Posted on 09/12/2001 6:11:40 PM PDT by aculeus
THE US Government told America’s airlines this summer that they would be breaching passengers’ civil rights if they made extra checks on those of Arab origin.
Norman Mineta, the US Transportation Secretary, ordered an investigation in June into complaints made by Arab-Americans that they were being unfairly picked on for security screenings at Detroit’s main airport.
Mr Mineta said at the time: “Routine security measures are necessary to protect the flying public against possible terrorist attacks, but we must also protect the civil rights of airline passengers.”
Yesterday Mr Mineta promised to tighten security at airports permanently. “There will be higher levels of surveillance, more stringent searches — airport kerbside luggage check-in will no longer be allowed. There will be more security officers and random identification checks,” he said.
Mr Mineta acted as more details emerged of the security lapses at American airports. Airlines in the United States are responsible for security screening and they usually contract out the work to the lowest bidder, which tends in turn to pay its staff little more than the minimum wage. Safety regulators have found repeatedly that security companies failed to check the background of recruits.
“Aviation security in this country is handled by workers who couldn’t normally get a job serving hamburgers in McDonald’s,” Larry Johnson, a counter-terrorism specialist formerly with the US State Department, said. In fact, wages for screeners start at $6.25 an hour (£4.23) compared with the $7 earned by fast-food restaurant workers.
Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security magazine, said that in Britain security was managed by the airports and standards were higher because staff were much better paid and tended to stay longer in their jobs. “Airlines take more of a risk with security in the US, where several different security companies can operate at one airport.”
The hijackers probably realised that they would face minimal checks in the busy early-morning period at the three airports they chose, Mr Baum said.
The two flights that hit the twin towers took off from Logan airport in Boston, which has repeatedly been condemned for poor security. A 17-year-old youth was able to evade all security checks at the airport and board a BA flight to Heathrow in 1999. He was discovered only after the aircraft arrived in London.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) special agents posing as airline passengers found at least 136 security violations at Logan in 1997-99, more than three times the national average. The airport and some of its airlines were fined $178,000 (£121,000) for a series of breaches, including routinely failing to detect pipe-bombs and guns hidden in bags carried by the agents.
FAA agents also gained access to aircraft parked at gates overnight on at least three occasions because they were either unlocked or the door locks of the jetway leading to the aircraft malfunctioned. In one case, the combination to a lock was written on the door.
William Davis, a former travel editor at The Boston Globe, said: “The fact that two planes took off from Logan suggests that someone might have chosen this airport because of a perceived lack of security.”
The FAA admitted that security on internal flights in the United States was less stringent, and it became clear yesterday that there were also shortcomings in the procedures for international flights from some airports.
Philip and Pauline Reynolds, of Portsmouth, who returned from Logan to Gatwick on Monday, said that four relatives had been allowed to accompany them up to the jetway to say goodbye. “There was a great gaggle of people at the gate and we thought they were all getting onto the plane but it turned out they were just there waving people off,” Mr Reynolds said.
“The security screening was also poor: I was carrying coins in my pocket and my son was carrying his car keys, but the metal detector failed to go off.”
Colin Emmott, a retired lecturer from Bury, said he had been allowed to carry a five inch knife in his hand luggage on flights to America and around the world. “The only time I have been stopped at security screens in 15 years was in Lima, Peru,” he said.
The FAA said that federal regulations allowed passengers to carry knives up to four inches long, but individual airlines could ban them.
Larry Johnson... Larry Johnson... Oh, THIS Larry Johnson?
OH, you mean like they had a public skool education? or less?
Anti-liberalism bump. Bump for the return of common sense.
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