European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 30, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                16 the stars and stripes june 1985 Reagan is Way of coping with crisis by Michael put2el associated press president reagans handling of the hijacking of Twa flight 847 underscores the difference Between How he copes with a foreign crisis in which others hold the Trump cards and How Jimmy Carter dealt with the event that helped doom his Reagan has taken an Active but he has not Al Lowed it to dominate his he showed his involvement not by concentrating All his attention on the crisis but by visiting briefly with families of victims during trips to Indianapolis and dal Las that had been scheduled in his Campaign to sell his tax overhaul the contrast with Carter is in the third year of his iranian radicals seized the american embassy in demanding that the United states Send Back for trial the who was in the for medical some of the hostages were but 52 were held for 444 Days on the Day the presidency was surrendered by Carter to As soon As the crisis Carter can celeb stayed awake late into the walked the White House grounds chaired meeting after meeting to consider his options found himself held hostage the 53rd he was reagans White House staff went into action with the seizure of Twa flight but Reagan initially stood when word arrived at the White House the morning of june 14 that the Airliner had been vice John Poindexter called together an inter Gen by crisis committee and parcelled out the state department set up a special task Force to Monitor developments defense would review the military Situa contacts were set up with the intelligence Agen cies and Friendly governments in the Poindexter National Security adviser Robert kept Reagan informed of but the president took no immediate action to take Over minutes minute monitoring of the most of the White House crisis management people had been through it before either in dress rehearsals or the embassy bombing in the suicide attack on a photo speaking to reporters president with National Security adviser Robert Mcfarlane left and White House chief of staff Donald the Marine the coordinated assault on French and kuwaiti Reagan spent the two weekends after the Hijack ing at the presidential Retreat at Camp but he came Back Early on the first weekend to meet with the National Security demonstrating his per Sonal concern for the deteriorating last he flew by helicopter from Camp David to Andrews fab to receive the bodies of four marines killed in a second instance of terrorism the gunning Down of patrons at a cafe in Al Reagan used the occasion to vow to find the jackals and bring them and their colleagues in terror to he could not be so bold in his Choice of words about the terrorists holding 40 american hostages in he could Only As he did tuesday night in a news that he would have to wait it out and Appeal to lebanese authorities to work for the Ameri cans he expressed saying he had pounded a few Walls myself in but reagans aides say he is determined to avoid be coming a hostage of As Carter in his the former president captured the atmosphere the safety and Well being of the american hostages became a constant concern for no matter what other duties i was performing As presi i would walk in the White House gardens Early in the morning and lie awake at trying to think of additional Steps i could take to gain their Freedom with out Sac riffing the Honor and Security of our i listened to every no matter How on the fourth Day of the iranian Carter postponed a state visit to Canada and a few Days later cancelled trips that had been scheduled to Florida and where he had hoped for a few Days vacation on Sapele staying close to Washington quickly became Stan Dard Carter and on a month after the embassy was seized and the Day he announced his candidacy for Carter formally confined himself to although he eventually did take to the Campaign Trail four months while the hostages remained in Cap the crisis consumed him perhaps More than any other his studies in High tech Security new York times a discreet distance from an Al Al Jet waiting to leave new Yorks Kennedy inter National Airport sits a manned armoured Lehi its gun ports visible in its Bright yellow at such a vehicle is always stationed near Elai aircraft ready to land or inside the airports International arrivals men in business suits or work clothes blend in with the though most people take no notice of they Are plainclothes police officers and they watch the passengers in research labs around the new York metropolitan engineers Are studying such High tech Security and surveillance devices As three dimensional xray a improved devices to sniff out explosives and robots that could patrol Remote All these devices May someday be Standard equipment at Kennedy and other airports in the such devices and Security procedures Are coordinated by a special unit of the port authority of new York and new Jersey As part of efforts to make sure that hijackings like that of the Twa Jet in Athens do not happen the efforts paid off at about the same officials when a passenger bound for Santo Domingo was apprehended with a foil wrapped gun hidden inside a hollow the special unit was set up 15 months ago with an annual budget of million to pinpoint areas of Vulner ability at airports and All other port authority facilities and to recommend and carry out corrective one of the trends most Likely to occur in this decade is an increase in Urban said Peter Gold Mark executive director of the port who was behind the creation of the and we operate some spectacular sketches of port authority facilities have been found in raids of Safe houses used by the police the unit has 12 staff members who specialize in areas ranging from International affairs to bomb Detec it is directed by Edward a for Mer naval officer whose background includes counterinsurgency work in Vietnam with the were trying to establish the concept of effective Osullivan said in describing the units a the guts of our concept is that we want the terrorist to see that our Security is tight and to look for More hapless at the three main port authority airports la and Newark which together handled More than 70 million passengers last Here have been 21 hijackings and 12 attempted Hijack Ings since last the police arrested 21 people with weapons trying to pass through Security checks at