Airline security: stuck on the runway? Security training sessions held last week by the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) demonstrated how items like compact disks, wine bottles, soda cans, and souvenirs could be used as weapons on an aircraft. The message from the lecturers was that flying is far less secure than pilots hoped, Congress promised, or the traveling public believes. Additionally, pilots and government officials say a program to put thousands of Federal Air Marshals on flights has been hobbled by insufficient training and poor-quality agents on loan from other agencies. Last week the Department of Transportation's Inspector General delivered a report to Congress saying that, despite claims to the contrary, the Transportation Security Administration would not acquire enough explosive detection machines to screen every bag by 31 December, as Congress has mandated. On 2 May, a House subcommittee will hold hearings on the training and arming pilots to use weapons aboard aircraft. (Time.com, 21 Apr) WWU Comment: The failure of screeners to reliably remove weapons from passengers and the potential use of ordinary items as weapons highlights the need for on-board security measures. Yet, as evidenced by the scheduled congressional hearings on the subject, arming pilots may not be the answer and the air marshal force appears to be performing below expectation. Federal agents arrest 28 Phoenix airport workers. On 18 April, Federal agents arrested 28 illegal immigrant workers for using phony social security information at Phoenix sky Harbor International Airport to obtain security clearance and access to ramps, runways, aircraft, and service areas. The employees worked for private companies that provide support services at the airport, including food service and janitorial work. The arrests are part of "Operation Tarmac," an enforcement effort to heighten security at the nation's airports. (Reuters, 19 Apr) WWU Comment: With heightened airport security evident throughout the US, there remains a clear need to re-inspect the backgrounds of airport employees and the public and private firms that employ them. State retools emergency response after Sept. 11. Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist created a Council of Homeland Security to coordinate the efforts of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and other groups. The state's response plan is an evolving document patterned after the Federal Emergency Management Agency's plan. It links state departments, local governments, law enforcement, hospitals and clinics, and surrounding states and other groups. Because communication is a crucial issue when attempting to coordinate a diverse group of organizations, a team is working to improve communication problems faced by emergency workers, mostly by coordinating equipment purchases with different agencies. (Associated Press, 19 Apr) WWU Comment: The issue of cooperation among local, state, and federal agencies is key to effective response to a large-scale emergency. The essential elements of Tennessee's plan are applicable to all jurisdictions: the plan is reviewed and updated periodically, and coordination of communication among diverse agencies is an integral component that is explicitly planned for and actively pursued. Colleges make cybersecurity pledge. Richard Clarke, President Bush's cyberspace security advisor, spoke on 18 April at a conference on policy affecting information technology in higher education. There, higher education organizations endorsed a framework for coordinating cybersecurity activities at the campus and national levels to broaden national efforts to strengthen critical infrastructures, and raise the level of security collaboration among academia, industry, and government. (FCW.com, 19 Apr) Probe looks at coal train in fatal Amtrak accident. An Amtrak engineer told investigators he saw buckled track as he approached the site of last week's deadly Amtrak derailment in Florida, and other crew members felt something unusual as the train passed over the suspect section of rail. The crew of a coal train noted nothing unusual as they passed over the same section of track just before the Amtrak train. George Black, a National Transportation Safety Board official said that the fully loaded coal train, one of the heaviest operated, might have thrown the rails out of alignment. Black said the general area of the derailment had some grade stability problems similar to a site in Arlington, Texas, where another Amtrak train jumped the tracks in 1998. Track problems were blamed in that accident. Black said an inspection of the Amtrak train cars involved in the Florida derailment showed nothing remarkable. (Reuters, 21 Apr)
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