MJ Podcast #196: Missile or Not? And, did that ambulance just duck?

This week on the podcast Matt and I discuss two important topics...the "missile' seen off of the coast of LA and how a DCFEMS ambulance may have ducked out of a multi-patient shooting. We had planned to discuss a couple of other topics, but ran out of time. We'll put those topics (first-in actions at MCI and paramedics cut to give FF's a raise) at the top of the list for next week.

So, was it a missile or not? That is still the question surrounding an object that was seen last week seemingly streaking towards the sky off the coast of L.A. Captured by a local TV helicopter film crew, the "missile like" object has been examined by a number of experts. We've heard everything from its a bird, its a plane, to...we have no idea what it was. NORAD was not able to track it...the FAA says we don't know what plane was in the area. So, was it a missile? If so, who did it belong to and what happened to it. Or, was it a plane with an odd vapor trail? You decide. See the video here.

Next, Matt bring us a story out of Washington, D.C. where a DCFEMS ambulance may have ducked out of an MCI-shooting event.  We'll pick up the triage and first-in actions next week!


Donate Today! You can help support mitigation journal by making a donation of $1.00.  Click the "donate" button on the right sidebar. Mitigation Journal is a listener supported independent podcast and blog… and any little bit will help.

 Get Mitigation Journal on your e-mail… subscribe to our free e-mail edition of the blog by typing your e-mail address in the e-mail subscription box.

Canadian Cessna Visits Rochester, NY

Canadian Cessna Visits Rochester, NY...by way of nuclear power plant.

A Cessna 152 piloted by two men flew into United States airspace and landed at the Greater Rochester International Airport. The two men were allegedly flying from Toronto to Kingston and apparently took a wrong turn. For some reason, rather then flying east from Toronto to Kingston (or west going back), they flew south for nearly 100 miles over the open water of Lake Ontario.  The trip included a detour through the airspace surrounding the Ginna Nuclear Power plant.

There was no radio communication between the plane and air traffic control. The two men in the plane, described as Canadians of Indian decent, were questioned and released. Click here for an article on this from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

I'm not going to buy into the proposal that this was simply an accident or mistake. Could this be another dry run testing our response to events? We've seen other events that looked like dry run probing in the recent past. See Dutch Good Example of Anti Terrorism (August 31, 2010 Mitigation Journal).

I don't know why I'm surprised by this event. After all, NORAD decided not to intercept Russian bomber flights into U.S./Canadian airspace because they were "just training missions"...see NORAD v. Cessna (July 12, 2010 Mitigation Journal). But, then again, how bad can a Cessna be? After all, it's just a Cessna. Although I seriously doubt that a Cessna could damage a nuclear power plant, we should remember the situation of not too long ago where a disturbed person flew his Cessna into a building that housed a regional IRS office. See An Attack by Any Other Name (February 18, 2010 Mitigation Journal).

Did I mention September is National Preparedness Month?

NORAD v. Cessna

Dear NORAD,

This is a CESSNA: 

This is a RUSSIAN STRATEGIC NUCLEAR BOMBER:

I was reading last week about how many "incursions" Russian naval and aviation forces have made near or into the United States over the last several months. Russian nuclear subs in international waters off both coasts, and bombers flying through U.S./Canadian airspace. Real Cold War stuff. Now, when I think of Cold War "incursions" by the Russians, I hear horns and klaxons and imagine fighter pilots racing across the tarmac, jets scrambling...the kind of thing you'd see when Godzilla was sighted...and backyard bomb shelters; you get the idea.

But, not so in today's world. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, commander Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. is quoted in a recent Washington Times article:

"...beginning a couple of years ago, Russian strategic aviation forces began stepping up training flights of nuclear-capable Tu-95 Bear bombers near or through U.S. and Canadian airspace..."

And that means...?

"They are trying to show the world that they are a powerful nation, and we're not giving them the satisfaction … ."

So, do we do anything about it? Like in Top Gun; have a US fighter pilot flip 'em off or something?

"If we intercept every single flight that comes out in our direction, then we're really just feeding into their propaganda," 

No, really. What do we do?

"So we intercept them when we feel like we ought to, and we have various criteria that we use for that, to include just rehearsing our own skills to be able to do that."

Oh, OK. Is there anything else NORAD can do?

"we just leave them alone,"...[the Obama administration has] "done a good job of trying to hit the reset button with these guys, and sooner or later they've got to respond." Above quoted taken from the Washington Times on-line article.

Sooner or later they've got to respond!? Respond with what!? Anyone else see the problem here? Can you immagine where we'd be if we took this stance during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

But this situation is not all that has me wound up. Another story posted by CNN tells us the NORAD actually scrambled two fighters because a CESSNA violated "Obama airspace" over Las Vagas, Nevada. Okay, I can see the point of that. We've seen what kind of damage a civilian single-engine Cessna can do to a building...remember the kook who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin, TX back in February, 2010 in an act of Domestic Terrorism? Oh, wait..it wasn't terrorism. Just a criminal act. (so that means we scramble fighter jets for the "criminal act" of violating Obama airspace...?)

Dear NORAD,
The point of all this is:

This is what a CESSNA can do to a building:

And, this is what a RUSSIAN STRATEGIC BOMBER can do to the Nation:

Next week: Building your own bomb shelter.