Gargoyle

That possibility has been brought up here for many years, but it's going to come as a big surprise for the TSA. Therefore, they'll probably do their usual panicked knee-jerk response, rather than instituting a well though out and developed policy.

Slide101

"I've asked myself this question before.

What happens if an explosion like that happens in the screening area? What will TSA do?"

I've asked myself that question as well. It seems like all those long lines are really a dangerous place to be. I also wonder, since those radiation machines are in there -- what kind of radiation exposure would waiting passengers be subjected to in this kind of event -- and what kind of evacuation plan (if any) is in place to help passengers in such an event.

I agree with Gargoyle

"That possibility has been brought up here for many years, but it's going to come as a big surprise for the TSA. Therefore, they'll probably do their usual panicked knee-jerk response, rather than instituting a well though out and developed policy."

studentff

The power-hungry bureaucracy of DHS/TSA won't stop pushing to expand their powers until they have a screening team at the front-door of every house. Citizens will "implicitly consent" to a search by exiting their front door.

Seriously, if they think they can get away with it, TSA will keep expanding the perimeter as long as the courts/congress/people let them get away with it. They can move it to the airport door, then to the airport-grounds-entrance, then to the roads, etc.

Chellian

Somehow, I expect the TSA overreaction to be swift and not address the security hole that led to this.

More importantly, though, we need to mourn those lost to terrorist attacks. In giving their lives the gravity and value they deserve, they retain their individuality and difference, an important element both of social respect and of avoiding the hysteria used to use a number of bodies to sensationalize an issue.

Helen_J

Not sure if you're speaking of how it works in Moscow or in the US. The airports I've been in when entering the US have baggage claim before Customs. You have to go through Customs with all your belongings and re-check your bags if you have a connecting flight.

My friend did this Moscow transit before and said they were herded off the plane into some kind of holding area. I don't think they even had their passports checked or anything.

It certainly makes sense that they would strike where it's easy to get in. Unsecured baggage claims and greeting areas are easy targets.

LessO2

Part of the reason the TSA does what it does, and in the way it does, is to prevent the economic impact of terrorist acts in the air.

An incident like this that happened on the ground does not have the same effect. The only thing that might change this is if AQ goes Nelson Muntz and posts a video somewhere and saying this will happen at a U.S. Airport.

alanR

There's a solution that - don't allow people into the terminal until they've gone through security checks

nachtnebel

Any "unsecured" area where large numbers of people gather in close proximity would be a potential target, not just airport areas. are we going to bring in a scope and grope approach to those areas as well? Not terribly practical. You would think there would be a renewed interest in the sniffer tech that detects explosives....

LessO2

We already do. The TSA won't admit that there is more work that is done through intelligence, more effective work, than what is ever done at a checkpoint. They don't want to admit that, because then Ma and Pa Kettle would question their necessity....and we know how much the TSA thrives off of keeping Ma and Pa Kettle scared.

All that said, agencies are not going to keep airports 100% safe. That's really at the heart of a lot of the TSA's problems.

battensea

At some airports outside the US, they've been screening luggage before allowing people to proceed into/through the terminals for years. As I recall, they did this at one of the Russian airports I traveled through a few years back. In the US, we only screen luggage when it reaches the check-in counter or the TSA screening gate, not at the door to the terminal.

Even so, that kind of screening luggage at the door would only, under the best of circumstances, catch explosives in large bags, not explosives hidden on someone's body. And it still creates an opportunity to detonate something in the queue leading up to the screening point at the door.

Bungnoid

I think it relevant to point out that the Moscow airport implemented the MMW scanners several years ago, and according to a friend who traveled to Russia recently, they send everybody through them.

whitearrow

The analogous area at LAX -- the customs exit in the Tom Bradley terminal -- is often packed to the gills with literally hundreds of people waiting to meet arriving passengers. It's only feet from a curbside drop-off. An incredibly soft target.

alanR

Which begs the question - why are such attacks so rare? There are plenty of people willing to kill themselves, the skill to create the bombs exists and ingredients aren't hard to find in most countries

doober

Which might work in favor of those who are against gropes and WBI as more people, including those who don't fly on a regular basis, might be exposed to the TSA and their "procedures."

However, I suspect that it would be more likely that they would try to set up the passive MMW and force everyone to walk in front of those. What would happen if there was a "hit" from one of those? Then WBI and/or a grope? I would predict lots of false positive hits which could really irritate the general public.

gojirasan

It wouldn't surprise me if the TSA actually tried that, despite the obvious error in logic. Politics isn't about logic. They will just want to be seen as doing something so that they can't be blamed for just ignoring the problem, even though there is nothing (rational) to be done about it. I suppose the only advantage to making the entire airport into a screened area is it may reduce property damage from a bomb blast. For most US airports it doesn't seem very feasible though. You'd have the massive security lines spilling out into the airport roadways. The lines would be even longer since anyone who wants to enter the airport would be screened. Not just the passengers. Also what if it is raining or snowing or very very cold etc.