JFK Terminal 4 - 2005-05-09
Greetings to all ...
Being on vacation this week … and a lovely week it was ... I took the AirTrain from Jamaica to JFK on Wednesday, May 9, and got off at Terminal 4 since they have generous viewing platforms at each end of the upper (Departure) level. I arrived around 11am … which I’ve never done before ... I usually arrive at an airport on weekends later in the day.
The trip turned out to be a bust ... probably for the following reasons: - (1) I got there at a low volume time for flight/passenger traffic so there was little to see ... photograph ... or view through mini-binoculars; (2) security seemed v-e-r-y much in evidence … since business was slow? Then ... I may not have noticed them as much on past visits later in the day when flight/passenger volume is much higher; (3) in the previous 24-48 hours there had been the Fort Dix, NJ terrorist arrests … DUH … what was I thinking in coming to JFK at all?
QUESTION: - Did anyone else notice a spike in airport security after the Fort Dix thing earlier this week? Was the TSA on higher alert for anyone appearing even remotely suspicious that might have normally passed unnoticed?
OK … I first walked out to the right wing of Terminal 4 upper level … where it overlooks the Delta Terminal 2-3 complex. BTW I always look for the proximity of security before taking out my camera ... saw nothing nearby ... so I got two quick tele shots of colorful airliner tail fins … one of my spotter sub-specialties … really “subversive”! I then tucked my camera (a Canon D60 SLR with interchangeable 100-300mm tele) safely away as I n-e-v-e-r walk about with camera or binocs around my neck or even handheld.
If I see any security types in an area of interest to me I opt for discretion and go elsewhere with the hopes of coming back later. I thought once of asking them outright if it was OK to take pictures. NAH!! What would say ... "Sure ... be our guest." I don't think so. Of course I run the risk of missing some really interesting aircraft that may have since departed … oh well. Looking around and checking for security is a art in itself … how not to appear furtive ... like I was up to no good. Me an upright, loyal American senior citizen military vet trying not to act like I was a terrorist-type enemy of the state! More on that in another post.
So ... I then casually walked to the other wing that looks out toward the old TWA Terminal 5. I passed some TSA types at the main entrance to the Departures check-in level who seemed preoccupied with their business. At the far end of the wing I saw a cluster of JetBlue A320’s parked at a distance and I wanted to “collect” their individual “blue-names” … another of my subversive spotter sub-specialties. Owing to distance and the limit of my Canon 100-300mm tele … I just took my mini-binocs (8-20x zoom) and sighted in on the A320s and even that was a stretch.
Well … off to my right … from the Terminal 4 entrance … came a high-pitched female voice yelling excitedly and unintelligibly. I thought nothing of it until it got louder and closer. I turned to look and saw this diminutive West Indian … I think … TSA rushing toward me in a panic with her arms flailing … like I was about to detonate a nuclear or biological device. Was she trying to impress her supervisor. I turned and started toward her slowly … turning my ear in the universal gesture of “EH … WHAT?” She kept on coming like a windmill in a tempest at 30 knots and was quite in a panic. Was she new on the job? Had TSA been briefed on the Fort Dix thing to an ultra-heightened state of alert. I had trouble understanding her thick accent but eventually she gasped out that I couldn’t view any aircraft with binoculars! BINOCULARS?? My photo gear was safely tucked away so all she saw were the binocs. It was OK to just l-o-o-k at the aircraft but not with binoculars … “not at this airport” she proclaimed. I was dumbfounded! Then I got irate … under control but irate. I tried to explain patiently how some aircraft have nindividual ames on their fuselage and I couldn’t read them at that distance … for God’s sake!. It was like talking to a wall. Then I said something like … “Hey! I’m local … I live around here. I'm not a terrorist! You want to see my ID? Though she didn't asked … I took it out anyway and thrust it toward her … “Here … see for yourself!” Well ... she actually took and examined it … finally returned it with thanks. Chastened? Probably not. Well … I was outraged to the point where I just stalked away … which of course was all she probably wanted in the first place.
While having a snack at the Terminal 4 Food Court a few minutes later I noticed security-type uniforms all over the place. I even removed my ball cap in case a description was already out on me. That frantic TSA agent did read my ID and descriptions can be passed along via cell phone in seconds. Was I getting paranoid here? OK … it probably was their lunch break and the passenger/flight level was low. And … I was m-u-c-h more aware of security after what had just happened.
When I boarded the AirTrain ... I saw that shuttle AirTrain service between Terminal 4 and 1-3 was suspended “due to routine maintenance.” OK ... maybe yes ... and maybe it's a periodic "security event" to restrict easy travel between terminals. Who knows. One could take the thru AirTrain to Station C (Federal Circle) and double back to Terminals 1-3 on the main AirTrain going the other way ... which I did. The AirTrains themselves seemed more crowded than usual and each car had security personnel on board … TSA badges and redcoats galore … something I had never seen at any hour in the past. Something was up!
I finally got to Terminal 1 and checked out the minimal viewing sites there. TSA was stationed at each place and in greater than usual numbers in the terminal itself ... which was more crowded than Terminal 4. Apparently TSA knows where aviation spotters like to go. Does TSA get this from monitoring this forum I wonder?
What was going on? Had JFK security been ratcheted up this day due to the Fort Dix episode? Was it something else? Or was my trip scheduling radically off that day? Does anyone know?
Pardon my verbosity. Thanks,
Mike (shamrock838)
