WASHINGTON – When flights resume at the nation's airports, passengers
won't be able to check their bags at the curb, they will be subjected to random
checks, they will see more uniformed security and they should arrive even
earlier.
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 Les Dorr advised passengers to
call their airlines before going to the airport, to make sure flights are taking
off on time. Many pilots did not finish their runs on Tuesday, choosing instead
to land at the nearest airport after the FAA halted all plane traffic.
Dorr said other security enhancements would be implemented as well, but would
not elaborate. "We're not going to talk about everything," Dorr said.
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.
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.
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:
FAA: www.faa.gov
Inspector general: www.oig.dot.gov
GAO: www.gao.gov
AP-WS-09-12-01 0834EDT