read and see what you think.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wake up America and read this book!, September 7, 2004

By 

It's about time! "Dan" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11 (Hardcover)

I fly because it's a necessity of my employment. I have been pulled aside in the secondary screening line while "Middle Eastern" males aged 18-35 just pass through. I can not be alone on this matter. When will we learn? First, start by reading this book. Michael Smerconish has taken the challenge and wrote an eye opening, informative testament to the issue of profiling in America's airports. The book details the debate regarding "political correctness" vs. the loss of civil liberties. The truth can not be disputed and Mr. Smerconish's book needs to be read by the decision makers of the DOT, TSA and Airlines.