Sending the guy to jail for 11 years will never happen. It’s really a question of how out (or in ) context the remark was made ?

Did the pilot respond to a request to remove his shoes with a flippant, joking comment like ” .. oh yeah, like I’ve got a bomb in there..” or did he march straight up to the guard and say “I’VE GOT A BOMB IN MY SHOES !… Ha ha fooled ya !”

It’s important to understand why this remark was made and how the security staff responded. That said, I think it’s a stupid thing to do, and the pilot in question should be subject to company disciplinary procedures, but sacking and jailing seems a little harsh IMHO.

We’ve all become a little uptight since 9/11… fair enough and the US public in particular is perhaps dealing with the changes in airport attitudes more than those of us who’ve been used to stricter security for a longer time ?

If the upshot of terrorism is that we sacrifice our humour and personalities at times of stress, and let’s not forget that humour is a natural form of stress relief, then the terrorists have acheived perhaps more than they intended.

Let’s be sensible about this… An accredited AF pilot is not going to risk his career by doing something so stupid as to deliberately announce he is carrying a bomb. A little interpretation of regional attitudes and humour is perhaps what’s needed. Unfortunately in this case it sounds more like a little misinterpretation of regional humour and attitudes is what occured.

The “no risks” policy is however still very much amongst us and it’s hard to argue against it. I can’t blame US airport security staff for getting stressed and over anxious at times, they’ve got a sh*t load on their plate right now, but let’s jail the terrorists and not the misguided and ill-informed.
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