Pilot Punished for Video Critical of Airport Security Comes Forward, Won't Back Down

[Amby 490]

The California airline pilot punished by the Transportation Security Administration for posting an Internet video critical of airport security has revealed his identity, and he's not backing down.

"My name is Chris Liu and I'm an airline pilot," Liu told local station KXTV.

Liu had been part of a federal security program allowing him to carry a gun in the cockpit. But after he recorded and posted online footage of San Francisco International Airport in which he criticized airport security, federal agents showed up at his house to confiscate his weapon and his federal flight deck officer credentials.

His state permit to carry a concealed weapon was also suspended, KXTV reported.

Liu originally declined to identify himself or his airline in fear of retaliation, but he’s now going public in hopes of changing major security flaws, he told KXTV.

One of those flaws, Liu says, is that flight crews are subject to rigorous screening while ground crews are just "swiping a card."

"As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce," he says in the video.

"Pilots are the primary line of defense in case a terrorist tries to take over an aircraft, so rather than embracing the pilot's suggestion that we have a major national security problem, they send four federal air marshals to his house in a show of force to retrieve a weapon that we could have quite frankly FedEx-ed back to them for $20," Liu’s attorney, Don Werno, told Fox News on Friday.

He said Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano's office so far has not provided a clear answer on whether his client broke any rules.

"To date we've gotten some very vague, convoluted answers, and I think it's clear to me that they really don't know what he's done other than to embarrass TSA by quite frankly being a hero," he said.

The TSA said in a written statement that it is "confident" in its airport security measures, adding that all pilots who are part of the program authorizing them to carry a weapon are expected to keep "sensitive security information" as a condition of their participation.

Werno said his client pointed out a "major security problem," and that the TSA continues to spend billions on high-tech equipment "when the ground crews go relatively unchecked at all."

Liu's flight status for his airline, which has not yet been identified, has not changed, KXTV reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/28/pilot-punished-video-critical-airport-security-comes-forward-wont/?test=latestnews

The video is on the link and there's a short interview with the pilot