"Colombia Questions Its Airline Security"

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Colombia Questions Its Airline Security
The Associated Press


BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia questioned its own airline security measures and
ordered an immediate review after a father in a wheelchair dodged a
checkpoint and smuggled grenades onto a plane.

The father and his son surrendered five hours after commandeering the Aires
airliner around midday Monday after it departed from the southern city of
Florencia on a flight headed to Colombia's capital, Bogota.

The plane, with at least 24 people aboard, including an American, landed in
Bogota after the hijackers made a radio call to air traffic control
indicating they had taken control, said Gen. Edgar Lesmez, chief of the
Colombian Air Force.

The hijackers allowed government negotiators and a Roman Catholic priest to
board while the twin-propeller plane sat on the tarmac. All passengers and
crew were eventually freed unharmed before the hijackers, 42-year-old
Porfirio Ramirez and his 22-year-old son, Linsen Ramirez, gave up and were
arrested.

The older Ramirez boarded the plane in a wheelchair that was too large to
pass through an airport metal detector, and he was not patted down by
security agents, Luis Octavio Rojas, director of the Florencia airport, told
The Associated Press.

A statement late Monday from President Alvaro Uribe's office said the Civil
Aviation authority must find out "what allowed someone to take advantage of
his disabled condition to pass through the security checks ... with
grenades."

Rojas acknowledged his airport security agents only gave the elder Ramirez
"a visual inspection."

Uribe's office said: "Remember that nobody is exempt or excluded from
security controls at airports."

According to the government statement, the elder hijacker said he hijacked
the plane to bring attention to a case in which he was partially paralyzed
by a police bullet during a raid on his house some 14 years ago and had
unsuccessfully sought government compensation.

Sen. Carlos Moreno, who helped negotiate the standoff, said a $43,000 check
was handed to the hijackers as part of a "deal" between the government and
the hijackers, but the government would not honor it.

No concessions were ever made to the hijackers, the government said.

Attorney General Mario Iguaran said the elder Ramirez led the hijacking and
if convicted faces 25 to 40 years in prison for aggravated hijacking of an
aircraft. He expressed sympathy for the man's case, but added:
"Unfortunately he has to be brought to justice."

The elder Ramirez, speaking to reporters before being transferred to a jail
cell, said he has "no reason to regret" his actions Monday and said that
during the negotiation the government "said they would help me" and that
they "would give me an indemnity, because that's what I need."

The government said Monday it plans to review his request for compensation,
but said this would not affect the severe charges he faces.

A U.S. citizen was among the passengers on the hijacked flight, said a U.S.
official in Bogota, who spoke on condition of anonymity. No other details
were available on the American.

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