February 05, 2005

With all that's been going on, this story almost got lost:
Battle-ready US carrier to fit anti-missile system on its 747s

NORTHWEST Airlines' Boeing 747s will be equipped with a laser-based anti-missile system later this year as part of defence contractor Northrop Grumman's effort to develop a less costly system for protecting commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles.
The target price is about $US1 million ($1.3 million) a plane.
[...]
Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman is one of two firms working to adapt military anti-missile technology for use on civilian jets. The other is BAE Systems.

I suppose that NW's willingness to shell out one million dollars per plane has nothing to do with this recent news report:
More reports of lasers being shot into airplane cockpits

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Wednesday there have been 400 reports of lasers being beamed at airplanes since 1990 and the Federal Aviation Administration will now require pilots to immediately report such incidents to air traffic controllers, who will be required to notify law enforcement officials.
[...]
There is no indication that people shining lasers at airplanes had terrorist motivations, Mineta said.
[From your mouth to Allah's ear, Norm!
Why couldn't he have been one of the members of the Bush Administration to resign recently?--Jen]
[...]
The FBI and Homeland Security Department sent a memo to law enforcement agencies in November saying they had evidence terrorists have explored using lasers as weapons.

I read Nelson De Mille's new book Night Fall before Christmas about the horrific end of flight TWA 800 and I would heartily recommend it;
De Mille won't accept the official NTSB/FBI explanation that the plane was brought down by an explosion in the center fuel tanks caused by "spontaneous gas fumes"--there were over 200 people who saw the plane blow up who also saw missiles launched from the ground streaking towards the plane.
Many speculate that this 1996 disaster was one of the first attacks on America by Islamist terrorists long before 9/11/01.
Just as troubling is the fact, revealed by DeMille, that the intended target was probably not TWA 800, but was an El Al 747 that was running late and whose "place in the sky" was taken by TWA800.
If you fly a lot, wear your St. Christopher medal and urge your airline carrier to follow Northwest's example.
The IslamoFacists love to do bad things with planes and they're going to keep trying to kill Americans, too so we need to take appropriate fighting measures!