Re:
Attempted Security Breach at GA Facility
Date:
August 11, 2004
The following is a description of an
incident that occurred today at the St. Louis Downtown
Airport, a large GA facility. We are sharing this story with you as
there are indications that it might be repeated throughout the
country. We would like to thank Bob McDaniel, the Director at the St.
Louis Downtown Airport, for sharing the details of the incident
outlined below.
"Earlier today two
Middle Eastern men attempted to penetrate our security. They
telephoned one of my helicopter FBOs and asked about a charter
flight. After discussion of price and directions to the business,
they arrived an hour later. When the office agent asked how they were
going to pay for the flight they produced cash. When asked for ID,
they produced driver’s licenses from two different states and they
were driving a car licensed in a third state.
Things didn’t smell
right so the mechanic took them into the hangar to see the aircraft
while the office person called the FBI and local police. The
helicopter they were going to fly was blocked in by other aircraft so
the mechanic was able to stall them by having to slowly shuffle the
blocking planes. Meanwhile the two men got their backpacks and
odd-shaped luggage out of their car. Soon the local police arrived
and they were hauled off to jail in handcuffs.
After a little time
behind bars, the FBI verified that the two men were employed by NBC
New York and were on
assignment to get a story of how easy it is to charter a helicopter
for a terrorist attack. The men had stayed in a local hotel and
purchased box cutters, leather-man knives, and other potential weapons
at the local Wal-Mart using a credit card. The box cutters had been
hidden in the lining at the bottom of the back packs and the other
weapons were hidden throughout their baggage. They had audio-taped
the telephone conversation with Arlene and were going to use it as
part of a national news story about how easy it is to get information
and directions to the location of the helicopter and then hijack it to
commit a terrorist attack.
I doubt they will be back at our
airport soon and this is a story that will never be seen since they
were caught. A very “well-done” to my FBO and staff and the local FBI
and police response forces. We have since learned that we were the
first airport where this had been attempted and NBC planned to attempt
similar penetration stories around the country. Please help me
spread the word to other airports."
