jb_in_ma

Looks like the $100M terrorist identification system worked...he wasn't a terrorist and it didn't identify him as such.

themicah

I'm guessing the Post's fact-checkers don't have access to a map, because unless he was swimming in circles, I don't think there is anywhere in Jamaica Bay where you can swim 3 miles to JFK without going right by other populated land or roadways. I suppose it's remotely possible that he simply swam toward the brightest lights (which would have been the airport). But still...

Mimi111

He does claim that he swam toward the brightest lights. Can't really blame him given the situation. Apparently the first thing he said was "I need help." and they helped him by arresting him.

fishferbrains

From the comments on the OP link:

"why weren't there some sharks with fricken laser beams swimming in the waters around the airport? Seems to me the 100 million dollar system should have included sharks with fricken laser beams attached to their heads."

^

cordelli

AP:

Port Authority police interrogated Casillo and charged him with criminal trespassing. Authorities said the airport grounds were clearly marked with no-trespassing signs that indicate it is a "restricted area for authorized ! personne l only."

Damn, even the signs didn't work, the last defense against a hundred million dollar security system.

"The catastrophic failure was that nobody sounded the alarm to go to condition red intruder alert," said former New York City Detective Nicholas Casale, who was deputy director of security for counterterrorism at the New York metropolitan area's transit agency.

"Immediately there should've been an armed response. Heavy weapons, armored cars to the area that the perimeter was breached. The airport should have been locked down."

Imagine the chaos that would have caused if they had to clear the airport and search every possible area he was in?

And I suppose sending armored cars would have been considerably more effective if they actually saw him do it, and not after the drunk guy ran out of gas, swam for some distance, climbed a fence and walked another couple of miles.

Mr Casale also states, and I tend to agree with him here

“I think he should be given dinner and a bottle of champagne for showing us our faults,” said Nicholas Casale, a New York Police Department veteran and former Metropolitan Transportation Authority deputy security director for counterterrorism.

Xyzzy

At least when skydivers accidentally landed at a US submarine base the other day the military acted in a sane manner and, "Released the jumpers after verifying their identities," instead f arresting them.

NY-FLA

Yeah, but that's a submarine base and the cold war is over. This is an airport for Chrissaskes, a black hole for constitutional rights and common sense. After all it's populated with nothing but terrorists, wannabe terrorists, perps and perps Pistole hasn't caught yet.
If we're truly serious about an abundance of caution, how we could we possibly accept anyone getting to the sterile area without 3 ID checks, 20 questions and a scope and grope?

peersteve

....I'm checking topo maps now for best jet ski access routes to my home airport (OKC)........if I ride down the Oklahoma River through downtown following the training route of the Olympic rowing teams, then up a creek along Meridian Ave., past the FAA air traffic controllers training facility, and a few laps of the airport rainwater retention pond......should get me closer to the planes than where I usually park......

Centurion

The man deserves to be compensated for showing their is no security. The TSA is a joke. Now with my remark I am sure all my flyertalk posts, email, communication will get read as a possible threat person level 3.:roll eyes:

Loren Pechtel

When you encounter a fence like that you should follow it, not go over it. I think it's reasonable to charge him.

Loren Pechtel

At night how would you know where land was unless it was nearby? Swim towards light.

Pesky Monkey

You have no idea what it takes to swim 3 miles (not in a pool.) I'm more amazed that he's alive and could climb that fence. He has a 0% chance of being convicted by a jury if he's smart enough to demand one.

chollie

I have no idea what the area is like - could he have gotten out at any point? Was there any kind of current? Both of those things (bad exit point, current) could play a factor in where he got out.

cordelli

That's about the only smart thing he did that night, he was smart enough to actually put on a life jacket, and leave it on.

chollie

^ I've done just over a mile in a half-Ironman once. Broad daylight, I hadn't been drinking...towards the end, I started to bonk - I kept swimming in circles and losing my orientation. When I walked out of the water, it took me several minutes to even realize what I was doing.

This guy had been drinking and it was at night. If you haven't been in a similar situation, you have no idea how clearly he might or might not have been thinking. Based on my experience (and a couple similar ones, although not in the water), what he did isn't so strange. You get out, you're exhausted and lost, you're focused on lights in the distance ahead, there's a fence in the way, perhaps a fence that seems to be stretching as far as you can see in both directions. You take the shortest line available - over/under the fence towards the lights.