Originally Posted by goalie
while i agree w/most of what is proposed, i abslutely do not agree with "special/limitted/or no screening" for people of status and/or flight crews. sorry but where the intent is good, one just needs to look back to a psa crash about 25 years ago casued by a very disgruntled employee who (sop back then) was allowed to pass thru a "special" (which eqatues to non-security check/wtmd) line without any type of scan. for those that don't remember, he brought a loaded handgun on board, shot the cockpit crew and the plane crashed. as a result of that, all airline/airport personnel had to pass thru security just like pax. that part needs to stay in place, imho.
It seems reasonable for FA's and maybe even flight crews to be subject to WTMD. However, as posters have pointed out earlier, the captain/co-pilot are at the controls and could dive the airliner into the ground if they choose. Moreover, pilots can now carry firearms on board if they complete the FFDO program. Checking pilots for knives, guns, etc. is largely a waste of time. Ground crews, on the other hand, should be subject to full screening just like passengers so that explosives are not secreted onto the plane. Common sense.