Washington (CNN) — The federal Transportation Security Administration failed to notify most airborne flight crews of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on a U.S.-bound plane, an airline pilots union said Wednesday.
The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents more than 11,000 American Airlines pilots, said the TSA sent security notices to U.S.-bound flights from Europe, instructing them to take certain precautions after the botched attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan.
Pilots Union: All in-air flights should have been told about attack
However, no similar notice was sent to domestic flights or other international flights, the pilots group said.
“It was a confirmed attack. Everybody should have been notified,” said Mike Karn, security chairman for the APA. “People were left in the dark.”
On September 11, 2001, passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 thwarted hijackers’ apparent attempt to strike a Washington target when they learned about plane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field, killing all aboard.