"Patriot Pilot" Critical of TSA Steps Forward, Won't Back Down

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   Stacie Lposted 13 years ago

   "Patriot Pilot" Critical of TSA Steps Forward, Won't Back Down
   Submitted by SteveMT on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 19:43
   in
   
   
   Pilot Punished for Video Critical of Airport Security Comes Forward, Won't Back Down
   December 28, 2010
   
   The California airline pilot punished by the Transportation Security Administration for posting videos critical of airport security has revealed his identity.
   
   Chris Liu, who calls himself the "Patriot Pilot," says he was just trying to improve airport security when he released a recorded and posted online footage of San Francisco International Airport in which he criticized a number of procedures.
   
   Liu had been part of a federal security program allowing him to carry a gun in the cockpit. But after he posted the video, federal agents showed up at his house Dec. 2 to confiscate his weapon and suspend his Federal Flight Deck Officer credentials.
   
   Liu originally declined to identify himself in fear of retaliation but says he’s now going public in hopes of changing major security flaws.
   
   One of those flaws, Liu says in the video, is that flight crews are subject to rigorous screening while ground crews can just swipe a card to open the door to the tarmac.
   
   Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/28/pi … ideo-cr...
   
   More about the Patriot Pilot at:
   
   http://www.patriotpilot.com/aboutme.html

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      C.J. Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I find this story very scary. This guy has done NOTHING ILLEGAL. Yet he is being treated like a criminal. It is customary to suspend permits regarding firearms when one is being charged with a felony. This isn't the case.

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   habeeposted 13 years ago

   From what I've read, this pilot is being persecuted for his honesty.

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   Jeff Berndtposted 13 years ago

   I can see two sides to this. On the one side, there's this pilot, and he sees that airport security is both 1) overly intrusive and 2) poor, so he goes and blows the whistle in an attempt to get the TSA (and possibly the rest of Homeland Security) to try to put security measures in place that are either 1)less intrusive or 2)more effective or (and this is the ten-out-of-ten solution) 3)both. Well done.
   
   On the other hand, there's this guy who sees holes in airport security, and what does he do? He tells pretty much the entire world, "Hey, everyone, our airport security sucks, and here's how and why it sucks, and here are the weaknesses that can be exploited if you're the sort of person to exploit weaknesses in airport security." I can understand why someone who flies fairly often might be a bit upset with him.
   
   Bottom line though, I see this fellow as a whistleblower, and deserving the immunities thereof.

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