Weekly news commentary and features from the editors of the Wall Street Journals editorial page. Weekly news commentary and features from the editors of the Wall Street Journals editorial page. Investigators will be trying to figure out the motive based on what they have seen so far. The fbi says they do not believe this was a Terrorist Threat and they do not believe theres any additional criminal activity associated with this. Another major issue, authorities will surely look at is security access, the fact that could happen at all. All entities will do what they call a hot watch, they will review incident and look at all of the things happened and look for the holes and why employee had access to aircraft and try to determine where it was broken down and with that theyll be able to strengthen the system. Former dhs officials spoken to fox news today say at this Point Mental Health seems to be the primary issue when it comes to this situation. The challenge on this particular case as ntsb begins the investigation is sort of a
im pretty alarmed at cia Running Counterterrorism overseas and tough places in middle east and south asia is this is really incident exposed vulnerabilities at airports, of concern to me are there similar vulnerabilities at other airports like ctec, somebody the fbi will be looking at. This is the ultimate Insider Threat where there was an employee who clearly had Mental Health problems and was able to Pass Security and gain access to aircraft. We have to stop this Going Forward. For sure terrorists will be watching this. Those who remember World Trade Center will recall that that was a failed attack, that they came back 8 years later, this is something im sure that our enemies will be trying to learn from. From listening to Radio Interaction between pilot and control towers sounds to me like
air Traffic Control has high marks. It is designed to minimize damage but of concern to fbi and Intelligence Community what we do to the left to prevent the sorts of threats from materializing im sure that we will be speaking with our Foreign Government interlocketters in intelligence channel, they also will be expressing concern and also recognizing the vulnerability and also exists. Mike tremendous security added to Aviation Industry since 9 11 attacks, do we need to do more . Clearly theres more to be done and i would highlight too when youre dealing with an individual, the threats are very dynamic, youre talking about people who in the workplace who
for one reason or another, in this case Mental Health or somebody recruited by bad actor whether criminal or terrorist, dynamic and ongoing effort to screen the personnel who have access to aircraft and other and other devices and things that could be putting our people at risk whether at airports or other locations. Mike sounds like we can count congressional hearings on this pretty soon, fighter jets, of course, were scrambled to the scene, what assessment do you give of their performance in this incident . You know, again, high marks for nordac when we go to right of boom here, fatality from the pilot, but our team as expected did outstanding job of limiting and minimizing the collateral damage. This is a good wakeup call that
exposes vulnerability and we need to do everything we can to prevent Something Like this occurring again in the future. We are awaiting update, daniel from officials there on the ground in seattle, what do you want to hear from him . I would like to here recitation of the facts, how this happened, details about the employee, might be difficult to give us because they are respecting privacy and maybe the fact that they havent notified the family yet but i would like to hear how long he was employeed at the airport and what his duties were and why there werent layered elements of security that could have prevented there guy from gaining access to aircraft and most importantly what is cpac doing to rectify and passengers will want to hear that. Mike stunning officials, major metropolitan area, claim over head for 45 minutes or so in joyride stunning. Im going to ask you to stay right there with regard Breaking News from middle east in iran. Iran is test firing a Ballistic Missile for the first time in more than a year. Kitty logan live in london with more details, kitty. Hi, eboni, we understand iran fired missile on friday, the concern this could be interpreted a message back to the u. S. In response to the sanctions, we understand this was antiship missile launched during Iranian Naval drills which are happening and Test Firing Boundaries in iranian waters, iran has confirmed it was holding Military Exercises over the past few days, these are intended to prepare for what it describes as possible
threats, but there was at the time to suggest that this particular missile test was unusual within the context of those exercises, the scale and the nature of those exercises to be similar to those held by Iranian Military in the past, there some are questioning and iran is angered about the u. S. decision to pull out of iran deal and limit Irans Nuclear activities specifically, iran also unhappy that washington has decide today reimpose those stiff economic sanctions earlier this week, the country signed up to that deal including germany that meanwhile iran has also ruled out direct talk with the u. S. , particularly at high levels saying now not the time for those talks, eboni. Thank you so much, kitty. Mike, mike lets bring back daniel, former cia station chief who served in moscow, iraq and
pakistan, glad to have expertise on this issue as well, let me give credit to Lucas Thompson for breaking the story, what do you make of the iranian test firing this Ballistic Missile for the first time in more than a year . This is a missile that the United States is acquainted. They provided to proxy militia hezbollah and provides threat to United States and region and sunni allies, the iranians are trying to deliver a couple of message first to the europeans that the negotiations that the europeans are holding with iran to try to salvage something from the jcpoa agreement, iran, look, if we dont figure it out we will ratchet up our military and dial that up in ways that it wont be comfortable for you and the second message is to irans enemy for which are many because iran is seeking to expand its
reach through support of proxy ma militias. We removed from jcpoa and ratchet up sanctions, iranians are clearly threatened and feel they need to deter up and i think thats what was behind naval exercises. Mike speaking of naval exercises which carries the worlds oil, that gets the attention of the u. S. Military as well. It sure does. Thats not uncommon effort by the iranians to deliver a message frequently use, recently they threatened to shut down and again, this highlights that right now we are in a period of
great aclamony because they are causing problems in the region, you look at what they are doing in syria with assad, thats irans doing and russias and efforts in iraq to sell discord among shiite population against most governments and against sunni population. Theyve really, i think, should be held accountable in responsible for creating dish thats middle east. Lots of threats developing there as a result of ongoing violence clashes. Mike how much of this is Iranian Regime under pressure from its own pressure . We have seen stories, video, people taking to the streets and protesting their own government, how much of this is trying to fire up iran nationalism . I think thats a great point. The iranian people are
justifiably upset about their economy and their expectations were rising after jcpoa had been signed, the iranian people believe that their economy would start to improve slowly and because thats not happening, the iranians are looking for someone else and convenient to blame the United States and our allies in the region for irans problems, economic problems and to highlight the threat that we represent to iran and is probably no better way to do that than Military Exercises and im sure iranian people are getting full dose on statecontrolled television about why the Military Exercises need to take place to defend iran from enemies. Mike daniel hoffman, great to have expertise on a couple of hot issues today, thank you so much, sir. Thank you. Mike eboni. We are still awaiting update from officials after the Security Scare over the skies of seattle after employee stole a plane and went on a joyride before a crash landing. House republicans moving forward with their investigation into the fbi and the department of justice, what House Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte has about dossier. Developments with Trumps Campaign chair Paul Manafort and what we can expect next week. Motorcycle revving Motorcycle Revving no matter who rides point, there are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. And just like tyrone taylor, they know what it takes to help keep you protected. Are you in good hands . Wienermobile Horn to put a better hot dog its oscain every hand. Ion and thats just what we do. With no artificial preservatives, no added nitrates or nitrites, and by waving bye to byproducts. So you can get back to loving them. For the love of hot dogs. Wienermobile Horn you wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your Allergy Pills . Flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. You can barely feel. Youre smart,eat you already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. If these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better. Actually, its bulkier. Always discreet quickly turns liquid to gel, for drier protection thats a lot less bulky. Always discreet. Thanks, janet. Its welcomemy happy place. Store. You can learn how to switch to xfinity mobile, a new Wireless Network that saves you cash. And you can get 5 lines of talk and text included with your internet. And over here im having my birthday party. Dj fluffernutter, hit it Dj Fluffernutter simple. Easy. Awesome. Ask how to get 300 back when you sign up for xfinity mobile, and purchase a new samsung phone. Visit your local xfinity store today. Mike fox news alert now officials in seattle giving update following an Airline Employee steeling and empty passenger jet, taking on joyride last night, Lets Go To Seattle right now. 27year veteran of Alaska Airlines, gary is president and ceo of horizon air joined airline in january of this year and previously served as Vice President of operations at Alaska Airlines for about 6 years. With that, i will turn it over to brad. Thank you bobby and good morning, everyone, all of us in Alaska Horizon are deeply saddened by last nights unauthorized flight with the horizon q400 aircraft that resulted in loss of life for the individual involved. All 23,000 of us want to express sincere sympathy to his family, his loved ones and his coworkers. We are closely with the authorities to help answer the manyopen questions that they have and cooperation started last night. Our top priority is the safety of our guests and our employees simply put theres nothing more important to us, we are working closely with the fbi, the ntsb and the faa to better understand the circumstances behind this incident. We have been told as bobby said that the fbi is the lead agency investigating this. Safety is our number one goal. Theres nothing more important to us, last nights event is going to push us to learn what we can from this tragedy so that we can ensure that does not
happen again at Alaska Air Group or at any other airline. Before i turn it over to gary, i want to acknowledge and express my deep gratitude to faa air Traffic Controllers to washington and Oregon International guards and to the First Responders from peters county. They had a very strong and professional response to this incident. So with us here today we have as bobby said we have horizon air ceo gary beck, we also have jay tab who is leading the investigation for the fbi and we have mike gales, director of operations, these folks are going to speak for a couple of minutes and then we will able to answer your questions. Thanks, brad, at 7 32 p. M. Local time horizon air Ground Service agent departed in a Horizon Air Q400 without
clearance from cpac International Airport, the plane was taken from position and not scheduled for passenger flight. The aircraft crashed about an hour later in a wooded area on Catron Island in rural peters county. No structures were involved at crash site. Military jets were scrambled from portland but does not appear the jets were involved in the crash of the horizon aircraft and i really want to emphasize that we appreciate the militarys professionalism. We are working closely with the authorities and our own safety teams to thoroughly understand this incident. Now i will turn it over to mike. Thank you, mr. Beck and good morning, International Airport wants to ensure that we are
working with partners at ntsb, faa and partners in horizon and alaska air, immediately after learning of incident we worked with faa partners to Institute Ground stop that prevented departures until situation was stabilized, to clear air space arrivals continued and ended 2040, 8 40 p. M. Local time when normal operations resumed. During the time of incident approximately 75 flights were delayed, 9 phone lines were diverted to other airports, 5 flights were canceled. We estimate that approximately 19 flights incurred delays over 2 hours and we apologize for customers and patrons, none exceeded 5hour rule, operations were fully back to normal by 1 00 a. M. This morning and moving forward we will work
closer with our stakeholders and as well as Law Enforcement and i would like to introduce mr. Tabb from the fbi. Thank you, good morning, my name is jay tabb, im the Special Agent in charge for the fbi in the state of washington. First, an expression of condolences and empathy for alaska and Horizon Airlines and in this loss and i also want to talk a little bit to the king county and Pierce County residents who im sure had a scare last night. I want everybody to know that we are diligently investigating this matter, we will get to the bottom of it. We are doing so with a very long list of partners right now including Pierce County police department, Pierce County fire department, ntsab, of course, and some fire rescue folks from the joint base corridor assisting us right now. I have dozens of personnel out at the crash site right now, i have 30 to 40 folks involved overnight out interviewing
coworkers and Family Members and i just want everybody to understand this is going to take a little bit of time so please be patient with the fbi, we are not prepared today to discuss a lot of details with regarding this incident, just because it is so nascent. With that, i will turn it over to anney. We will now take some questions, operator, could you please open the call and i want to apologize to everybody who is calling in. I know that we are having a few technical difficulties, so speakers may have to repeat yourself, we apologize for that. Lets take our first question in the room. Alan. [inaudible] its way too early to comment on that, im sorry. Can you talk about was he alone [inaudible] i think at this time we believe he was the only one in aircraft but, of course, we havent confirmed that at the crash site if thats your question and in terms of the access thatll best be answered by somebody else. [inaudible] history, employee of the airline, if he has history of problems . We we do realize that theres some information flowing out there, we are not confirming the identity of individual at this time. It was 3 and a half year employee and Ground Service agent for horizon air. To answer the question that you asked, he was Background Check, there was a couple of different criminal Background Check we run on our employees, he worked his
shift yesterday, we believe he was in uniform. His job is to be around employees, certified, hes meant to be on Nonsecured Side and secured side, hes meant to be on the secured side, thats part of fulfillment of his job responsibilities. [inaudible] this airplane was cargo 1, a spot on north part of the airport. The airplane was not going to be used further last night and he did go up there without without sort of a purpose other than this what he did do. [inaudible] we dont know. From the runway . We dont have that information. Is there any information on
im sorry, i okay. Yes, i will. Would there have been any needed additional security for him to come into an airplane . No, the security this is something mike speak to but the Security Regime at ctec airport there were certain spaces and he was authorized to be in the area that he was. Mike, you want to talk about the way you are set up . Certainly. The question is whether there was additional layer of security required and no, the individual was fully credentialed and had access to that area legitimately and it is inside the Security Fence and so no Security Violations were committed. We will take a couple of questions from the call operator. Having difficulty, we will ask those on the phone to email us in. Yes. Fully certified and you mentioned constantly making changes, what if anything can be done oh to prevent Something Like this from happening again . You know, its very, very early. This incident happened last, last night so we are right now we are dealing with the incident and we are looking at this, its natural to ask yourself what procedures are there and what ive told you is the case hes credentialed, part of his job responsibility, he was around airplanes but in terms of improvements that we might make as company and industry to make this this safe industry even safer in the future its really hard to say, we will in alaska we pride ourselves in being
leader in safety and we will be leader on this issue so we will be looking at it but we are less than 21 hours after the incident, its far too early to say what additional procedures we will implement. [inaudible] can you tell us whether this employee used them . I can take that, thank you. We have Employee Assistance program thats available to all of our employees to deal with Mental Health issues that might arise, its available 24 7, 365 days a year. I dont know. Just to check, he was an employee of horizon or contractor and what union does he belonged to . He was a Ground Service agent employed by hordeson air, employed since february 2015. And that group is not represented. When did ctac recognized unauthorized plane had access and i guess is there is some sort of communication involved that would alert faa that a plane has been accessed . Yeah, again, these are good questions but its very, very early and i think its not fruitful to speculate. Obviously the tower knew as he was approaching, the tower did know that this was unauthorized departure. Just talking how that process works, a plane is accessed, there is a communication or some sort of the tower is alerted. Normally ramp clearances, takeoff clearances, those did not happen in this situation. This was an unauthorized flight. So what are the airlines or airport responsibilities with regard to securing flightready airplanes, you have to lock the wheels, secure the doors . Yeah, its we will be looking at this. This is weve got a fleet of airplanes, airplanes overnight,
we are accessing aircraft routinely to clean the airplanes, Maintenance Work on the airplanes, so the system that works is we secure the employees that are there, but the employees are there, they are credentialed employees, they are there to work on airplanes, thats their job to be around the airplanes and to work on them, so thats the we will look at whether improvements can be made Going Forward but that is the setup that we have today. But security employees more than Security Planes . Thats correct. The airplanes do not this is aviation in america, the doors of the airplanes are not keyed like a car, theres not ignition key like there would be in a car. The setup in aviation in america is we secure the airfield and we have the mind set that we have employees that are credentialed and authorized to be there to operate to do various job responsibility. We are going to take a question from dominic gates. At the cargo 1 parking spot,
would he have had to back the plane out and this is just reminder to our speakers and if you wouldnt mind repeating the question to those people on the phone, thank you. Just to repeat the question i believe it was whether the aircraft would have to be backed out and the aircraft was parked nose east, tail west, if you will on the cargo 1 line, the aircraft was assigned. The individual did use a Pushback Tractor to rotate the aircraft 180degrees so he could taxi the aircraft out on to the active surfaces. Can you explain how that works . What is the Pushback Tractor, would he have been in the tractor pushing the plane . Correct. How much time does that normally take . Well, it would depend upon the procedures and what the Air Traffic Situation was at the time, flight crew and legitimate
scenario would require in terms of coordination with the ground crew and their Traffic Control to prepare for that departure. Incredible maneuvers in the air, if this person apparently didnt have pilot experience, how could he have done maneuvers from what you saw in the air . Sure, and youre right maneuvers that were done that were incredible maneuvers with the aircraft. To our knowledge he didnt have a pilots license, so to be honest with you, i mean, Commercial Aircraft are complex machines, theyre not as easy to fly assay 150 so i dont know how he achieved the experience that he did. Is it possible he would have learned that with video games . I wouldnt speculate on it. I dont know. And we will try to take a couple of calls, operators. Once again, if you would like to ask questions please press star or number one on telephone keypad. First question, go ahead. Do you have any information how he crossed taxi way to runway . Repeat the question. Im just asking if you have any information about how he got from the cargo stand to the run way. How he made it across taxi lanes to runway . Yeah, i have not seen the tower tapes so i wouldnt speculate on that. I think we will have to leave that to faa to give you that information. Is it correct, hes called is his Job Baggage Handling or only working with the planes, was he a Baggage Handler as well as a ramp agent . Yes, he was a Ground Service agent so that would encompass loading, Unloading Bags and cargo, tightening the aircraft and as brad mention before, he was member of tow team. Okay, thank you. Operator, next call. Another question from [inaudible]
thank you, from flight global. I apologize, my line clicked in about 25 minutes after the hour so i missed some of the calls, have you released the registration of the aircraft and also repeat any details specific when the aircraft took off about how long it flew and the direction, i apologize if you already said some of this information. The Registration Number was n 4494s and we believe he took off at 7 32 p. M. And the crash time . We again, all of this information is extremely preliminary but we lost contact with him at 8 37 p. M. Operator next call. Another question. Hi, yes, can you talk a little bit about communication in the tower in regards to
pilots coming in and out, were they aware of this situation . Yeah, thats a great question. The communications normally, i believe, as mike mentioned, normally you would request clearance for pushback from either your own tower or Ground Control and you speak with Ground Control all the way down to the runway and return to tower who would clear you for takeoff. And i believe, in fact, i know that he did communicate on Ground Frequency and all of the communications for the entire flight were conducted on that frequency . I know that youre still investigating the why was there any other calls with other aircraft . Not to my knowledge. Do we know of why the plane crashed . Did he bring it down . What ultimate caused the crash . Its very preliminary, its not right to speculate on the answer to that question. [inaudible] i would be happy to get that information for you but i dont know it offhand. Any checks and balances in place to make sure [inaudible] continued check to make sure credentials the criminal history is a 10year Background Check, so covers 10year period for the initial application and every two years are required to renew that. Does that preclude any criminal charges, only convictions, what are you actually looking for . Im actually not the appropriate spokesperson for that, sorry. Anyone . We will get you more information but there are theres an Airport Badge that theres certain criminal Background Check and a couple of different checks that Alaska Air Group does on employees on this classification, we we will get u more detail on what exactly criminal Background Check. Specifically on this person, does he have criminal charges . We are not aware of any. Is there [inaudible] we are gathering information. I think for now is t right thing to do is to let the investigation proceed and when we have more information we will share with you, i think thats the right approach for us at this moment. Typically [inaudible] how many people would be around it . You know, this this an untypical scenario. Thats the first thing, but, yeah, normally if an airplane is marshaled in or marshaled out there would be a team of employees with the airplane. Im sorry, we have two more questions and then we will have to conclude this. We will go to the phone, andrew, first and then rachel from the ap. Hi, can you hear me . Yes. Thanks. I just to follow up on procedures, horizon and the airport have right now to secure an aircraft beyond just the door, my understanding is basically three layers of security for flight ready aircraft at airports in u. S. Aviation, theyve got to be attended, theyve got to have wheels locked and they have to
have the doors somehow secured. I dont know if thats the case with horizon and Seattle Airport but if you could at least tell us what procedures now are in place. Yes, so as procedures are in place with chalks and as brad mentioned before theres no way to lock the passenger doors, the handle stows into the door but theres no keys like there are for your car or your home. Okay, and also so the wheels and also a question about whether or not aircraft should be attended at all times. Still plenty of questions at airport when you had an airline Ground Service agent taking a plane on a joyride for about an hour and 15 minutes over seattle, officials there basically expressing amazement at the skill that this guy
showed behind the cockpit of the plane, bottom line still many, many questions after this incident last night and thankfully nobody was killed other than the guy who took the joyride and with that, we will be right back. Me. Baby, baby, baby. All you can eat is back, baby. Applebees. Can start in the Colon Constipation and diarrhea and may be signs of an imbalance of good bacteria. Only Phillips Colon Health has this unique combination of probiotics. It helps replenish good bacteria. Get fourinone symptom defense. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on is boost®. Delicious boost® high protein nuritional drink now has 33 more protein, along with 26 Essential Vitamins and minerals boost® high protein. Be up for life. Boost® high protein. Whenshe was pregnant,ter failed, inlaws were coming, a little bit of water, it really it rocked our world. I had no idea the amount of damage that water could do. We called usaa. And they greeted me as they always do. Sergeant baker, how are you . They were on it. It was unbelievable. Having insurance is something everyone needs, but having usaa now thats a privilege. Were the bakers and were usaa members for life. Usaa. Get your insurance quote today. Ancestrydna can open you to a world of new cultures to explore. With two times more detail than any other dna test. You can connect more deeply to the places of your past. And be inspired to learn about the people and traditions that make you, you. Savor your dna story. Only 59 our sites lowest price ever. Resign. Even demonstrators that he step down, 17 people shot last night, two people were killed, one of the shootings occurred behind me in West Congress in the west side of chicago, west austin neighborhood, a 16yearold and 31yearold were out on the street, they were hit by bullets 2 20 this morning and follows tragic weekend in which 70 people were shot 17, 12 people i should say were killed. Police announced that unplanned Street Parties would be broken up, hundreds of officers were put out on the street, mayor Rahm Emmanuel gave emotional speech but in wake of shooting, people in troubled neighborhoods arent listening. I dont think the majority of people are buying anything from Rahm Emmanuel right now. The mayor has a big struggle ahead of him, the reality is how can you sit up here and hold up video of execution of young
black man and trying to skoal people and talk to people about morals. In addition to the president s criticism local columnist said mayor emmanuel does not have plan to curve the violence. Police are scared to getting shot and sued and dont stop suspicious actors out of fear, people in violent neighborhoods often know who did the Shooting But Dont Tell the cops because they dont trust the police and fear retaliation that comes from snitches. Back to you in new york. Thank you, mike, we will be back with much more with our panel on the violence in chicago. California phones offers free specialized phones. Like cordless phones,
and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. Like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. Phone Ringing get details on this State Program Call or visit back to situation in chicago where people are asking exactly what is going on, jamele green, former candidate for dnr chair as well as Fox News Con Attribute Outer joins and jay, former senior advise the other Governor John Kasich and managing director. Thank you, both. Ly start with you where the devastation in chicago is undisputed from all sides of the political aisle certainly but wound would say that Rahm Emmanuel, democratic mayor is calling for new solutions, more police on the street, longer hours for them, community
involvement, Rahm Emmanuel has been since 2011, too little far too late, whats your reaction, jamu . Look, i certainly dont think that gun violence should be politicized, that being said there have been serious failures by mayor emmanuel in chicago and we have to look at the totality of what has created the situation there, certainly we have to rebuild trust between Law Enforcement and the communities but where is this Gang Violence coming from . Factors such as growing up in poverty, not having success in school, searching for a family, searching for belonging these are all issues related here and politicizing is not going to be the solution. I totally get you, one minute left so i will go to you, jay, on this, many people are calling for President Trump to step in here Fox News Contributor general called weapon cel has done that, and democratic lawmakers asked for the
president s help. A lot of things that the administration can do before the federal government steps in and one is police, used truck to bait communities to stealing things. Thats one of Rahm Emmanuel, tell us when theres something wrong and we can get the bad guys, they dont trust the police. We have to cut the conversation quite short, thanks for joining, we will talk much more about it soon. That does it for us, we will back at 4 00 p. M. For more news, the Journal Editorial Report after. Motorcycle revving Motorcycle RevvingMotorcycle Revving no matter who rides point, there are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. And just like tyrone taylor, they know what it takes to help keep you protected. Are you in good hands