We are now slightly less than three weeks away from gathering together again on the Vanderbilt campus to celebrate our 40th Class Reunion. If you haven't registered to attend (October 3-5) please do so today!
http://reunion.vanderbilt.edu/register.php
By now if you are coming back to Nashville from some distance, you've made your airline reservations for the trip. That can only mean one thing: passing through security checks at the airport going to and from on your travels. It is surely one of life's little challenges. We are happy we are being kept safe, but it is a bit of a pain to be sure.....
It may seem we've been going through airport security screenings like this all our adult lives. Close. Actually such checks first began while we were attending Vanderbilt.
It was the hickjacking (then sometimes called a skyjacking) of a Southern Airways flight on November 10, 1972 (the highjackers briefly threatened to fly the plane into the Oak Ridge National Laboratory) that set the wheels in motion to implement passenger and carry-on luggage screenings.
Effective January 5, 1973 (just before we returned from Christmas break senior year) the Federal Aviation Adminstration ordered the passenger and on-board luggage inspections to begin. And they've continued ever since, being greatly expanded and intensified after the tragic events of September 11, 2001 now some 12 years ago.
Courtesy of our "way back" machine and the Vanderbilt TV News Archives, here's how the CBS Evening News reported on that very first day of screenings back in January, 1973 just over 40 years ago.....
http://blip.tv/vanderbilt-class-of-1973/1973-january-5-airportscreening-1142329
Have a great trip to Nashville! We can't wait to see everyone in 3 weeks!
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