WTC security and emergency response newspaper article

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

M II 9- ig-oi

Securing the Skies AU airports but Washington’s Reagan National matter of national security. It can no longer be have reopened in the aftermath of last week’s delegated to airlines and their undertrained and attack, but commercial aviation in the United States underpaid private guards. has been forever altered. The premium is now on The glaring vulnerabilities in the present sys- security instead of convenience and speed. That is ' tern have been extensively diagnosed in a series of the only sensible course after hijackers seized con­ presidential commissions and other reviews. Weap­ trol of four passenger planes and turned three of ons are often not caught by screeners, unauthorized them into weapons of mass destruction. personnel can easily gain access to aircraft, and Few freedoms are as vital to the nation’s workers who are authorized to get near the planes character, and essential to its economy, as the have not had their backgrounds checked. Airlines freedom to travel. But to ensure that it is preserved, have been slow to deploy the most sophisticated the rules and expectations of flying have to change. bomb-scanning devices. Passenger lists are not The freedom to wake up in New York and get to San screened for potential terrorists. Shockingly, two of Francisco in time for lunch is going to have to give the hijackers last week were able to buy tickets way to the freedom to get to San Francisco safely, under their own names arid board their flights even if it takes all day. despite being on the F.B.I.’s terrorism wat.-.n list. Americans should accept more stringent secu­ For years, pilot training and airline procedures rity not as a short-term inconvenience but as a have reflected the prevailing wisdom that it is best permanent redefinition of the flying experience. No to cooperate with hijackers until a plane has landed longer can passengers expect to arrive at the air­ safely. But security measures must now be updated port 30 minutes before departure or check in at an to account for the possibility of more airliners being automated kiosk that handles security questions the turned into weapons. Transportation Secretary Nor­ way A.T.M.’s ask if you want a receipt., man Mineta has rightly called for a revival of the The Federal Aviation .Administration has “sky marshal” program, whereby armed undercov­ banned curbside check-in and will allow only ticket­ er agents are placed on flights. He has also appoint­ ed passengers to go to the gate. It has called tor ed separate advisory commissions to recomm; id, more imiformed law enforcement agents, individual within two weeks, additional airport security mt .-is- searches and luggage-matching to ensure that ev­ ures and to look at ways of fortifying cockpit doors. eryone who checks a bag boards the flight Passen­ The government must also consider creating a gers will no longer be able to carry small knives or specialized airport security force. other cutting devices aboard. As airlines cut back on service to accommodate It is a reassuring start, but only that A more the new security procedures, consumers will have fundamental long-term overhaul is needed to prop­ to live with fewer choices. The men and worrien who erly police the stream of two million passengers perished last week would gladly have accepted a each day onto 40,000 flints. In light of last week’s slower, less convenient air travel system if they attacks, vigilance at airports must be deemed a knew it meant the difference between life and death.

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