Hey this one made it through to G2i !! Success !! EN At 01:43 PM 98 01 15 -0500, you wrote: > Posted at 8:56 a.m. PST Thursday, January 15, 1998 > > Airlines, couriers flunk test in hazardous cargo > > BY JONATHAN D. SALANT > Associated Press > > WASHINGTON -- Despite warnings about the threat of terrorist attacks, > airlines and courier services aren't following required security > procedures designed to detect dangerous cargo, a government report > found. > > Security is so lax that 10 packages wrapped in plastic and loaded with > 50 pounds each of pesticide slipped by airline personnel undetected in > Miami three months ago and weren't discovered until one burst as it was > being loaded onto a plane, the Federal Aviation Administration report > said. > > ``The current level of compliance with approved security procedures was > unacceptably low,'' the Department of Transportation's inspector general > said after the FAA conducted its own inspection of airlines and courier > services in New York and Miami in the aftermath of the incident. > > In response to the findings, Bruce Butterworth, the FAA's director of > civil aviation security operations, issued a strict warning to airlines > and courier services that transport cargo or baggage on airlines for > customers. > > Butterworth also informed the airline industry in a November meeting > that the FAA was considering new security procedures, according to a > report obtained by The Associated Press. The report was signed by FAA > Administrator Jane Garvey and Transportation Inspector General Kenneth > Mead. > > ``We ran a number of tests and were not fully satisfied with procedures > being followed for accepting cargo,'' FAA spokesman Eliot Brenner said > Wednesday. ``Everyone involved has now been notified and is aware of the > correct procedures.'' > > Representatives of the airlines' trade group, the Air Transport > Association, declined comment Wednesday. > > But terrorism expert Brian Jenkins, a member of a presidential > commission formed after the July 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, said the > findings highlighted the panel's concern about cargo shipments. > > ``It is a great source of concern when any of these procedures are not > being followed,'' Jenkins said in an interview. ``One is always going to > find a violation here or there, but an indication that ignoring the > rules is widespread practice is shocking and deplorable.'' > > The Justice Department is investigating the Miami incident involving > American Airlines, according to FAA officials. American Airlines > officials did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment. > > The pesticide in question, Dowacide A Antimicrobial, when exposed to air > releases fumes that can cause eye damage and burning in the lungs. It is > considered highly dangerous and corrosive. Trying to check the pesticide > as excess baggage would save the company money over shipping it as > hazardous cargo. > > Cargo shipments already have proven deadly. In May 1996, a ValuJet plane > crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board. > Investigators believe poorly packaged oxygen canisters ignited or fueled > a fire that caused the crash. A year later, seven oxygen generators were > shipped aboard a Continental Airlines flight in violation of rules > imposed after the ValuJet crash. The canisters had not been listed as > part of the shipment. > > FAA rules that have been in effect for years require air cargo companies > and courier services, which deliver packages to the commercial airlines > for shipment, to certify that bags or packages don't contain any > explosives or hazardous materials. Airlines also are required to demand > to see the documentation before loading the cargo. > > More stringent security procedures, including inspections, are required > for first-time customers of the cargo companies. > > But when the inspector general tested courier services and airlines at > airports in New York and Miami, it found: > > --Ten of the 17 courier services tested in Miami the last week of > October were willing to accept packages from shippers they had not dealt > with previously, but none of the 10 followed the security procedures. > None of the 13 airlines that agreed to carry the packages followed the > procedures, the report said. > > --Two of the 11 courier services and five of the 21 air carriers tested > during the first week of November at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York > failed to follow the FAA rules. > > ``It was obvious air carrier personnel were accepting packages even > though they were unfamiliar with required procedures,'' the inspector > general reported. > > Another round of inspections are to be held this month ``due to the > unacceptable level of compliance,'' the inspector general said. > Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater was expected to make the > announcement today. > > The FAA said it was considering additional procedures that would require > couriers who carry luggage or cargo onto planes to identify themselves > as such and prohibit such couriers from trying to declare cargo as > checked baggage. > > The problem of unscreened cargo attracted the attention of the > President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism, formed after > a terrorist bomb destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in December > 1988. > > In February 1997, the panel, which is headed by Vice President Al Gore, > again urged more stringent rules for cargo shipments, including the use > of bomb detection systems to inspect packages. > > )1997 - 1998 Mercury Center. The information you receive online from > Mercury Center is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. > The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, > or repurposing of any copyright-protected material. > >
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