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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (41341)	9/12/2001 12:02:40 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Experts Say Attacks Show Lax Security on US Flights Tuesday September 11 10:02 PM ET By Peter Kaplan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The hijackers who crashed airliners into U.S. landmarks on Tuesday took advantage of less-than-stringent security on U.S. domestic flights to subdue flight crews and seize control of the planes, experts on terrorism and aviation said. They probably attacked the flight crews, then took over the controls and steered the aircraft into their targets, the experts said. ``I find it unbelievable that any pilot would intentionally fly their airplane into a target. Even with a gun to my head, I wouldn't do it,'' said a veteran airline pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Two planes slammed into New York's World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon (news - web sites) in Washington. A fourth crashed near Pittsburgh. Two of the planes belonged to AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, and the other two belonged to United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. . Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta (news - web sites) pledged Tuesday to permanently tighten security at U.S. airports, railroad stations and other transportation centers. ``There will be higher levels of surveillance, more stringent searches, airport curb-side luggage check-in will no longer be allowed. There will be more security officers and random identification checks,'' Mineta said. The Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) earlier this year moved to fine American Airlines for security breaches on six flights in which unaccompanied bags were allowed to travel, failing to identify passengers properly and forgetting to ask passengers security questions. In July, federal regulators completed an update of airport and airline security rules that were due to take effect in November. NO GUARDS, LIGHTER SCREENING Larry Johnson, a counterterrorism expert formerly with the State Department, said the hijackers probably targeted domestic flights for all the attacks because security is less strict. There are no armed guards aboard domestic flights, as there are on international flights, said Johnson, now managing director of security consulting firm Berg Associates. Nor is luggage screened as closely. Lapses in airport security have been highlighted by a number of studies despite efforts to beef up security after the 1996 midair fuel explosion of a TWA jumbo jet near New York that was initially feared to be an act of terrorism. Congressional investigators flashing fake law enforcement badges gained access to Washington's Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) National Airport, the General Accounting Office (news - web sites) reported last year. U.S. lawmakers have also expressed concern about the high turnover of poorly paid airport security staffers. ``Aviation security in this country is handled by workers who couldn't normally get a job serving hamburgers in McDonald's,'' Johnson said. Johnson said the attacks highlighted the need for beefed-up security on domestic flights and a professional, government-run security force at U.S. airports. It probably took at least two terrorists to hijack each of the planes, Johnson said. The hijackers could have forced crew members to open the cockpit doors by threatening to detonate explosives, or they could have attacked crew members with guns or knives. The FAA said that federal regulations allow passengers to carry on knives with a blade length of up to four inches, but individual airlines can restrict or ban them altogether from their planes. Only law enforcement personnel can carry guns on planes under strict guidelines. In most cases, it must be carried in luggage and the passenger would have to undergo separate checks. The ammunition would have to be separated from the weapon. VULNERABLE TO ONE PERSON Experienced airline pilots said the cockpit doors on the airliners could be battered down by a single hijacker. ``The lock is only meant to keep your friends out. These doors, (to cut) structural weight, are not steel doors,'' said another veteran pilot. ``If they want in the cockpit, they can get in.'' Or the attackers could have loaded the plane with a large number of terrorists and overpowered the crew by force, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. ``They could have placed onto that plane 10 to 15 to 20 people without having to use any weapons,'' Stempler said. ``It's not beyond comprehension.'' After getting control of the aircraft, the hijackers would need only rudimentary flight experience in order to steer the planes into the buildings, Johnson, the security expert, said. ''You don't need to be a trained pilot,'' he said. But one pilot said some flight experience was necessary. ''They are going to have to have some flight experience to hit the broad side of the barn,'' he said. Experts also speculated that the hijackers probably chose Boeing 757s and 767s for the attacks because they have large fuel capacities and were heavily loaded for trips to U.S. West Coast destinations from the East Coast. ``The bigger the destination, the bigger the gas, the bigger the bomb,'' the airline pilot said.

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (41341)	9/12/2001 12:54:56 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Morgan Stanley Says WTC Staff Survived Miraculously, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., the largest tenant in the World Trade Center, distributed a memo to employees in other cities earlier Tuesday saying that Trade Center personnel had survived the attack and apparently were all right. The memo also said the investment firm's senior management had been at the company's midtown Manhattan headquarters when the deadly assaults on the towers occurred. "As a dual-headquartered firm, we expect to have operations up and functioning tomorrow," a Morgan Stanley employee said the memo reported. It added that financial advisers should reassure clients that their records are safe, and pass on a hotline number to call should they have questions. An estimated 3,500 employees worked for Morgan Stanley in the South Tower, where the firm occupied about 50 floors. An earlier message from Morgan Stanley's chairman, Philip Purcell, posted on the company's Web site (www.morganstanley.com), expressed sadness and outrage at the attacks. It said the company had limited information about the disaster but "our key focus and concern are for the well-being and safety of Morgan Stanley employees." Mr. Purcell added that "in spite of this tragedy, all of our businesses are functioning and will continue to function. We are committed to resume full operations as exchanges and markets reopen. "All our clients should rest assured that their assets are safe," Mr. Purcell's message said. Following a terrorist attack on the Trade Center in the early 1990s Morgan Stanley tightened security and took a series of steps to protect records. It is understood that computers containing financial and trading records are far from Wall Street to insure their well-being. Among the operations in the World Trade Center were believed the company's bond-trading desk, as were some mutual fund personnel. Securities analysts are at the midtown Manhattan site, a company employee said. --Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article.