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Hana Gartner: DID YOU HAVE, YOURSELF, GIVEN YOUR LINE OF WORK – DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT NORTH AMERICA WAS GOING TO BE HIT WITH SUCH A CATASTROPHIC AND HORRIFIC EVENT AS 9/11?
Steve Elson: Not 9/11 specifically. I was positive we were gonna get hit. I quit the FAA – Federal Aviation Administration in the United States--because I exhausted virtually every avenue I had to get them to pay attention.
Hana Gartner: AND YOU KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE BAD?
The magnitude – no, I couldn't have predicted that. But with regard to hi-jacking, which is what we saw, the issue wasn't what happened after the plane was hi-jacked; the issue was to prevent a hi-jacking. If we prevented a hi-jacking, anything thereafter simply didn't matter.
Hana Gartner: SO IF YOU TO SOME DEGREE WERE ABLE TO PREDICT IT, YOU'RE SAYING IT WAS PREVENTABLE?
Steve Elson: Oh, it was absolutely preventable and the United States government knew it. The Federal Aviation Administration knew this and I was able to get a question in at the 9/11 hearings that proved this. We knew how vulnerable the planes were. It's all documented. ..As of 9/11, I failed. I'm not a failure, but I failed. I couldn't get anybody to listen.
Hana Gartner: SO IF SO MANY PEOPLE SAW IT COMING, WHY DID IT HAPPEN?
Steve Elson: Why – the question I have now is why is it happening again? We know what can happen now and yet working all over the country for two years with the media and following articles – the same thing's happening again. And the big focus unfortunately, is strictly on aviation Security check points.
Hana Gartner: SO DO WE NEED MORE SECURITY?
Steve Elson: No we don't need more security. We need security. We need a rational group of people to sit down, clearly assess the situation, not just throw money at the wall, not run in circles, scream and shout, look at what the situation is and start figuring what can we do quickly, simply, cheaply and easily getting basic things done and prioritizing those. Start fixing the basic things so that we can actually force and channelize terrorists to do the more complicated things.
Hana Gartner: SO TELL ME, WHEN YOU WOULD ASSESS AN AIRPORT, WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?
Steve Elson: I like to look at the big picture and consider the entire aviation system and that includes what the public sees and the government's focused on. Checkpoint screening. I look at baggage screening, whole screening for explosives, carry on screening. I'll look at the airport perimeter; I'll look at access control, ramp control, cargo, badging, background checks. You know, the layout of the field, access to the planes. So you have to look at the entire system.
Hana Gartner: AND BY POINTING OUT THE VULNERABILITIES IN THE SECURITY SYSTEM, AREN'T YOU SORT OF BREAKING THE LAW?
Steve Elson: Absolutely not. First of all I said I believe these people already know this. Secondly I'm American; I look at it from an American perspective. They may think, as the Soviets did, a lot of what we say is disinformation but the driving force is that I kept quiet for years. I was in F.A.A. I quit the F.A.A. I went to the Department of Transportation. I was called by reporters. I said I won't talk to you. I went to the General Accounting Office, I went to a number of senators and Congressmen. I've got their names, the dates, the times, the places, the people I talked with. They didn't care. So now I know I've got this horrible feeling something's gonna happen and I've tried working in the government, I've tried being outside of the government – what am I to do just sit here and watch people get slaughtered? About the only way to get politicians in the United States to react – and a Congressmen's staffer told me this – is go to the media. Hopefully you alert the people and as the people know what's going on, they call their represents and say, hey what's going on here? And then maybe we'll get it changed. Otherwise we're dead.
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