Some terror concern about crop plane theft

San Diego, CA, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Homeland Security officials weren't overly concerned Wednesday about reports a crop duster was stolen along the Mexican border earlier this month.

The theft, which was reported in Time magazine this week, raised fears terrorists could be planning to use the aircraft although law enforcement officials told The San Diego Union-Tribune that drug smugglers have used such aircraft in the past for short, fast trips over the border.

The theft occurred near the California border in Mexico's Mexicali Valley. Four gunmen assaulted the plane's pilot and then took off with it. Mexican authorities are investigating.
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041117-024054-7425r.htm

ho hum.
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Sept. 24, 2001, 1:00AM
Hijacker suspect showed interest in crop-dusters
By PAUL BRINKLEY-ROGERS
Copyright 2001 The Miami Herald

BELLE GLADE, Fla. -- Mohamed Atta, the suspected terrorist who crashed hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center, went twice to a small airport in South Florida and asked detailed questions about how to start and fly a crop-duster plane.

The news that Atta had shown an intense interest in crop-dusters coincided with a Federal Aviation Administration directive Sunday that grounded all crop-dusters around the country for national security reasons.

Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman, would not explain the specifics behind the decision. "It's national security," she said.

Bioterrorism experts have frequently cited crop-dusters as potential vehicles to disperse deadly biological and chemical agents. The experts have said that if terrorists acquired a crop-dusting plane, they could stage a surprise attack on a large urban area because the small planes can fly below the FAA's radar coverage.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/terror/response/1059239

oh well.
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Miami police chief: FBI tracking crop-duster threat

Friday, April 23, 2004 Posted: 2:15 PM EDT (1815 GMT)

(CNN) -- Amid fears terrorists may try to launch new attacks in the United States, FBI agents have interviewed thousands of pilots due to concerns that crop-dusting planes could be used to spread chemical or biological weapons.

Miami, Florida, Police Chief John Timoney discussed the threat and law enforcement preparations Friday with CNN's Bill Hemmer.

HEMMER: This crop-duster story really an offshoot going back to the events and the days after 9/11. Your reaction -- much surprise here? Three-thousand interviews over the past year?

TIMONEY: Yes, no surprises there. They're working on those cases obviously through a whole host of other cases.

I can guarantee you from the information that I have that there clearly are sleeper cells throughout the United States, but also the FBI and the Joint Terrorist Task Force is in much better shape now in regard to these ongoing investigations.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/04/23/timoney/

move along.
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PRESS: Well, I agree -- disagree, rather -- with my friend Gary Ackerman. But in fact President Bush did tell us what to do and he did tell us what to look for.

You'll remember this, Congressman. On October 11th, after the first warning at his prime time news conference, a reporter asked the president what should we be looking for. And here what's he told the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, if you are a -- if you find a person that you have never seen before getting in a crop duster that doesn't belong to you, report it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESS: Now, Congressman, I grew up in a rural part of Delaware. I have seen a lot of crop dusters. Probably one tenth of one percent of Americans have ever gotten close to crop duster. I mean, is this the best we can do? We're supposed to be out there now looking at people climbing in crop dusters?

ACKERMAN: Only if they are strange looking.

PRESS: And don't -- the crop duster doesn't belong to you.

CHAMBLISS: In my part of the world, crop dusters are a common thing. We see them every day. But, you know, I think his message was pretty obvious there. And that is that listen, because we are living in a different world today, the American people have to be more cognizant of what is going on around them than ever before.

If they see something strange, then by golly don't just drive on down the street. Pick up your phone and call the police and say, "Hey, there may be nothing to this, but..." And, you know, the law enforcement folks know how to filter that out and decide what is what and what is not what.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0110/30/cf.00.html

anybody want to go shopping?

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: "You know, if you are a -- if you find a person that you have never seen before getting in a crop duster that doesn't belong to you, report it."

For me that would be everybody I were to ever see getting in a crop duster.

Can you imagine the same lead story about a crop duster's pilot being assaulted and the plane stolen having happened 3 weeks ago?

Blasted in the headlines:
"Terra! Terra! Terra! (Vote for **, he'll keep you safe!)"

and now? no worries.

roflmao!

Since the LAST 'terror' event was perpetrated by the bush regime, I'm not worried about it...