A jittery blend of airborne vigilantism, the eight-year wear of security-line stare downs and the Christmas confirmation that our protectors are not fully protecting us seems to have stoked a fresh outbreak of the mile-high heebie-jeebies.
Never “an alarmist” and “always practical” about flying in an age of terrorism, Betsy Hurner nestled nervously into seat 9F last Thursday night as her Northwest Airlines jet prepared to depart Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Minutes earlier, Hurner had gazed at a gate TV as President Obama listed the “systemic failures” that allowed a known anti-American threat to board a Christmas flight bound for that same airport. In her hands, she clutched a Time magazine detailing how the Nigerian man allegedly tried to ignite an underwear bomb, only to be thwarted by a fellow passenger.
“I found myself looking around at the other passengers, evaluating not only if people were security threats, but also if my fellow passengers were on guard,” said Hurner, a corporate marketing manager from Memphis. “What if the person sitting next to the Christmas Day terrorist had been too busy on his laptop to notice? … Knowing you have a certain amount of control over your own safety almost adds to the stress of a flight.
“I feel a certain amount of responsibility to keep my eyes and ears open. There’s no more sitting back and enjoying the ride.”
A jittery blend of airborne vigilantism, the eight-year wear of security-line stare downs and the Christmas confirmation that our protectors are not fully protecting us seems to have stoked a fresh outbreak of the mile-high heebie-jeebies.
For some travelers, it’s not “fight or flight.” It is flight and fight. Consider:
* On Wednesday, a Dutch passenger made false bomb threats during an Amsterdam-to-Aruba flight. The ArkeFly jet, carrying 235 people, diverted to Ireland.
* The day after Hurner’s Jan. 7 trip, a San Francisco-bound AirTran Airways plane was diverted to Colorado with a military F-16 escort after a combative passenger locked himself in the jet’s bathroom.
* That same Friday, a Hawaiian Airlines flight headed to the Aloha State returned to Las Vegas after a man allegedly harassed another passenger.
* On Jan. 7, a passenger on a Detroit-bound jet was arrested for disorderly conduct, among other charges, after yelling “I want to kill all the jews.”
* On Jan. 5, NORAD scrambled two F-15s to escort a Hawaii-bound jet back to Portland, Ore. after a passenger onboard became disruptive. Home Security Systems.
