Airport Security

Plainclothes federal agents testing airport security were able to get guns and knives past screening checkpoints in Miami earlier this month, government officials said Thursday. The incident renewed concerns about the aviation security system, which has been on high alert since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A passenger's stick of dynamite on a flight from Argentina to Houston exposed a weak link in aviation security: International airports are not always as secure as those in the U.S. The dynamite was discovered during a baggage search in an inspection station at George Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly after a Continental Airlines flight landed Friday.

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn led a group of the nation's mayors Thursday in calling on the House of Representatives to take quick action on an aviation security bill that would, among other things, federalize passenger and baggage screeners at the nation's airports. During a two-day trip to the nation's capital, Hahn urged House Republican leaders to take up and pass a version of the security bill already approved by the Senate.

I found myself outraged after reading "Service Employees Fearful About Jobs" (Sept. 14), about the airport workers (skycaps, security screeners, wheelchair attendants, etc.) who may lose their jobs or may have to accept less lucrative positions to keep working. Huntleigh USA President Joe Tuero has announced that the approximately 50,000 employees they have working at airports across the country will not be getting paid for the three days the airports have been closed. Tuero and his fellow executives are paid handsome salaries and, of course, will probably not see their paychecks shortened by this tragedy.

As travelers heeded new warnings about bringing no liquids aboard planes, Southern California's airports reported Saturday that security checkpoints were running efficiently. Operations at Los Angeles International Airport were "working as smoothly as one can expect," said spokeswoman Nancy Castles. She said the only flights still experiencing delays were those going to and arriving from London's Heathrow Airport. Castles said that, overall, passengers were "incredibly cooperative.

As investigators continue to examine clues and inspect evidence in the explosion and crash of Pan Am Flight 103, some tough questions about airport and airline security have been raised. How did the bomb get on the plane? Where was it boarded? Who did it? Also, two of the most disturbing questions remain to be answered: Could it have been prevented? Can it be prevented from happening again? Airline and airport security are the most sensitive subjects in the travel business.

A coalition of U.S. Sikh groups said information it provided to the Federal Aviation Administration was used to draft new guidelines for airport security staffers, telling them not to harass turban-wearing travelers. Almost all Americans wearing turbans are Sikhs because the religion mandates the practice for men, along with beards. Some women also wear turbans. Sikh groups have accused airport workers of racial profiling since Sept. 11.

More than 20% of all concealed weapons found their way past airport security systems at 28 major airports tested by the Federal Aviation Administration, a spokesman for the agency said. While one of the airports subjected to the random tests discovered 99% of all hidden weapons, the airport with the worst record detected only 34% of the devices, FAA spokesman Fred Farrar said.

The former security director for Israel's El Al Airlines has been hired as a consultant to improve safety at Logan International Airport. Logan's security has been scrutinized since terrorists hijacked two planes departing from Boston on Sept. 11 and crashed them into New York's World Trade Center. Rafi Ron, who also has directed security at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, was hired by the Massachusetts Port Authority.