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• Friday, December 9, 2005 12:01 PM

  An unusual break in your logic

  Dear Patrick,

  I'm a devoted reader of, fairly regular writer to your column and all-around member of your fan club. Partially that's due to the fact that the same things that fascinate you about aviation also fascinate me, but partially it's due to the fact that I share both your worldview about the crazy times we live in and your strict adherence to logic.

  That said, I think today's column takes a slight detour from your normally rigorous logic. It's clearly too soon to make a final judgment on the actions of the Air Marshalls in Miami, or on what those actions say about the system as a whole, which you also acknowledge. But while you heavily criticize them in the lead, at first blush, they did exactly what you spend most of this column (as well as most of many other columns) advocating for: enforcing security based on actions and intent, not dumb things like scissors and sneakers.

  Whether the use of *deadly* force was warranted is an unanswered and very important question. Among other things, I don't know what their protocol is for these things – whether it's a "if you shoot at all, shoot to kill" situation, as many police protocols are. But on balance, a guy running around an airplane screaming incoherently and reaching for something in a bag is *exactly* the type of threat that at least I believe we should be responding to – as opposed to weeding out manicure kits at security. It's a dangerous behavior, and at least apparently, an intent to do harm. I share your belief that a lot of our response since 9/11 has been overblown, wasteful and not very effective. But this one, at least on the face of it, seems to me like a counter-example.

  —ewaltrs Read ewaltrs's other letters
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