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Pilots concerned about terrorists
By JON HILKEVITCH
Chicago Tribune
8/26/2004
WASHINGTON - The head of the nation's largest pilots group raised the possibility Wednesday that terrorists posing as passengers could be openly rehearsing for more attacks on American planes.
His testimony came at a hearing where experts and lawmakers said the government agencies responsible for safeguarding the flying public are using outdated methods and are woefully unprepared to prevent the next assault.
Too much emphasis is being placed on scanning airline customers' bare feet with metal detectors or confiscating their household items at security checkpoints, while most travelers and cargo loaded onto passenger planes are not screened for explosives, authorities testified at the first congressional hearing on aviation security since the Sept. 11 commission issued its recommendations.
"If we continue to wait for the next tragedy to implement new ideas, we will have more bodies," said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn.
Bombs smuggled onto aircraft and surface-to-air missiles aimed at low-flying planes are considered among the biggest threats against commercial aviation, in part because other security weaknesses were tightened after the Sept. 11 attacks, members of the House Aviation Subcommittee were told.
The Airlines Pilots Association, meanwhile, warned that suspicious individuals - like robbers casing a bank before a heist - appear to be riding on airliners regularly to test for flaws in the security system by challenging flight attendants and trying to identify undercover federal air marshals on flights.
"We know of instances of passengers feigning illness, which has the appearance of an attempt to determine how cabin crews and law enforcement on the airplane will react," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the pilots group.
Woerth said there have been reports of individuals running toward the flight deck door, possibly to draw out any air marshals onboard or to determine if pilots on certain routes are carrying guns as part of a new program to arm flight crews.
Federal security officials say there is no evidence of such a plot by terrorists to test the system. But the pilots said that the government doesn't have a well-managed intelligence effort that uses flight attendants and other employees to report suspicious activity.
Lawmakers showed little patience about the slow pace in closing the security loopholes since the Sept. 11 attacks. Even quick fixes, including a registered traveler program aimed at reducing the number of passengers who require higher levels of security screening, are only getting started at a handful of airports.
"It's time to put things in place now. They may not all be perfect yet, but it's time," said Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., raised concerns, based on intelligence reports, about terrorists testing explosives-laden "suicide belts" that would be undetected by current screening technology at airport security checkpoints.
"Suicide belts are one of the most extraordinary points of vulnerability. Can you find a suicide belt with a (metal-detecting) wand? No. Can you find most explosives with the primitive X-ray devices given to the screeners? No," said DeFazio.
Homeland Security officials have cautioned repeatedly that commercial aviation remains a prime target of terrorists because attacks on planes would likely cripple the U.S. economy and create widespread fear. That's why the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, spends about 90 percent of its resources on aviation security, leaving little funding for scrutinizing cargo entering the United States on ships, or for ground transportation ranging from trucking and passenger rail to mass-transit buses.
David Stone, administrator of the TSA, said he is pursuing a multipronged approach to security. He told lawmakers specific plans for each transportation sector will be ready by year's end.
Stone said top agency officials spend several hours every morning analyzing "events, trends and risks from the past 24 hours" at airports nationwide and figuring out how to respond.
A member of the Sept. 11 panel said the agency has failed to develop an integrated strategic plan to respond to the terrorism threat.
"Without such plans, neither the public nor Congress can be assured we are identifying the highest priority dangers and allocating resources to the most effective security measures," John Lehman, also a former secretary of the Navy, told the subcommittee.
The Pilots Association said that unlike the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, which have ways to flag safety issues, the TSA lacks an incident-reporting system to "connect the dots on security."
Terrorist watch lists and mandatory no-fly rolls, while expanded from only about 100 names before the Sept. 11 attacks, are not nearly complete enough to keep even all known terrorists off airplanes, Lehman said.
By JON HILKEVITCH
Chicago Tribune
8/26/2004
WASHINGTON - The head of the nation's largest pilots group raised the possibility Wednesday that terrorists posing as passengers could be openly rehearsing for more attacks on American planes.
His testimony came at a hearing where experts and lawmakers said the government agencies responsible for safeguarding the flying public are using outdated methods and are woefully unprepared to prevent the next assault.
Too much emphasis is being placed on scanning airline customers' bare feet with metal detectors or confiscating their household items at security checkpoints, while most travelers and cargo loaded onto passenger planes are not screened for explosives, authorities testified at the first congressional hearing on aviation security since the Sept. 11 commission issued its recommendations.
"If we continue to wait for the next tragedy to implement new ideas, we will have more bodies," said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn.
Bombs smuggled onto aircraft and surface-to-air missiles aimed at low-flying planes are considered among the biggest threats against commercial aviation, in part because other security weaknesses were tightened after the Sept. 11 attacks, members of the House Aviation Subcommittee were told.
The Airlines Pilots Association, meanwhile, warned that suspicious individuals - like robbers casing a bank before a heist - appear to be riding on airliners regularly to test for flaws in the security system by challenging flight attendants and trying to identify undercover federal air marshals on flights.
"We know of instances of passengers feigning illness, which has the appearance of an attempt to determine how cabin crews and law enforcement on the airplane will react," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the pilots group.
Woerth said there have been reports of individuals running toward the flight deck door, possibly to draw out any air marshals onboard or to determine if pilots on certain routes are carrying guns as part of a new program to arm flight crews.
Federal security officials say there is no evidence of such a plot by terrorists to test the system. But the pilots said that the government doesn't have a well-managed intelligence effort that uses flight attendants and other employees to report suspicious activity.
Lawmakers showed little patience about the slow pace in closing the security loopholes since the Sept. 11 attacks. Even quick fixes, including a registered traveler program aimed at reducing the number of passengers who require higher levels of security screening, are only getting started at a handful of airports.
"It's time to put things in place now. They may not all be perfect yet, but it's time," said Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., raised concerns, based on intelligence reports, about terrorists testing explosives-laden "suicide belts" that would be undetected by current screening technology at airport security checkpoints.
"Suicide belts are one of the most extraordinary points of vulnerability. Can you find a suicide belt with a (metal-detecting) wand? No. Can you find most explosives with the primitive X-ray devices given to the screeners? No," said DeFazio.
Homeland Security officials have cautioned repeatedly that commercial aviation remains a prime target of terrorists because attacks on planes would likely cripple the U.S. economy and create widespread fear. That's why the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, spends about 90 percent of its resources on aviation security, leaving little funding for scrutinizing cargo entering the United States on ships, or for ground transportation ranging from trucking and passenger rail to mass-transit buses.
David Stone, administrator of the TSA, said he is pursuing a multipronged approach to security. He told lawmakers specific plans for each transportation sector will be ready by year's end.
Stone said top agency officials spend several hours every morning analyzing "events, trends and risks from the past 24 hours" at airports nationwide and figuring out how to respond.
A member of the Sept. 11 panel said the agency has failed to develop an integrated strategic plan to respond to the terrorism threat.
"Without such plans, neither the public nor Congress can be assured we are identifying the highest priority dangers and allocating resources to the most effective security measures," John Lehman, also a former secretary of the Navy, told the subcommittee.
The Pilots Association said that unlike the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, which have ways to flag safety issues, the TSA lacks an incident-reporting system to "connect the dots on security."
Terrorist watch lists and mandatory no-fly rolls, while expanded from only about 100 names before the Sept. 11 attacks, are not nearly complete enough to keep even all known terrorists off airplanes, Lehman said.
