By Terry Maxon Dallas News
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants has released a Thursday letter from Mike Low, father of American Airlines flight attendant Sara Elizabeth Low, opposing the Transportation Security Administration’s plans to allow small knives on flights.
Sara Low was working American’s Flight 11 that departed Boston for Los Angeles the morning of September 11, 2001. The flight was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. She and everyone else aboard died.
“I understand that the justification for your new policy is to expedite and make more convenient the security process at airports. I can see no improvement in time or effort required, as under your new edict the inspectors will, instead of simply confiscating a knife, now have to stop, look, measure and probably argue about the legality of the knife,” Low said in the letter, also signed by other members of his family.
“You have gained little or nothing and again put the flight crews and passengers more at risk. The terrorists have to be laughing at how naïve our government continues to be,” he said.
He also noted the case last week in which a French citizen entered the cockpit of a US Airways jet in Philadelphia and took a seat there as the aircraft was preparing to depart for Florida.
“Yes, he was discovered while the plane was still parked, but he could have locked himself in with the pilots, attacked them with a knife, and done something terrible to or with that aircraft,” Low wrote.
Keep reading for the entire letter.
An Open Letter From Sara Low’s Family to TSA Administrator John Pistole
The following is an open letter to TSA Administrator John Pistole in response to the TSA’s recent decision to allow knives and other potential weapons on board our aircraft.
March 28, 2013
Mr. John Pistole
TSA Administrator
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Pistole,
My name is Mike Low. I am the father of Sara Elizabeth Low, American Airlines Flight Attendant on Flight 11, September 11, 2001. My family and I want to lend our support to APFA and the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions and express our feelings about your decision to allow knives back on commercial aircraft. We are astounded by the lack of understanding and thoughtlessness that this terrible decision reflects.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, our Sara Elizabeth was working business class on American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston. She had to have witnessed in part or all, the stabbing of flight attendants and the murder of a passenger and the pilots, all by knives. Sara spent the last 30 minutes of her life performing her duties amidst that carnage. We know she gave Amy Sweeney our phone number (as verified by the FBI) to charge the calls made to American Airlines employee Michael Woodward, that led to the identification of the hijackers. We have the FBI phone records and Michael Woodward’s deposition that told of her activities during the final 30 minutes.
I understand that the justification for your new policy is to expedite and make more convenient the security process at airports. I can see no improvement in time or effort required, as under your new edict the inspectors will, instead of simply confiscating a knife, now have to stop, look, measure and probably argue about the legality of the knife. You have gained little or nothing and again put the flight crews and passengers more at risk. The terrorists have to be laughing at how naïve our government continues to be.
Furthermore, the recent instance of a French national who managed to worm his way into the cockpit of a US Airways flight demonstrates that hardened cockpits and multilayered security protocols can still fail. Yes, he was discovered while the plane was still parked, but he could have locked himself in with the pilots, attacked them with a knife, and done something terrible to or with that aircraft.
For the safety of flight crews, passengers and those potentially affected on the ground, please reconsider this terrible decision. Take a page from the doctor’s oath and “first do no harm.” Thank you for allowing us to express our strong feelings about this terrible decision.
With our respect for the tremendous responsibility you have, we are:
Mike, Bobbie and Alyson Low
Family of Sara Elizabeth Low
American Airlines Flight Attendant
Flight 11
September 11, 2001
