There were no secuirty checks at Logan airport for my flight to Toronto on 11 June 1997 - none. An air steward had told me not to worry, saying “That’s normal”. As the nearly empty flight ascended I noted the lack of cockpit security. I realised that four or five suicide attackers with basic pilot training could hijack the plane and use it as a missile, most likely against the World Trade Centre. After landing safely I was scared that passing on such a warning could be misconstrued as my making a threat.
I waited until I arrived at my customer’s factory the next morning before repeating my fears of terrorists exploiting Logan airport’s lack of security. I refused to start work until the factory manager Bob Wilton told me he’d pass my warning & my business card details on to a security service contact he claimed to know. I spent a week at Sunworthy Decorative printers but there was no response to my warning. The sales agent agents Lisa, & Dave Horsman of Canflexographics Inc., took me to lunch and golf on my day off. I’d have expected myself to have repeated my plane hijacking fear to them too, but I don’t remember any specific conversation with either of them, about plane hijackings or my airport security warning (that doesn’t mean those conversations didn’t happen, I just don’t recall them specifically).
· June 1997 work diary entries .pdf image
· Photo contact sheet June-Sept 1997, showing Sunworthy Decorative printers [#3] where I gave my first clear 9/11 warning, & photo of me discussing a 9/11 style attack with Yousef in Yemen[#22] & with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed too [#24 & #25]
I don’t know who, if anyone, Bob Wilton told about my Logan airport security and hijacking fears.
Sunworthy Decorative printers closed down around 2008 and I’ve been told Bob Wilton has passed away.
I risked my job as an international field service technician, refusing to start work until given assurances that my airline hijacking fear from the previous day’s flight would be passed to security services with a sense of urgency. Bob Wilton had my business card and I did ask him to identify me as the origin of the warning.