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- <text id=89TT1532>
- <title>
- June 12, 1989: American Notes:Airlines
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- June 12, 1989 Massacre In Beijing
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 23
- American Notes
- AIRLINES
- In Los Angeles, See No Evil
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Dressed in combat fatigues and a bomber jacket, Cuban-born
- Pedro Rene Comas-Banos apparently slipped past American
- Airlines security in Los Angeles International Airport on
- Memorial Day weekend carrying a starter's pistol, two knives and
- a pair of scissors. Soon after, he forced a Miami-bound 727 to
- head for Havana. Pleading that the plane was running out of
- fuel, the pilot landed in Florida, where, after 90 minutes of
- negotiation with the FBI, the hijacker surrendered.
- </p>
- <p> How did this former mental patient get past the
- checkpoints? The screening devices were inspected and found to
- be working properly. "We really have no reason to question the
- effectiveness of our security in Los Angeles," said an American
- Airlines spokesman. But the Federal Aviation Administration is
- not satisfied: in March the agency reported that American had
- failed to detect weapons in 24 security tests in 1988, the
- worst performance among the 26 carriers that were fined. If the
- FAA determines that American let the hijack weapons get through,
- said an agency spokeswoman, "the carrier would certainly be
- subject to a $10,000 penalty."
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
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