After the first four American hijackings occurred in 1961, the Senate held a hearing about the crisis. FAA chief Najeeb Halaby testified.
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A senator asked Halaby whether it might make sense to check passengers for weapons. There was ZERO airport security at that point.
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So the matter was dropped and airports stayed security-free. And, of course, the hijackings increased, both in number and intensity.pic.twitter.com/TqjgyZ2ARs
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In July 1968, after over a dozen hijackings to Cuba had occurred in rapid succession, yet another Senate hearing took place.
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Once again, the FAA shrugged. Hijacking was an unsolvable problem, a top official declared.pic.twitter.com/cwtWWjqG0E
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A senator from Florida objected, noting that new X-ray machines and metal detectors could provide a solution. He didn't want to shrug.pic.twitter.com/3UxBW5AdjP
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The proposal freaked out the airlines, who cared about profit above all else. Enduring hijackings was much cheaper than installing security.pic.twitter.com/KJxVx3wXaM
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Airlines were the tech giants of their day and had huge political muscle. The FAA was putty in their hands. Once again, the agency shrugged.pic.twitter.com/Z1NITEXWYX
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What changed in the end? The airlines began to fear legal liability after the November 1972 hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49.
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Those hijackers threatened to crash the plane into a nuclear reactor in Tennessee unless they got $10 million. http://skyjackeroftheday.tumblr.com/post/53402639756/3-louis-moore …
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The airlines realized their old cost-benefit analysis no longer worked: They couldn’t still treat hijacking as a mere managed risk.
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Universal passenger screening started on January 5, 1973. American hijackings immediately plummeted to negligible levels.pic.twitter.com/c1lC6ZiVYm
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Something to think about the next time folks shrug over mass shootings and claim that all policy solutions are doomed to failure.
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(Worth noting, however, that gun manufacturers don't have the same liability fears as early '70s airlines.)http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/06/446348616/fact-check-are-gun-makers-totally-free-of-liability-for-their-behavior …
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