To Donald Carty, Chairman, President and CEO of American Airlines, the shrinking members of the flying public, and the leadership of every other commercial air carrier:

I arrived at O'Hare airport around six p.m. on December 13th for my 8:45 flight aboard your aircraft. I arrived early because I had viewed many television news reports detailing long lines at the security checkpoints. I myself was not concerned with waiting in line. It is difficult to conceive of a line long enough to make flying less temporally efficient than driving cross country. Fortunately, however, the busiest airport in the world was virtually empty.

I had no bags to check, just one carry-on, so I went directly to the security checkpoint. I waited no more than ten minutes in the maze leading up to the checkpoints. While I waited my turn to be searched, a couple was having trouble passing through because the husband had two lighters in his pocket. The husband gave his wife one of his lighters, so that they each had one. Crisis averted.

When it was my turn, I put my bag through the x-ray machine and walked through the metal detector. It beeped. An airline employee was patiently waiting, wand in hand. He asked if he had permission to wand me. I granted him permission, but did not want to. Had someone on the street asked me the same question I would have told them no, in a fairly colorful way. Had a law enforcement officer on the street asked me the same question, I would have told him no, and he would be violating the Constitution to continue.

The wand, which is designed not to detect metal objects, but rather objects with a certain amount of mass, sounded its tone quite frequently. My watch, an empty pocket, my shoulder blades, and my wallet each set the wand off. I turned my belt buckle around so the guard could see I was not hiding anything dangerous. I lifted my pant legs, to demonstrate I had not strapped any weapons to my ankles. I showed the guard the contents of my front pockets. I was patted down.

Then, the guard requested to see my wallet. I asked him why and he responded that the wand had beeped over it. I took my wallet out and showed it to him. He said he needed to see inside the wallet. I asked him what for and he responded that he just had to check it out. I asked him what he thought he might find. He gave the same response. Reluctantly, I opened the wallet, fanned open the billfold portion, and removed the credit and business cards from the various pockets. This did not satisfy him.

He said he needed to look through it. I asked him what more he thought he could see. He had to "do it himself just to be sure". I told him I did not understand what he was looking for. At that point he called over the CSS. I do not know what CSS stands for. I assume you do.

At this point, it would be an understatement to say I was annoyed by the process. I had no intentions of hijacking an airplane. I have no criminal record. No one had probable cause or even a reasonable suspicion to believe I had any intention other than to board your aircraft and arrive at the destination on my ticket. Yet, I was harassed and my privacy was violated for the "privilege" of traveling by air. I did not feel secure in either my person or my effects.

When the CSS arrived, the original searcher informed him that I had refused to hand over my wallet. The CSS informed me that he had to see it. I repeated my inquiry as to what the search was supposed to discover. I again spread my wallet open for inspection. The CSS told me that he had to look at it himself. I asked what he was looking for. He repeated that he had to look himself. I said "You just have to rifle through my papers". He looked right at me and unapologetically and arrogantly said "Yes".

At this point, I was certain that these search procedures were not meant to find "dangerous objects", but to condition airline travelers to accept repeated invasions of their privacy. They were meant to break the spirit. To teach that resistance is futile, you will accept the orders you are given. I am a very calm and patient person, but I also love the freedoms guaranteed by our American constitution. Your search procedures enraged me.

I knew that I had to submit to these terroristic tactics, because I did not have enough time to get to my destination any other way than flying. I complied with the orders of your agents, but that was not sufficient for them. I did not comply gleefully with a smile on my face. In fact, as I thrust my wallet toward the CSS I uttered the words "f***ing Nazis" in disgust. As I write this, I still believe I exhibited an extraordinary amount of self-control given the abuses I had just suffered. But, I regret having used vulgarity. So many more appropriate words could have preceded the term Nazi. I do not regret using the term Nazi.

The CSS seemed confused by my comment; after all he was just following orders. He asked me "Who's a Nazi". To ensure there was no confusion, I looked right at him and said "You are". His only response to this was "MP's".

A woman screening bags asked me if I knew I could be arrested for that. After years of legal training, I have yet to come across a statute outlawing truthful descriptions of tyrannical agents. She then told an agent at the end of the conveyor belt to search my bag. Turning to me she said "Maybe you'll watch your mouth in the future."

Before I was allowed to fly, my bag was searched, my identification papers were passed out amongst the dozen or so military and civilian law enforcement agents who had gathered, an agent flipped through the pages of a paperback book I was reading and sent it through the x-ray machine just to be sure, and I gave a dishonest apology to those who had infringed upon the basic decency between individuals which allows civil human interaction.

Nothing done to me that day could or would have prevented me from hijacking that plane were I so inclined. If prisoners in maximum security penitentiaries can obtain or fashion weapons, surely weapons could be fashioned from the items on board an airliner. For instance, a broken liquor bottle, the sharp edges of an aluminum can which has been broken in two, the metal buckle of a seat belt whipped around and used as a club; any of these and more could be used to execute the kind of attacks which were carried out on September 11th.

What would have prevented the attacks of September 11th is allowing passengers the means to defend themselves. If just one person on each of those four planes were armed and trained, think of how many people would still be alive today. How many children would have mothers and fathers? How many parents would still have their children? Brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandchildren, friends, neighbors, people. They would all be alive today. If it saves just one life your airline should return to your policy of allowing firearms in the hands of passengers.

In the meantime, I will not fly on your, or any other commercial airliner, until the corresponding security procedures allow me, at least, to board without being treated like an inmate at a correctional facility or a subject of some dictatorship. Terrorism would be victorious over me if I submitted to your inhuman procedures again.

Sincerely,

Jim Duensing

A copy of this letter has been sent to Donald Carty via American Airlines and posted publicly at JimDuensing.com.

Read American Airlines' Response

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