Will fingerprinting at the airport be the next security measure?
 

Given today's catastrophic events, what will be the next level of airport security?
I fully expect passengers to be fingerprinted
before being cleared to board. Carryons will be subjected to additional scrutiny, as will checked bags. In the short term, only ticketed passengers will be allowed on the concourses. I don't know what more the airlines can do, short of strip searches and
going through each passenger's belongings one at a time. Georgia already has a drivers' license print database. Even though
we were promised it would never be used for other purposes, that may be about to change.

It's too early to know with any degree of certainty what happened, so it is difficult to know what the appropriate reactions should be. However, some form of biometric identification has to be seriously considered.

What difference would any ID make? If someone is willing to commit suicide there is no way to stop them. It is a futile effort. Our only solution is to send a CLEAR message that terrorism will not be tolerated and we will retaliate in a significant way.

I think armed marshalls will eventually be used on more flights. I know someone who flies on Royal Jordanian Airlines and they routinely have several armed guards on every flight. From what I've heard, one or more of these hijackings might have been prevented if there were armed agents on the flights. I could live with this and I think after yesterday, most others would too.

Like many people here I fly every week. I can't count the number of times I have passed through the security check points with the guards doing anything but paying attention to me. The don't look at what I drop in the change basket, and spend most of their time chatting with each other.

Should we say something to them from now on..

After yesterady I'd like to say, "Hey. Stop messing around and pay attention to your job". But it would likely only get me detained and not change their attention span.

Sorry for the rambling, I just want to know if anyone else feels this way.

I was on a flight from STL to DTW yesterday, and drove the rental car back from DTW.

I hope that by "armed" you don't mean firearms. Putting a bullet through the hull of a pressurized cabin is usually a bad idea.

Re: armed marshalls. I hope they carry all the firepower they need to cut down highjackers. As far as I am concerned, they can put as many holes in the hull as they need to.

Re: security. Sure, current checkpoints seem only semi-serious. That will change. We must prepare for much tighter (taking longer) security. After the politicos finish posturing, let's see if they come up with money to pay for better security that does not incur huge delays. They can take it out of star wars, which as far as protection for us is a joke.

Re: IDs. Two good reasons to check IDs / fingerprint. 1. match against any suspects before flying; 2. post-crash ID of who was actually on board. Reference model for the process: Israeli security.

Fingerprinting would be useless since the amount of time it would take to cross check with a data base would take far to long.

I would hope a marshall would refraim from putting any holes into the fuslage--that would cause the cabin to depressurize. There might be some speical low impact rounds that can be used.

I think the best bet would be to require all passengers to be firmly belted into their seats and at the first sign of trouble, have the pilots take the plane into a series of barrel rolls or steep dives and climbs.

I don't know what weapons are carried by air marshalls. A hole in an aircraft's fuselage can be disastrous due to the pressure differential ... a small hole can expand rapidly.
I anticipate seeing a LOT more air marshalls in the future.
I salute the passengers who overpowered the hijackers on one of the flights. Although the plane ultimately crashed, there was a great deal of valuable information obtained from it due to it crashing in a field.

From what I've heard on the news the armed marshalls are equipped with special guns/bullets that are designed not to pierce the plane's shell.

What about the use of non-lethal weapons, such as tasers or stun guns that could disable a hijacker without putting the hull at risk?

That is completely incorrect. Your fingerprint could be verified faster than you could lift your finger off the reader. This technology is extremely commonplace all over the world.

Not at all, pressure would equalize and the masks would drop from the ceiling. The plane's structure can easily withstand the hole.

your concern was raised on a few interviews w/security personnel and each one said the same thing, that a bullet hole/s in the plane is not fatal like one would think.

El Al, the Israeli airline has had an armed marshall on everyone of their flights for years.

[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-15-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 09-15-2001).]

The US used to have armed sky marshalls during the 1970's. There are low velocity projectile weapons that can be issued, which will kill a person, but will not penetrate the hull of the airplane. This, plus a great deal of short range target practice, make the practice an acceptable risk in the course of a hijacking. Of course, the point is to deter a hijacking.

One security measure I would welcome is having a small electronic signature stand, similar to that used for credit card transactions at sears, home depot and others - which requires a signature, which can be matched with on record rather quickly.

Of course, some of us would have to clean up our act, but the time between taking the signature, and boarding, could be made sufficent.

The reason this is useful is the clear evidence that many of the peope involved in the attack used assumed or fictious identities. The signature match would deter some, catch some, and, in the event of a failure - make tracking those on board easier.

We already do it when we buy a box of screws, so there is no incremental loss of privacy above what we already have. If you want to go from place to place anonymously, drive with a tinted windshield and don't speed.