MilesBuzz! - holes in airline security

http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/airport-security.html

A scary article, but an issue I've been concerned about for a while. I'd love to see comments from others on the following issues:

1) Have you noticed that metal detectors are set vastly differently at all airports? In some, I have to account for my belt buckle and zipper - in others I breeze right through.

2) Security in Washington DC (nowhere else I've seen) makes me turn on my notebook and make my pager "beep" EVERY SINGLE TIME. Now, say I'm a terrorist smart enough to put a bomb in a beeper of PC. Aren't I smart enough to make it go beep or have the screen come on?

3) How many times have you waked through the metal detector, glanced at the X-ray person, and seen him or her in a conversation about groceries or the hot night before, looking at his or her associates and nowhere near the monitor?


IMHO, this is a pure economic issue. If these people were paid well, they would take their critical job seriously.

Dave

that has always been ElAl's view of the situation...we have just had 3 breaches at the TPA airport which have been interesting to see from the sidelines---TPA is unique in that, although it uses people-movers from a landside terminal to airsides, the security in on the airside, not the landside (as in MCO, ATL, etc). Each of the airsides is dominated by one airline (AA, DL, CO, NW) and they are responsible for the security there. They are separately contracted for (so you have 4 different security groups). They are talking about having to spend $1M to improve security there.

You are right, though, about how uneven security is.

I agree that despite how conscious and concerned the government and travelling public is about security, it appears to be very spotty between airports.

Have you tried flying on a prop from an extremely small airport, cleared their minimal security, and when you arrive at a major hub like ORD, you can go right on to a major flight?

This was done for the convenience of the passenger, but frankly, I'd rather clear security twice than risk a less than full security check for all of my fellow passengers (it's not that I don't trust you, but there may be someone we shouldn't.)

Also, I thought it was a tragedy when airlines started making security the "baggage cops" when they installed the bag templates. Could we possibly add any more distractions to this department?

Okay, I'll play devil's advocate.

Security in the US frequently looks unprofessional and lax, standards vary among different airports but...

When was the last time a plane was hijacked in the US? 1979? 1980? 1981? During the Cuban exodus I believe.

Don't tempt the Iraqis, MA... I'd be more concerned about the possibility of a bomb than a hijacking.

Here's my security story:
This happened about two years ago when I was
moving from the DC area(living about 10 mins
from IAD @ the time) to San Francisco.

I had family comp. tickets from IAD->SFO
on AA courtesy of an aunt who worked @ SABRE
as a programmer at the time.
I was flying out and shipping my stuff,
including the computers. With most computer systems you have to unship the hard drives and transport them seperately in a shock-proof hardcase of some sort. Since I
was planning on making a living off the data
on these particularc drive, it was very
important that they arrive in good condition,
so I packed them in the case very carefully
and was planning to carry them on. I requested a hand-inspect, not wanting to
trust them to the sways and vagaries of the
X-ray system. That was fine until they asked
me to turn them on. I couldn't of course because these were simply the drives themselves and need a power supply and cable
in order to actually work. Alone and by themselves, they are basically heavy black
bricks with a circuit board attached to them.
I tried to explain this to them. They didn't
understand and we went around on this a few
times. Finally an AA gate agent came over,
spoke w/ the head security guard on duty and
simply scribbled into a little ledger and
I was through. They didn't demand to Xray
them, I didn't get a free trip to the body-cavity-search room and I was on my way.

I didn't ask anybody what was going on, I
can only assume that she was signing some
sort of waiver of responsibility, more or
less putting it on her head if the plane
blew up because of me.

I get a bit scared every time I board a plane.
I wear programmable hearing aids that require that I carry a little control unit that looks a bit like a pager. It has a bunch of bottons and a couple of little red lights that flash when it's doing something.
Every time I go through security, I take the thing off my belt and put in in the hand-exam basket. Almost every time (sometimes even this doesn't happen) I'm asked, "what is this?" I say, "It's the control for my hearing aids." Every time, I hear, "OK."
I don't know how I'd respond if someone seriously questioned me. After all, the only thjing it does is turn my aids on and off and adjust the volume. I doubt that I could prove that to some security person. But I'd sort of like to be challenged once in a while. After all, it could just as easily be the remote control for the bomb in my checked luggage.

I am the owner of a machine shop that produces special parts for scientific and laboratory instruments. I often travel through the Phoenix and L.A. area airports carring sample metal parts in my briefcase. It is extremely unusual for security to question what I am carrying, and when they do (maybe 1 time in 50) I am able to satisfy them by just showing them my business card.

I would think that it would be easy for several people to dissasemble a weapon, carry it through "security" and reassemble it.

Obviously airport security is effective at keeping out the crazies, and the inept, but would be only an inconvinience for the dedicated and knowledgeable terrorist.

I have seen many of the things you have all described -- from security at JFK yakking away while I'm struggling to get my briefcase
strap out of the conveyer to (and this alwasy happens at LAX) for the security people to ask that I take out my Wizard, turn it on and give it to them to play with.

Some airports (EWR, LAG) only let people through with tickets, others let anyone through (DFW for example.)

Craziest Security experience: In Tokyo on our way to Beijing where I got pulled over, asked to take my toiletries case out and having to take each and every item out. The officer opened the Tylenol bottle and made me take out every pill. he also did not know what the caplets were in the bottle (I also keep my Contac capsules in there to save space.)
He told me they're stepping up DRUG Searches.

I guess it also depends on what security system you go through. At Lufthansa in Frankfurt I beeped every time I went through the gate and was nearing the point of undressing! I even took off my belt and told the guard you can frisk me if you want!

Somewhat OMNI: In defense of some security people, twice the SAME woman at EWR retrieved and gave to me: a Brooks Brothers Jacket and a set of keys which in my rush I left at security.

Security-wise, I wouldn't be surprised if the sensitivity levels of the metal detectors are adjustable. Depending on the THREATCON (threat condition) the detectors can be set to a more sensitive level.

I did also notice at the DFW American Terminal A (formerly 2E) the waiting areas at some of the international gates were enclosed, perhaps sealing the area off once the flight is closed or possibly another way to seal it off in the event of a security situation. I know the gate design is such that passengers on arriving international flights are corralled into a corridor leading to Immigration and Customs.

2 observations. About 5 years ago I traveled regularly ORD/DFW/Wichita Falls, TX. Leaving Wichita Falls there was no security. You went through the detectors as you entered the concourse at DFW from the tarmac. In asking, since the airport was so small there (there were several others in the area equally small-Lawton, OK rings a bell) they didn't bother--figured that with the biggest plane being a 30 seater they didn't need to bother. Second funny story was back when I worked for Kentucky Fried (yes, I was a chicken checker--have to tell you about it in HNL) I carried 5 instant-read thermometers (the kind with the 5 inch point that chain restaurant people use) and an instrument (refractometer) that measured the percentage of sugar in a solution (soda). The instrument looked like a gunsight--you looked through it. All this was kept in a case on my carryon. Frequently I got strange looks, but the only time I had a problem was in Tallahassee, FL around Christmas. In the rental car I found a paint scraper/putty knife (painter's friend) that had a pretty wicked looking hook on it). I stuck it in my bag and forgot about it. When I got to the airport, they found it and insisted that I had to check it. It really had no value to me, so I said "keep it!" That really sent them into a tizzy!

I have often observed the personnel at the x-ray machines too. I found the agents in Miami and LAX the worst so far.

And a few times the agent stopped to look at the screen with my bag inside the x-ray, squinted, looked at me and then let me go. If something seemed strange, wouldn't that require a search?

Opposite Extremes:

Mahalo Air in Hawaii:
No security check whatsoever. (This is the friendliest and most amusing airline around; during the safety briefing the FA announced "There are four emergency exits on this plane: two at the front of the cockpit, two at the rear of the cockpit.")

Heathrow to anywhere (especially Athens):
tightest security I've ever seen.

Old Gold is right; security will defeat a stupid criminal, but there is no possible security system that will defeat a bright, resourceful terrorist.

When you consider how many casualties there are on U.S. originating flights as a percentage of passenger miles flown it doesn't make sense for us to waste as much time in security as we already do.

I've been through security five times so far this year, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I've been stopped for a "random security screening" where they take my bag(s), rub a cloth over the handles and zippers then put the cloth in a machine. I finally asked what this was all about and the guard said it detected traces of elements used in explosives.

Two of the times I even had my kids with me! The only thing I've been doing different recently is putting my pager and cell phone in the bag BEFORE security so that I don't have to waste time turning them on/making them beep for the guard. Perhaps this is why I keep getting singled out?

This has happened at IAD (twice), ORD, LAS and MCO. In any cse, it makes me feel better that at least SOMETHING is being done beyond a yawn and a wave...

same "rubbing" at SFO (UA) and JFK (LH) - about every 8th passenger.

My little backpack got "rubbed" at SFO last year too. The security officer refused to explain when I asked why. She just said "See the line, move!" CATMAN

My powerbook always gets an extra "shine" but my bags never got "rubbed".

The "Rubbing" is for the purpose of detecting explosives, they wipe items with a piece of paper that is placed over a "sniffer", a device that will detect extremely small amounts of explosives, (as well as nitrates used in plant fertilizer and medicinal nitroglycerine) If you pack your bag after working in the garden you might want to allow a little extra time to get through security.

When Jim and I were enroute to the U.K. from SFO last September, his briefcase got 'rubbed' but mine didn't. When asked, the security agent explained this was a test to detect explosive residue. We figured it happened to Jim (rather than me) because he wears this cool, sexy beard and mustache.

Neither of us have been rubbed since. Wonder if it is more prevalent on International routes.

Interesting book I picked up at a second-hand bookstore the other day... It's title is "Airport, Aircraft and Airline Security" by Kenneth G. Moore (2nd Ed.) The book is written specifically for airline and airport security and law enforcement personnel, but it offers many insights about how our present-day airport and aircraft security came about. When the metal detectors were first put up in 1973, the airlines were none too happy about them, and it took several years before the kinks were worked out of the system.

My bags have been rubbed, my laptop has been turned on and I have been asked so many times to take a sip out of my drink. Now what kind of idiot would carry flammable chemicals right through security in their hand?