I have been a critic of a double-standard that should be of grave concern to anyone who flies the sky’s, and that is most of us at one point or another. Whenever I encounter a double-standard, I realize we are looking at a case of unethical behavior.
My concern for quite some time is that airline passengers, are continuously put through a security ringer while airline or airport workers often have free reign or lowered security checks. I well understand the concept of familiarity breeding contempt, but when it comes to airline travel I am not comfortable with such standards. Watching the watchdogs: Who is looking out for travelers?
Pipe Bombs and Lunacy
On November 3, 2017, Paul George Dandan and his roommate Derrick Fells, were arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina for transporting and acquiring a weapon of mass destruction. Fells and Dandan had a beef with a neighbor and instead of reporting a problem to the police, they decided to build a pipe bomb – and presumably, use it on the neighbor.
The “master builder” was Fells, but instead of destroying it he gave to Dandan “just because.” When Dandan was caught with the pipe bomb he was immediately fired by his employer. His employer was not the local sanitation department or a fast food restaurant. His employer was the Federal Aviation Administration, and he was an air traffic controller at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The authorities were quick to point out that he “only” had access to an offsite air traffic control tower not the airport itself. The official statement was as follows:
“The FAA employee only had access to the offsite Air Traffic Control Tower and had no access to the restricted areas of the terminal or ramp. He did not have access to any aircraft at the Airport.” It gives me little comfort.
Dandan is being held at a county jail on $45,000 bond. Fells was charged with manufacturing a bomb and one count of possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
Dandan was charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, acquiring a weapon of mass destruction and transporting a weapon of mass destruction, according to a press release.
So, if I have reviewed this case properly, the roommate made the pipe bomb. They were going to use it on their neighbor (which I believe is called murder), but the bomb maker had a change of heart and gave it to his roommate who is an air traffic controller. The air traffic controller, responsible for thousands of lives each day, was driving around with the pipe bomb for God knows what purpose.
This leads me to a simple question: who are screening these people?
The Ethical Screen
The FAA is trying to reassure us by telling us that Paul George Dandan did not have access to the airport or terminal. No, he only had access to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which has more than 700 landings and take-offs per day, and responsibilities for the thousands of flights overhead. Suppose Mr. Dandan, angry at most anything on a given day, decided to use the pipe bomb in the air traffic control center? The results would have been catastrophic.
Who is teaching air traffic controllers and the entire gamut of airline employees and flight crews about what constitutes ethical behavior?
That this man had even ideated about killing a neighbor was bad enough, that he had one in his possession was even worse.
Air traffic controllers are under tremendous stress. I assume (I certainly hope) they are given routine psychological screenings. The problem with such screenings is that they are given – and usually answered, by rote. They are required, they comply, and then they can go back to bomb making. Yes, I am being facetious because most every controller is extremely responsible. I would not want to give you any other impression.
However, as with most professions, there are bad apples. It is one thing when a trash collector decides to by-pass your house, and quite another when an air traffic controller becomes disconnected from the consequences of his or her actions.
I maintain that ethical training, on a routine basis, might just “catch” a stressed-out employee such as an air traffic controller and cause them to stop and think. If nothing else, the training serves as an extra layer of security.
Dandan, now released on bail, undoubtedly has had time to think. He will likely face jail time where he will have a lot more time to think. It is a blessing no one was hurt. It is also a tragedy, the young man was never taught about choices and consequences. Watching the watchdogs: Who is looking out for travelers?
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