A recently retired airline pilot told Colorado television station 9News on Friday that while he has all the clearances he needs to fly an airliner, his appearance on the “no-fly” list makes being a passenger a major ordeal. Robert Campbell says that even though the Transportation Security Administration assured him in 2006 that he was off the list, he still gets the third degree when he checks in for a flight as a passenger. “The fact is, I’m authorized by the TSA to fly the airplane and ride the jump seat on air carriers,” he said. “But if I want to ride in the back, I’m on the no-fly list.”
Campbell found out he was on the list in 2005 and tried everything he could think of to get off it. “I’ve talked to everybody under the sun – my Congressmen, my union, union legal people, the airlines, my chief pilot – and nobody seems to be able to get me off the no-fly list,” he told 9News. “This is absurd. Even the TSA knows it’s absurd.”
