Word: faa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...FAA moves against Cuba-bound hijackers...
...foiled attempt came one day after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced an intensified campaign to combat a rash of southbound skyjackings. Since May 1 eight planes have been hijacked to Cuba, including two last week. Among the new steps: more thorough and frequent baggage checks, the installation of 14 "state of the art" X-ray machines at Miami International Airport, and a beefed-up force of FAA inspectors at other South Florida airports...
Potentially more effective are FAA-sponsored public service announcements, broadcast in Spanish and English, that will warn Cubans of the long prison terms they face in their homeland for high-altitude high jinks. "We are trying to tell them if they want to get back to see Mommy and Daddy, the only time they'll be able to see them is on visiting days," said FAA Spokesman Jack Barker. Indeed, Cuba is uncompromisingly harsh on its airborne returnees, handing out sentences of up to 20 years for air piracy. "There are no air-conditioned cells with televisions in Cuban...
...airline representatives applauded the FAA'S redoubled efforts, but were skeptical that the pirates could ever be foiled entirely. "If they say they can stop hijackings," said Delta's Ewing, "let's hope they can. We're taking a wait-and-see attitude." Indeed, a preboarding body search and stroll through a metal detector failed to reveal Hijacker Cruz's knife. Said Jim Ashlock, spokesman for Eastern Air Lines, whose jets have been involved in three of the last eight Havana landings: "If we had better techniques for preventing hijackings, we'd be using...
Questions about how the fire started and generated such acrid smoke through the DC-9 began to arise even as a makeshift morgue was set up at the airport to identify the bodies, some of which were badly charred. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the FAA and the FBI arrived to sift through the ruins of the plane for clues. NTSB officials suspect that the fire may have been started by a cigarette in a back-cabin lavatory. In Washington, aviation officials debated once again whether more stringent regulations regarding fire-resistant materials inside jetliners should...