Computer Assisted Passenger Pre Screening System

A secret computer program detected something suspicious about the middle-aged passenger heading to Eugene, Ore. He traveled often, usually taking one-way flights on short notice. In the months following the Sept. 11 attacks, every time he tried to board a flight in Portland, he was pulled out of line and searched as a possible terrorist threat. The passenger was Peter A.

A secret computer program detected something suspicious about the middle-aged passenger heading to Eugene, Ore. He traveled often, usually taking one-way flights on short notice. In the months following the Sept. 11 attacks, every time he tried to board a flight in Portland, he was pulled out of line and searched as a possible terrorist threat. The passenger was Peter A.

Thousands more sky marshals are flying. Most airport workers have been given criminal background checks. Intelligence sharing is better. At Los Angeles International Airport, 49 lanes are open for screening passengers, up from 42 before the Sept. 11 attacks, with a goal of at least 60. Yet today's air travel system is still riddled with holes. As of midsummer, federal agents were still sneaking guns and fake bombs past airport screeners on about 25% of the tries.

The first time Air Force Master Sgt. Michelle D. Green was delayed at the ticket counter before taking a plane in Fairbanks, Alaska, she took it in stride. An airline agent asked for her military orders and a long list of other information, delaying her for 45 minutes. When it happened again, she found it was no mistake: She had landed on the federal "no-fly" list intended to weed out possible terrorists. Others on the list have described body searches and missed planes.

A computer system being developed by the government to flag potential terrorists from among millions of airline passengers has run into "significant challenges" that pose "major risks" to its deployment and public acceptance, congressional investigators warn in a new report.