Posted on 09/12/2001 7:39:59 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Sept. 12 — The Bush administration said it was continuing a virtual ban on air travel Wednesday until the safety of passengers could be ensured. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta told reporters he could give neither a time nor a date for full resumption of air service. Mineta did say passengers stranded in flights amid Tuesday’s terrorist attacks would be allowed to fly to their original destinations. But the general grounding of flights continues, he emphasized.
MINETA SAID that in addition to permitting stranded passengers to get to their destinations, the government would allow airlines to reposition empty aircraft for eventual resumption of normal operations. He said it was decided to indefinitely postpone full restoration of service after aviation officials discussed security problems with the FBI and intelligence agencies.
The FAA, at the same time, was hurrying to put into effect new, more stringent security procedures in light of Tuesday’s attacks.
Mineta had said earlier Wednesday that all diverted flights, including international flights that landed in Canada, would be allowed to fly to their original destinations. Only passengers originally on those flights could reboard. Some passengers have been unable to leave their airplanes since they were diverted to Canada on Tuesday.
When asked when normalcy would return to the air, Mineta replied: “I can’t give you a date or time as to when we will be back in operation. We’re trying to make that determination based on the safety and the security of the airline passengers.”
Mineta noted that officials had hoped to accomplish that by midday Wednesday but said that after hearing misgivings about safety from FBI and intelligence officials, “the determination was made to put off operations until we are sufficiently secure in our own information about when to resume operations.”
When they arrive at airports, passengers will find security at its highest level since the Persian Gulf War in 1991. For example, according to transportation, airline and airport officials:
Thorough searches of all planes and airports
No curbside check-ins, nor check-ins at hotels and other off-airport sites.
Allowing only passengers to pass through security checkpoints to gates.
A ban on all knives and other cutting instruments, including plastic.
Uniformed police patrolling airports.
Searches of flight crews, service personnel and vendors.
Checks of passengers, using hand-held metal detectors.
Armed sky marshals aboard airplanes.
AIRLINES REVIEWING PROCEDURES
Airports are reviewing their security procedures in light of the new requirements. Los Angeles International Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield Airport and Boston’s Logan International Airport have said they are not ready to reopen.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Port Authority said that officials there had been instructed by Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift to go beyond the new FAA requirements and place state police at all security points at Logan. Two of the hijacked flights originated at Logan Airport.
One restriction requires all unauthorized vehicles within 300 feet of any terminal building to be removed. A spokesperson for Logan said that more than 9,000 vehicles are currently parked at Logan, and that removal of almost 2,500 cars from a garage near the airport’s B terminal has begun. This regulation may require the permanent closing of parking structures at numerous airports that are now considered too close to terminals.
The ban on knives includes knives used in concession areas and food and beverage stands as well as for sale, and affects both metal and plastic knives.
SAFETY REMAINS KEY
“I know all Americans want us to move as quickly and prudently as possible to return our transportation system to normal,” Mineta said, “and we will as soon as we can do so safely.”
The aviation shutdown ordered Tuesday was the first in the nation’s history.
Around the country, horrified would-be passengers watched Tuesday’s 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 before all flights were canceled.
VULNERABILITIES IN SYSTEM
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 of 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 carry-on 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.
Mary Schiavo, a former DOT inspector general who has been warning of lax airport security for a decade, told The Seattle Times that Tuesday’s coordinated attack of four flights scheduled to take off within 36 minutes of each other was “without a doubt an inside job” by terrorists who infiltrated airport security companies.
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.
FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said the agency would be issuing new standards for training screeners.
SECURITY CONCERNS
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.
For Education And Disscussion Only. Not For Commercial Use.
I was not only laughed at, I was accused of insulting the handicapped.
I wonder what such a package would have meant on any of the planes yesterday...
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