Transportation Security

The Senate on Thursday confirmed Asa Hutchinson as undersecretary of the new Homeland Security Department, where his responsibilities will range from border control to aviation security. Hutchinson, a former Arkansas congressman, is head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. His voice-vote approval came hours after he was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, a day after the Senate approved former Pennsylvania Gov.

A program that lets preapproved air travelers zip through faster security lines will be expanded this year to 35 of the nation's largest airports, Transportation Security Administration officials announced Wednesday. The pilot program, dubbed PreCheck, lets travelers who get TSA clearance avoid what have become the most annoying steps of post-9/11 screening: removing shoes, belt and coats. PreCheck has been tested for several months with frequent travelers who fly with several major airlines at seven airports, including Los Angeles International.

The entire south side of Los Angeles International Airport was shut down for several hours Thursday morning and at least 10,000 passengers were evacuated after security employees discovered that a metal detector in Terminal No. 4 had been unplugged. The machine, known as a magnetometer, wasn't working for at least an hour during the morning rush at the world's third-busiest airport, allowing dozens of passengers to pass through it without being screened, officials said.

Question: Please clarify the Transportation Security Administration's limitations on volume of fluids allowed in a single container to be carried onboard in the 1-quart plastic bag, which raised the issue of 3-1-1 (3 ounces, 1-quart bag, 1 bag per person). I was in Italy and wanted to bring back a vial of Modena's famed balsamic vinegar. In Europe, volume is expressed in metric, and the smallest container I could find was 100 milliliters, which is 3.3 ounces. I chose not to bring anything back.

The new federal office in charge of airline security announced Thursday that 15 airports will be the first group to have government employees conduct passenger and baggage screening. The 15 airports--including Atlanta, Baltimore-Washington, Boston, O'Hare in Chicago and Kennedy in New York--are being studied by the new Transportation Security Administration as it prepares to replace the private companies now handling security. By Nov. 19, passengers at all 429 commercial airports in the U.S.

While the vast majority of U.S. port facilities are set to meet a Thursday deadline for new security standards, experts said Tuesday that inadequate government funding had slowed efforts to secure some of the nation's harbors. The increased security measures -- which apply to U.S. ports and to U.S.-bound vessels from overseas -- were approved after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, portraying immigration policy as a vital weapon against terrorism, pledged Wednesday to tighten border security but also called on Congress to approve a guest worker program that would make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country legally. "We must gain full control of our borders to prevent illegal immigration and security breaches," Chertoff said.

When British authorities foiled an alleged terrorist plot last week to blow up transatlantic jetliners using liquid explosives, they exposed vulnerabilities in U.S. air travel security. The episode also provoked a battle over domestic security spending that is likely to erupt when Congress returns next month from its summer recess. The fact that screening systems at U.S.

From setting federal standards for driver's licenses to requiring air passengers to pass through elaborate bomb-detection machines, the report of the Sept. 11 commission contains more than a dozen recommendations that would significantly affect the daily lives of ordinary people.

Amid warnings that another terrorist strike might come tucked inside one of the 17,000 cargo containers that enter the United States each day, researchers are scrambling to make the nondescript metal boxes--and their modes of delivery--tamper-proof.

The son of a former Los Angeles fire chief was charged Monday with bribing a federal Transportation Security Administration officer at Los Angeles International Airport to help him smuggle marijuana past security on nine separate trips. Millage Peaks IV admitted to FBI agents that he and his associates made the trips with the aid of a TSA officer, whom they paid $5,000 to $6,000 in bribes to avoid detection, according to an FBI affidavit. Peaks and TSA Officer Dianne Perez were arrested on bribery charges Sunday following what the FBI said was his most recent attempt.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called on the federal government Tuesday to expand the use of a controversial scanning device at LAX and other airports that produces an X-ray-like image of a traveler's body that can reveal objects hidden under clothing. The mayor also scolded Congress for delaying the approval of Erroll Southers, assistant chief of the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department, as head of the federal Transportation Security Administration, a critical agency responsible for airline security.

Retired Rear Adm. David M. Stone, who once headed the Transportation Security Administration and was the first federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport in the critical months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has died. He was 57. Stone's untimely death occurred over the weekend, several days after attending an awards ceremony for TSA employees in Arlington, Va., agency officials said. He had traveled to the event from his home in Bangalore, India, where he worked for Cisco Systems Inc. as a senior executive in charge of safety and security.

Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the front line in America's war on terrorism runs through a little-known federal laboratory where engineer Nelson Carey holds what appears to be a bratwurst in a bun. "This is a Semtex sausage," said Carey, as he pinched the pink, plastic explosive long favored by terrorist groups. On his table lies a green Teletubby doll stuffed with C-4 military explosives, a leather sandal with a high-explosive shoe insert, an Entenmann's cake covered in an explosive compound that looks like white frosting, and other deadly devices Carey and his colleagues have built.

Because of the stepped-up security after the 2001 terrorist attacks, several private companies collaborated with the federal government to offer pre-screening services so frequent travelers could speed through the airport. But in the last few months, all three of the major companies approved by the Transportation Security Administration to participate in the registered traveler program have folded or suspended operations.

When British authorities foiled an alleged terrorist plot last week to blow up transatlantic jetliners using liquid explosives, they exposed vulnerabilities in U.S. air travel security. The episode also provoked a battle over domestic security spending that is likely to erupt when Congress returns next month from its summer recess. The fact that screening systems at U.S.

Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner announced a series of actions Thursday aimed at enhancing travel security against terrorism, including the creation of an Office of Intelligence and Security. Skinner also called for airlines to use more-sensitive X-ray machines and to match all checked luggage to passengers on international flights. The actions stem in part from recommendations made by the presidential Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism.

The brutally efficient destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 may set a new and bloodier standard for international terrorism, a grim escalation of an already growing trend toward large-scale acts of indiscriminate murder of civilians, counterterrorism experts believe. It was almost 20 years ago that the first terrorist assault on a civilian airliner fizzled as a bomb aboard an Ethiopian Airways jet exploded on the ground in Frankfurt.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, portraying immigration policy as a vital weapon against terrorism, pledged Wednesday to tighten border security but also called on Congress to approve a guest worker program that would make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country legally. "We must gain full control of our borders to prevent illegal immigration and security breaches," Chertoff said.

There is more turbulence at the agency charged with airport security: The Transportation Security Administration is losing its third director in as many years. TSA chief David M. Stone will leave the job in June, spokesman Mark Hatfield said Friday. No reason for the move was provided and no replacement was announced. The change comes as the new Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, is considering restructuring the entire department, which includes TSA.