"NINE/ELEVEN": Could The Federal Aviation Administration Alone Have Deterred The Terrorist Skyjackers? You Will Find The Answer Here, But Not In The 9/11 Commission Report. [Hardcover]

David H. Brown (Author), John T. Dailey (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2004

No one else could have written this book because David H. Brown and Dr. John T. Dailey are the only two remaining members of the FAA Task Force that developed a viable airport security procedure in 1970. Based on personal recall, and FAA Manual AM-78-35 that documented the work of that group, this book takes you behind the scenes from the very beginning of efforts to curb aircraft hijacking, to how a proven program fell victim to bureaucracy. The book takes you through how the system was developed and tested, and why it was validated. It also reveals how the Task Force was able to overcome both airline opposition and agency recalcitrance. The team did not have precedents to work with, but blazed its own successful train. You will discover how the Task Force anticipated almost every aspect of airport security, and actually warned of future terrorist attacks using U.S. aircraft. You will read how the early program of "sky marshals" almost fell apart in a bizarre press conference, and why the Task Force did not support the use of armed guards on aircraft. This is a story you cannot find anywhere else. It may not be many pages, but the message is there.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David H. Brown was an Ohio newspaper reporter for nearly 15 years before beginning a 24-year career with the Federal Government in 1967, retiring in 1991. Barely three weeks after joining the Department of Justice as Assistant Director of Information, he was sent to the Detention Center in Northern Virginia as the press officer covering the arrest of 600 persons after they demonstrated at the Pentagon in opposition to the Vietnam War. He was commended for the favorable press coverage. A bit of minutiae: He lent Norman Mailer his government-issue pen so the famed author could write his own release document. After joining the Federal Aviation Administration's News Division in early 1969, he was detailed to the agency's newly created Task Force on Deterrence of Air Piracy as the press officer for a pilot airport security program. Brown became a member of a three-man team that tested fellow team member Dr. John T. Dailey's "profile" at nine airports. He later organized the press conference for the final inclusive test at New Orleans. Both the Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley national television news programs gave the effort very positive reviews. He again was given another special commendation. Brown was a combat infantry rifleman in World War II, and later became an Army Reserve public information officer with a mobilization assignment in the Pentagon. He retired as a lieutenant colonel after 28 years. His earned a Bachelor's degree in journalism, and a Master's degree in public relations. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (September 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418466743
• ISBN-13: 978-1418466749
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,200,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 9/11 Didn't Have to Happen, February 17, 2005

By 

M. C. Finley "big canary" (Saint Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: "NINE/ELEVEN": Could The Federal Aviation Administration Alone Have Deterred The Terrorist Skyjackers? You Will Find The Answer Here, But Not In The 9/11 Commission Report. (Hardcover)

Remember that scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, that showed the Ark of the Covenant stowed away in the bowels of an immense government warehouse -- never to see daylight again? Remember the sick feeling you got in your stomach?

The Ark was more than a box on a couple of poles. It was a supernatural weapon. No one leading it into battle could be defeated. So losing it in the U.S. inventory system was an immense drag.

I am having that same sick feeling today. Knowing that something of terrible importance to our nation has been "hiding in plain sight" for the last 36 years. Something that, if only we had paid attention to it, would have prevented 9/11 ... prevented the loss of lives, the collapse of our economy, the collapse of our political system, the collapse of the existing world order.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from a man named Dave Brown. I liked him. Pretty sharp sense of humor for a 78 year old guy. And he was distressed. He has been trying to get word out about something that happened a long time ago that has a major bearing on the events of that dreadful day. No one in the mass media wants to admit it happened. He has been engaged in long email arguments with editors and ombudsman about the omission.

Desperate, he self-published his expose; which, as you can imagine, is not the best way to be taken seriously by the mainstream press. Out of options, he wanted to know if I could help him "break through" and be heard.

Here goes.

In Dave Brown's heyday he was an information officer for the Federal Aviation Administration. While there, it was his privilege to be part of a special task force set up to prevent air piracy. The task force was something of a cause celebre at the time, because it undertook to examine a very controversial problem -- hijackings -- in a very public, candid way. It got the attention of newspapers and TV. The report they issued, titled FAA Manual AM-78-35, was a big deal at the time.

This task force set out to create a profiling tool, devised by Brown's collaborator, John T. Dailey, the top psychologist at the FAA, that would identify hijackers before they boarded planes. The screen they devised was called "profiling." the idea was to be minimally intrusive and maximally effective -- rahther the opposite of the bizarre system we have today, in which every grandmother is patted down for weapons.

The task force created a profiling system that had an estimated success rate of 87%. This meant that if 100 hijackers attenmpted to board jets with this system in place, 87 would be detained.

You can do the 9/11 math yourself. If only two or three of the 19 hijackers had boarded those four planes, none of them would have been hijacked. Extrapolate just a bit, and almost 1700 soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be alive today.

It would be a different world.

Then, like the ark in the movie, the report seemed to vanish, the way policy reports do, into the credenzas of the bureaucracy.

What happened? The FAA decided to bottle up the task force report almost from the day it was released, and replace its recommendations with the more porous system that led to 9/11.

Let Dave Brown say it:

We cannot comprehend why the FAA was overlooked when that agency pioneered anti-jhijacking procedures involkving aircraft back in 1969 when it created th Tetask Force.

If anyone has read the Manual in recent years, did they understand is releavmce to current terrorism? All they had to do was turn to the following pages:

(39) ",,,, there are too many people in too many parts of the world wuth motivations for violence to argue against expectations that (airplane hijackings) would not only spread but become differentiated in character."

(88) "...as times, people, motivations, and methods of operation change, a continuing research ... would be needed to meet challenges already on the horizon."

(93) "The Task Force was aware that mass hijacking of U.S. aircraft could also be carried out by an organized group in order to achieve terrorist objectives."

Tragically -- and for once the word is completely apt -- all this came to pass, exactly as the Task Force predicted. And the Task Force's recommendtions were forklifted into the warehouse of forgotten things, never to be heard from again. Today, only Brown and Dailey survive of the original team. Still, no one listens.

Brown has a book that tells the story, and it written with great concision and credibility.

What can be done at this late date? The horse, as they say, has left the stable. But doesn't it behoove us to at least acknowledge that a mistake of catastrophic dimensions occurred ... and that, in this as in everything else having to do with this awful moment in our history ... no one has taken an ounce of responsibility!

I would like to ask the 9/11 Commission, Why?

And I would like to know why these recommendations are still being ignored, lo these years and lost lives later?

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, March 14, 2005

By 

Shirley Priscilla Johnson "Author/Reviewer -... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: "NINE/ELEVEN": Could The Federal Aviation Administration Alone Have Deterred The Terrorist Skyjackers? You Will Find The Answer Here, But Not In The 9/11 Commission Report. (Paperback)

Author David Brown is no stranger to the workings of the government, nor is he a stranger to the problems of plane hijacking. David was an information officer for the Federal Aviation Administration and while there he was asked to be part of a special task force to prevent air piracy.

They did some great work and made great strides such as a profiling tool devised by John Dailey, who was the top psychologist at the FAA. These profiles would help identify hijackers before they boarded planes. The success rate of this was 87%. I was amazed to read about this system constructed so many years ago. I don't think the American public really knew the dangers that were mounting, do you?

The warnings were there however and they were given in these reports along with recommendations; if these tactics were followed perhaps 9/11 would not have occurred. I know that this knowledge cannot change what happened on that horrible day, but perhaps we can learn from our mistakes. However, mankind is destined to make mistakes, grow and hopefully learn from our past; that is my prayer that indeed we will.

Author David H. Brown has a story to tell; a burden upon his heart that I believe is well worth your time to read; the information is waiting to be shared with you. I believe you will find it intriguing, informative and will certainly help you to better understand the path that we have been on. This work contains information that all Americans will want to know. A must read for all those who care about tomorrow, and pray for a safer future.

Shirley Johnson

Senior Reviewer

MidWest Book Review