Weekly news commentary and features from the editors of the Wall Street Journals editorial page. Weekly news commentary and features from the editors of the Wall Street Journals editorial page. Investigators will be trying to figure out the motive based on what they have seen so far. The fbi says they do not believe this was a Terrorist Threat and they do not believe theres any additional criminal activity associated with this. Another major issue, authorities will surely look at is security access, the fact that could happen at all. All entities will do what they call a hot watch, they will review incident and look at all of the things happened and look for the holes and why employee had access to aircraft and try to determine where it was broken down and with that theyll be able to strengthen the system. Former dhs officials spoken to fox news today say at this Point Mental Health seems to be the primary issue when it comes to this situation. The challenge on this particular case as ntsb begins the investigation is sort of a im pretty alarmed at cia Running Counterterrorism overseas and tough places in middle east and south asia is this is really incident exposed vulnerabilities at airports, of concern to me are there similar vulnerabilities at other airports like ctec, somebody the fbi will be looking at. This is the ultimate Insider Threat where there was an employee who clearly had Mental Health problems and was able to Pass Security and gain access to aircraft. We have to stop this Going Forward. For sure terrorists will be watching this. Those who remember World Trade Center will recall that that was a failed attack, that they came back 8 years later, this is something im sure that our enemies will be trying to learn from. From listening to Radio Interaction between pilot and control towers sounds to me like
air Traffic Control has high marks. It is designed to minimize damage but of concern to fbi and Intelligence Community what we do to the left to prevent the sorts of threats from materializing im sure that we will be speaking with our Foreign Government interlocketters in intelligence channel, they also will be expressing concern and also recognizing the vulnerability and also exists. Mike tremendous security added to Aviation Industry since 9 11 attacks, do we need to do more . Clearly theres more to be done and i would highlight too when youre dealing with an individual, the threats are very dynamic, youre talking about people who in the workplace who
for one reason or another, in this case Mental Health or somebody recruited by bad actor whether criminal or terrorist, dynamic and ongoing effort to screen the personnel who have access to aircraft and other and other devices and things that could be putting our people at risk whether at airports or other locations. Mike sounds like we can count congressional hearings on this pretty soon, fighter jets, of course, were scrambled to the scene, what assessment do you give of their performance in this incident . You know, again, high marks for nordac when we go to right of boom here, fatality from the pilot, but our team as expected did outstanding job of limiting and minimizing the collateral damage. This is a good wakeup call that
exposes vulnerability and we need to do everything we can to prevent Something Like this occurring again in the future. We are awaiting update, daniel from officials there on the ground in seattle, what do you want to hear from him . I would like to here recitation of the facts, how this happened, details about the employee, might be difficult to give us because they are respecting privacy and maybe the fact that they havent notified the family yet but i would like to hear how long he was employeed at the airport and what his duties were and why there werent layered elements of security that could have prevented there guy from gaining access to aircraft and most importantly what is cpac doing to rectify and passengers will want to hear that. Mike stunning officials, major metropolitan area, claim over head for 45 minutes or so in joyride stunning. Im going to ask you to stay right there with regard Breaking News from middle east in iran. Iran is test firing a Ballistic Missile for the first time in more than a year. Kitty logan live in london with more details, kitty. Hi, eboni, we understand iran fired missile on friday, the concern this could be interpreted a message back to the u. S. In response to the sanctions, we understand this was antiship missile launched during Iranian Naval drills which are happening and Test Firing Boundaries in iranian waters, iran has confirmed it was holding Military Exercises over the past few days, these are intended to prepare for what it describes as possible
threats, but there was at the time to suggest that this particular missile test was unusual within the context of those exercises, the scale and the nature of those exercises to be similar to those held by Iranian Military in the past, there some are questioning and iran is angered about the u. S. decision to pull out of iran deal and limit Irans Nuclear activities specifically, iran also unhappy that washington has decide today reimpose those stiff economic sanctions earlier this week, the country signed up to that deal including germany that meanwhile iran has also ruled out direct talk with the u. S. , particularly at high levels saying now not the time for those talks, eboni. Thank you so much, kitty. Mike, mike lets bring back daniel, former cia station chief who served in moscow, iraq and
pakistan, glad to have expertise on this issue as well, let me give credit to Lucas Thompson for breaking the story, what do you make of the iranian test firing this Ballistic Missile for the first time in more than a year . This is a missile that the United States is acquainted. They provided to proxy militia hezbollah and provides threat to United States and region and sunni allies, the iranians are trying to deliver a couple of message first to the europeans that the negotiations that the europeans are holding with iran to try to salvage something from the jcpoa agreement, iran, look, if we dont figure it out we will ratchet up our military and dial that up in ways that it wont be comfortable for you and the second message is to irans enemy for which are many because iran is seeking to expand its
reach through support of proxy ma militias. We removed from jcpoa and ratchet up sanctions, iranians are clearly threatened and feel they need to deter up and i think thats what was behind naval exercises. Mike speaking of naval exercises which carries the worlds oil, that gets the attention of the u. S. Military as well. It sure does. Thats not uncommon effort by the iranians to deliver a message frequently use, recently they threatened to shut down and again, this highlights that right now we are in a period of
great aclamony because they are causing problems in the region, you look at what they are doing in syria with assad, thats irans doing and russias and efforts in iraq to sell discord among shiite population against most governments and against sunni population. Theyve really, i think, should be held accountable in responsible for creating dish thats middle east. Lots of threats developing there as a result of ongoing violence clashes. Mike how much of this is Iranian Regime under pressure from its own pressure . We have seen stories, video, people taking to the streets and protesting their own government, how much of this is trying to fire up iran nationalism . I think thats a great point. The iranian people are
justifiably upset about their economy and their expectations were rising after jcpoa had been signed, the iranian people believe that their economy would start to improve slowly and because thats not happening, the iranians are looking for someone else and convenient to blame the United States and our allies in the region for irans problems, economic problems and to highlight the threat that we represent to iran and is probably no better way to do that than Military Exercises and im sure iranian people are getting full dose on statecontrolled television about why the Military Exercises need to take place to defend iran from enemies. Mike daniel hoffman, great to have expertise on a couple of hot issues today, thank you so much, sir. Thank you. Mike eboni. We are still awaiting update from officials after the Security Scare over the skies of seattle after employee stole a plane and went on a joyride before a crash landing. House republicans moving forward with their investigation into the fbi and the department of justice, what House Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte has about dossier. Developments with Trumps Campaign chair Paul Manafort and what we can expect next week. Motorcycle revving Motorcycle Revving no matter who rides point, there are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. And just like tyrone taylor, they know what it takes to help keep you protected. Are you in good hands . Wienermobile Horn to put a better hot dog its oscain every hand. Ion and thats just what we do. With no artificial preservatives, no added nitrates or nitrites, and by waving bye to byproducts. So you can get back to loving them. For the love of hot dogs. Wienermobile Horn you wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your Allergy Pills . Flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. You can barely feel. Youre smart,eat you already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. If these packs have the same number of bladder leak pads, i bet you think bigger is better. Actually, its bulkier. Always discreet quickly turns liquid to gel, for drier protection thats a lot less bulky. Always discreet. Thanks, janet. Its welcomemy happy place. Store. You can learn how to switch to xfinity mobile, a new Wireless Network that saves you cash. And you can get 5 lines of talk and text included with your internet. And over here im having my birthday party. Dj fluffernutter, hit it Dj Fluffernutter simple. Easy. Awesome. Ask how to get 300 back when you sign up for xfinity mobile, and purchase a new samsung phone. Visit your local xfinity store today. Mike fox news alert now officials in seattle giving update following an Airline Employee steeling and empty passenger jet, taking on joyride last night, Lets Go To Seattle right now. 27year veteran of Alaska Airlines, gary is president and ceo of horizon air joined airline in january of this year and previously served as Vice President of operations at Alaska Airlines for about 6 years. With that, i will turn it over to brad. Thank you bobby and good morning, everyone, all of us in Alaska Horizon are deeply saddened by last nights unauthorized flight with the horizon q400 aircraft that resulted in loss of life for the individual involved. All 23,000 of us want to express sincere sympathy to his family, his loved ones and his coworkers. We are closely with the authorities to help answer the manyopen questions that they have and cooperation started last night. Our top priority is the safety of our guests and our employees simply put theres nothing more important to us, we are working closely with the fbi, the ntsb and the faa to better understand the circumstances behind this incident. We have been told as bobby said that the fbi is the lead agency investigating this. Safety is our number one goal. Theres nothing more important to us, last nights event is going to push us to learn what we can from this tragedy so that we can ensure that does not
happen again at Alaska Air Group or at any other airline. Before i turn it over to gary, i want to acknowledge and express my deep gratitude to faa air Traffic Controllers to washington and Oregon International guards and to the First Responders from peters county. They had a very strong and professional response to this incident. So with us here today we have as bobby said we have horizon air ceo gary beck, we also have jay tab who is leading the investigation for the fbi and we have mike gales, director of operations, these folks are going to speak for a couple of minutes and then we will able to answer your questions. Thanks, brad, at 7 32 p. M. Local time horizon air Ground Service agent departed in a Horizon Air Q400 without
clearance from cpac International Airport, the plane was taken from position and not scheduled for passenger flight. The aircraft crashed about an hour later in a wooded area on Catron Island in rural peters county. No structures were involved at crash site. Military jets were scrambled from portland but does not appear the jets were involved in the crash of the horizon aircraft and i really want to emphasize that we appreciate the militarys professionalism. We are working closely with the authorities and our own safety teams to thoroughly understand this incident. Now i will turn it over to mike. Thank you, mr. Beck and good morning, International Airport wants to ensure that we are
working with partners at ntsb, faa and partners in horizon and alaska air, immediately after learning of incident we worked with faa partners to Institute Ground stop that prevented departures until situation was stabilized, to clear air space arrivals continued and ended 2040, 8 40 p. M. Local time when normal operations resumed. During the time of incident approximately 75 flights were delayed, 9 phone lines were diverted to other airports, 5 flights were canceled. We estimate that approximately 19 flights incurred delays over 2 hours and we apologize for customers and patrons, none exceeded 5hour rule, operations were fully back to normal by 1 00 a. M. This morning and moving forward we will work
closer with our stakeholders and as well as Law Enforcement and i would like to introduce mr. Tabb from the fbi. Thank you, good morning, my name is jay tabb, im the Special Agent in charge for the fbi in the state of washington. First, an expression of condolences and empathy for alaska and Horizon Airlines and in this loss and i also want to talk a little bit to the king county and Pierce County residents who im sure had a scare last night. I want everybody to know that we are diligently investigating this matter, we will get to the bottom of it. We are doing so with a very long list of partners right now including Pierce County police department, Pierce County fire department, ntsab, of course, and some fire rescue folks from the joint base corridor assisting us right now. I have dozens of personnel out at the crash site right now, i have 30 to 40 folks involved overnight out interviewing
coworkers and Family Members and i just want everybody to understand this is going to take a little bit of time so please be patient with the fbi, we are not prepared today to discuss a lot of details with regarding this incident, just because it is so nascent. With that, i will turn it over to anney. We will now take some questions, operator, could you please open the call and i want to apologize to everybody who is calling in. I know that we are having a few technical difficulties, so speakers may have to repeat yourself, we apologize for that. Lets take our first question in the room. Alan. [inaudible] its way too early to comment on that, im sorry. Can you talk about was he alone [inaudible] i think at this time we believe he was the only one in aircraft but, of course, we havent confirmed that at the crash site if thats your question and in terms of the access thatll best be answered by somebody else. [inaudible] history, employee of the airline, if he has history of problems . We we do realize that theres some information flowing out there, we are not confirming the identity of individual at this time. It was 3 and a half year employee and Ground Service agent for horizon air. To answer the question that you asked, he was Background Check, there was a couple of diffe