There will be a lot of commentary about what happened at @SeaTacAirport last night with the stolen Horizon Airplane. Let's start with some good news. After the plane was taken, a lot went right. Scrambling of fighter jets was swift. 1/
The FBI was quick to report what they knew to be true. . . . to calm nerves and communicate. 2/
.@alaskaair (including a post by Horizon Air COO) and @SeaTacAirport also were able to assess what they knew and report frequently. 3/
And the air traffic control voices -- balancing the mental instability of the employee with the need to protect those on the ground -- were beyond calm and professional even as they clearly knew he would die. 4/
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So, what went wrong. In all complicated transportation systems, one of the biggest vulnerabilities is insider threat. We've long known that and it is why airport employee screening is done regularly. But 5/
Employees also should be given the benefit of the doubt, and once screened (or re-screened) are given access so that you and I can actually get on planes and get to places. You can't have employees subject to same rules daily as the general public. 6/
There will/should be an accounting about what was or wasn't known about this employee, but before the inevitable "how could this happen" hand wringing happens, no airport system is entirely risk free from the strange or bizarre scenarios. 7/
The system of response we saw is actually a recognition that there are gaps in the system and that they all can't easily be reduced to zero, so response planning is key. 8/
Anyway, I know we will spend a few days insisting that this all could have been cured with the right gizmos, security, etc. And there might have been hints about the stability of this employee. 9/
But an aviation system that moves millions of people around daily will be subject to the totally unpredictable (and to some unforgivable) security lapses. Tighten up, yes. Learn from what happened, certainly. But don't think you'll get the risk to zero. #homelandsecurity 10/10
