Airport Security Reinforced

AP ^ | Wednesday, September 12, 2001 | JONATHAN D. SALANT

[JohnHuang2]

WASHINGTON (AP) — When flights resume at the nation's airports, passengers won't be able to check their bags at the curb in front of the terminal, they will be subjected to random checks and they will see more uniformed security officers throughout the airport.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said he is acting to augment airline security after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, which began with the hijacking of four commercial airliners.

``There will be higher levels of surveillance, more stringent searches,'' Mineta said. ``Travelers may experience some inconveniences, but we ask for your patience. We must do whatever it takes with safety as our highest priority.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said other security enhancements would be implemented as well. Many will not be noticed by passengers, she said without elaboration.

Around the country, horrified would-be passengers watched the drama unfold on airport television screens.

``It's absolutely stunning. I think it's an act of war,'' said June Locacio, 58, standing at a bar at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.

At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, long lines developed at pay phones to call friends and family.

``Someone is trying to make a serious statement, and I hope we do likewise,'' said Scott Gilmore, 55, who had planned a trip to Washington, D.C., before all flights were canceled.

The FAA also increased airport security after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 and the crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

But a series of reports by Congress' General Accounting Office and the Transportation Department's inspector general found that plenty holes remained in the aviation security net.

The GAO and inspector general found problems with low-paid airport security screeners, who must check passengers and carryon baggage, and with equipment designed to detect bombs in luggage.

``Serious vulnerabilities in our aviation security system exist and must be adequately addressed,'' the GAO warned in April 2000.

Inspector General Kenneth Mead reported in January that the FAA needed to improve training for airport security screeners and increase the use of bomb-detection machines. The inspector general's office said last year that airport operators and airlines often did not conduct required background checks of employees.

The inspector general's office announced in August that it would assess what the Federal Aviation Administration was doing to make sure airlines were thoroughly screening passengers and their baggage.

Spitaliere said the agency would be issuing new standards for training screeners.

Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, said Tuesday he has been ``concerned that we do not have in place the adequate emphasis on the right type of security nor the deployment of the right type of equipment.''

``We've seen that a determined terrorist isn't going to be stopped by a metal detector and a couple of quick questions about who packed their luggage,'' said Mica, R-Fla. ``We've got to do things that have effective results.''

FAA officials said they would be reviewing security procedures, but they would not go into details.

The GAO also reported in June 2000 that airport screeners had missed as many as 20 percent of dangerous objects during tests. The agency blamed the problem on high turnover, low pay and inadequate training of staff.

There have been plenty of earlier warnings about problems with airline security. Two commissions, one formed after the terror attack on Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and one after the crash of TWA 800 off Long Island, N.Y., made a series of recommendations to improve airline security. Several suggestions never were followed.

``No one wants to put the proper security measures in,'' said Kathleen Flynn, who lost her son in the crash of Flight 103 and then served on the TWA commission.

``This is going to be the line: `It was such a well-planned, orchestrated thing that we never could have thwarted it.' Yes, you can, if you had the proper security.''

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On the Net: Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov

Office of Inspector General: http://www.oig.dot.gov

General Accounting Office: http://www.gao.gov

For Education And Discussion Only. Not For Commercial Use.

[JohnHuang2]

My heart-felt prayers for the victims and families of this cowardly act.

[Alberta's Child]

Airport security reinforced

Is this supposed to be a joke? I think I've read the exact same headline after every hijacking or bombing in the last 20 years.

[Voltage]

I'll believe it when I see the pilots carrying 9mm's. My God, police directing traffic carry! When you fly you trust your life to the pilots, I'll trust they can handle a weapon too!

[newzjunkey]

On FoxNews or ABC (can't remember now) there was a report the FAA is reconsidering going back to the Air Marshal plans with armed marshals on a large number of flights.

I'm curious how these events will change passengers treatment of terrorists in the future. Given four hijackings turned into three successful guided missles at the hands of (suggested by the Boston Herald) five terrorists on plane with up to 90 passengers...well, those are pretty good odds.

I remember when "hijacking" meant "borrowing" a international flight for a ride to an alternate location or means of demanding some political prisoner released.

This is a whole new level. What I read years and years about "surviving" a hijacking by not carrying obvious US picture id on your person and to carry lots of photos of children and family would mean nothing here. Maybe I'm wrong by my gut suggests only a effort by numerous and brave, if frightened, passengers may have pervented the aircraft from hitting their intended targets although they may have died in the process or the aircraft may have gone down elsewhere if the pilots had been killed.

We're often told not to cooperated or go anywhere with a carjacker because all bets will be off and it's far less likely you'll survive--should it be the same for hijackings?

[TennesseeProfessor]

My problem with all this talk of increasing security is that the hijackers were using knives instead of guns or bombs. So, more metal detectors or more "standard questions" aren't going to help at all. Nor would the proposal of only allowing passengers into the gate area -- since the terrorist were passengers to be allowed on the plane. In short, none of these ideas would have prevented today's events.

[RamingtonStall]

The following is a Letter from my European Associate concerning the Airport Security in the USA vs Europe:

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<<"Dear Sir or madam:

I typically choose not to involve myself in writing letters such as these, because I seriously doubt they are truly considered in forming decisions and policy thus making them a waste of your time, and most certainly mine.

However, as both a native NewYorker and a very frequent flyer, in the wake of Tuesday's devastation, I am angry, concerned, horrified, sad, and just a little bit frightened. If this letter serves no other purpose, at the very least it is a vehicle with which I can vent.

I fly somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 miles a year both domestically and internationally. I have not landed at every major airport in the world, but the percentage of those I have visited makes me shudder.

What makes me shudder more is the difference in security between European airports and those in the US. It is not uncommon to find militiamen patrolling the concourses and gate areas, significantly armed, and truly looking for suspicious people or activity.

At passport control outside the US, and I admit it, I choose a line based on the composition of the people ahead of me. From previous experience I know that standing behind any individual of other than Caucasian ethnic descent can mean an additional wait of 30 minutes or more.

Around the world, my briefcase (which typically contains a small laptop computer, etc) is almost always opened, its contents removed, and examined. Within the US, except for an occasional swipe with that sensory cloth to be analysed by a machine, no other examination is done outside the scanner.

Around the world, my mobile phone must be placed in the scanner. In the US, I am merely asked to turn it on to see that it works.

I must also admit, to my embarrassment, that I have observed these differences for years, but the lax procedures in US airports made my tight connections possible, so I chose not to bring these matters up.

I remember well the highjack scares of the late 70's. I remember the extra security precautions. I remember the Air Marshals and wondering what exactly they would do if a handful of would-be highjackers got up intent on diverting the plane to Cuba. I remember being scheduled on PanAm's flight the day after it went down over Lockerbee, and switching to TWA. I remember flying back and forth across the Atlantic with entire 747's to myself and a bevy of stewardesses. Most importantly, I remember the last letter I sent to the FAA recommending that CCTV cameras be placed at the door to the cockpit facing aft, as well as additional strategically placed cameras around the passenger cabin(s). Within this letter, I remember further suggesting that the door to the flight deck be bullet proof, that there should be a way for pilots (and then engineers) to get their food and drink, and to be able to relieve themselves, without having to open that door. The final suggestion I had, and I realise it was (and is) a bit fantastic, and might well open the airlines, DOT and FAA to after-the-fact law suits, was to have at the captain's control the ability to exchange the flow of oxygen to a non-toxic knockout gas rendering would be highjackers unconscious, albeit together with everyone else.

I take great offence at the pundits, anchors, and other talking heads who have appeared on CNN over the past couple of days espousing a lot of noise, ghoulishness and nonsense for what they believe passes for important information.

I especially found the "gentleman", touted as a terrorist expert, who took glee in stating that the only way to insure against terrorists in the air is by keeping all planes on the ground, and then CNN taking additional glee in repeating it (along with the devastating shot of the 2nd plane hitting the south Tower) at least another 100 times to date especially irresponsible and offensive.

We can effectively prevent terror in our airports, and highjacking in the air. It will take intelligent planning, better training, some stricter procedures, and a bit more patience on the part of the passengers.

I for one am prepared to endure a bit of inconvenience in the course of my travels, both when entering, and within the US, as I am certain my fellow travellers are as well. It is this message which should be going out to the public to reassure them. The pundits are merely finishing the job that the terrorists started, by frightening our citizens out of getting on with their lives.

I am presently stuck in Europe, awaiting for flights to resume, so that I can be with my wife and children for the High-Holidays which begin on Monday evening.

Based on the Jewish calendar, this was a horrific way for the year to end, and I wish us all a New Year of Peace, Healing and good health.

Yours sincerely,">>

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The following are my recommendations which I sent in letters to the President, etc. yesterday:

<<"Subject: Air Safety from a Passenger's view point

12-September-2001

Dear Mr. President,

I continue to hear on the Media News Casts about the need for heightened security on all of our Air Flights. Some News Commentators, including former LtCol. Oliver North, are now pointing out their "Leather-Master" Utility Tools as dangerous weapons which could actually have been tragically used on the un-armed victims. I have even heard recommendations that we should have Air Marshalls on all flights just as the Israeli Airlines, El-AL, has done for years.

I, on the other hand as a previous Frequent Flier, would like to propose what I believe is a much simpler, lower cost, and less time consuming safety program, using existing technology and rather low cost equipment for maximum safety and least disruption for us as travelers.

AIR SAFETY 2001:

1) Install Secure Lockable STRONG, Bullet Proof Doors to the Cockpits on all FAA approved planes.

2) Install multiple Camera Monitors (Such as are routinely used in Supermarkets for monitoring children in the Store's Kinder-care centers while mommy shops!) throughout the Cabin compartment with leads to the Cockpit Monitors and with the capability of broadcasting signals externally to the FAA whenever the Pilot deems it to be a necessary.

3) Install keyed Controls in the cockpit to instantly introduce a Sleep Inducing "Happy" Gas into the Cabin's Oxygen Supply if necessary to terminate/control such a Hijacking situation without killing us, the passengers.

4) Emergency landing procedures to get the plane on the ground safely and quickly so that the sleeping passengers could all be safely removed in handcuffs until such time as they could be revived and either discharged or arrested within 30 minutes maximum after the Flight Crew is capable of making statements, depending on the contents of the instantly available video and the reports of the flight crew and passengers.

5) Arm the Pilots and applicable Cock-pit personnel with Stun guns or other types of low velocity arms which, with reasonably skilled use, can stop or kill perpetrators without risking damage to the aircraft or the safety of the non-violent passengers.

6) and finally, a full Safety Instruction Tape to explain to us, the passengers why this is being done to make it be safe for us to fly and for America to avoid a repeat of this terrible tragedy. Anyone not willing to risk the possibility of such a procedure could elect to use other means of transportation.

Thank you for your Strong and Effective Leadership at this challenging time.

Awaiting your response. Meanwhile, I will be driving.

Sincerely yours,">>

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([: ^ )
RamS

[RamingtonStall]

The technology exists to beat the Terrorists who would hijack Airplanes. IT is OLD Technology which requires a decision which may not meet CNN's PC Police review.

RamS

[RamingtonStall]

So perhaps it is now time to actually do something!

RamS

[RamingtonStall]

Judging from the lack of comments on this topic of Reinforcing Airport Security, it is painfully obvious how the USA could have gotten to the position in which we found ourselves on Tuesday, 11-SEPT-2001. .........How Sad !...........

([: ^ (

RamS