Reports from reputable media sources since the September 11 massacre in NYC and Washington, D.C have detailed numerous post-attack incidents in which the FAA has failed to adequately protect the flying public from potential threats.
As a case in point, a number of law enforcement officials nationwide have, since the massacre, successfully smuggled handguns, knives and razor blades through “beefed-up” security points.
In addition, at Boston Logan and four other major U.S. airports, unauthorized personnel have gone unchallenged as they freely roamed outside and inside commercial airliners prior to flight. Furthermore, an NBC report recently revealed that the FAA is not subjecting check-in bags to routine bomb screening, raising the specter of another inflight disaster reminiscent of the Pan Am bombing over Scotland. Last, this same NBC report revealed that no fewer than 17 super-sophisticated bomb detectors recently purchased by FAA officials (at $1.5 million apiece) remain in their original shipping containers in FAA warehouses. These same NBC reporters also learned that, at every airport checked, the installed detectors were either deactivated or otherwise inoperative. In response to these shocking security breaches, FAA officials steadfastly maintain that its personnel are doing their utmost and that the skies are safe.
Frankly, I wonder how many more airline passengers will have to perish before the federal government concludes that the FAA is totally incompetent and needs a major overhaul—precisely what former FAA Solicitor General, Mary Schiavo, says is needed.
What can be done to protect the public? Is the FAA systemically incompetent? What workable solutions do you have?
Perhaps we should, at a minimum, email our elected officials. I sent emails yesterday about encouraging tax breaks for travelers. I hate it when people bitch and whine but don’t do anything. FWIW
How much of the problem is with the FAA itself, and how much is with the current system of non-Federally-controlled airport security?
(By which I mean, current airport security measures are the responsibility of the airlines, who end up hiring low-budget security companies to do the job as cheaply as possible. The upshot of all this is that most airport luggage security personnel are grossly underpaid, undertrained, and frustrated. Is this the fault of the FAA itself, or with the airlines?)
Perhaps what we also need is a media who will quit exposing all the weak links to any terrorist group who happens to be watching.
There is NO security system in the world that will be infallible AND efficient. And face it, prior to 9/11 there really wasn’t a need for an ultra-beefed-up security system because there hadn’t been a history of violence on airlines here. And even if you get the most sophisticated system avail, you could STILL easily skirt it. How? Get a job as a aviation mechanic. Get a job as a food service vendor servicing the airlines. Both have easy access to the planes prior to boarding. They could easily hide a butcher knife under seat 4C.
Remember the movie In the Line of Fire, in which John Malkovich plays an asassin who wants to kill the president?
At one point he says, “It’s easy to kill the president. All you have to do is be willing to die yourself.”
I believe the same applies to this discussion. We can never be truly safe as long as people are willing to go to great lengths with no regard to their own safety.
I’m a private pilot, and it would be fairly easy for me to do some damage were I so inclined. Sure, there is “restricted” airspace. But can they figure out my intentions and scramble a jet, and shoot me down before I decide to crash into nuclear plant, or into a resevoir (having first loaded my plane with some nasty chemical? “Restrictions” only apply to people who decide to abide by them in this case.
Having said that… Certainly - beefing up security will help, but not cease our problems. But as things currently stand, the FAA is not charged with security. The airlines are, which in my mind is a conflict of interest. They’re in the business of getting planes up and down quickly, not gumming up the works with security delays. So I definitely believe security should be handled by a third party. If that means federalizing it, so be it.
But in the end, we can’t be truly safe. A commentator on NPR said it best shortly after the WTC attacks. He said that we would need to develop a device capable of “peering into a person’s soul” to truly know if danger is among us when we board a plane.
I agree that the FAA needs to do better. However, I also agree with rjung (or at least what he implied) that it is a combination of the FAA and the market which have failed us here. Hopefully, now that the public is more attuned to this issue, both government and market forces will work to push for better security.
One other point…While it is extremely important to have better security (particularly as we have discovered how dangerous airplanes can be not just to those in them but to those on the ground), I think one should keep in perspective the dangers of air travel, particularly in deciding whether or not to fly. And, the fact is that the number of innocent people killed in the planes themselves on November 11 was equal to about 2 days worth of automobile accident fatalities in the U.S. A sobering though, eh?
[Admittedly, one really wants to compare fatalities in transportation systems per passenger mile, but even then planes do a lot better than automobiles…And the difference is presumably even more dramatic if you consider “death or serious injury” instead of just “death”.)
You obviously misunderstand the role of government regulatory agencies. The FAA’s role is to serve the interests of the Aircraft industry, the FCC’s role is to screw consumers out of their public property (the airwaves) and sell it to the broadcasters, etc etc. Any attempts to serve the public trust are mere lip service.