Bumps in the Sky
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A few days before a college kid named Nathaniel Heatwole got busted for acting like a would-be terrorist, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conducted a poll and claims it received good news: most folks believe the agency is doing a decent job. According to the poll, which has not yet been published, about 90% of respondents who had recently flown said security at airports was "somewhat better to much better" than it was before 9/11. It's easy to see why. The federal screeners scanning our bodies, bags and shoes are often infallibly polite, and in their starched white shirts and pressed pants, they appear more savvy than those privately employed workers who could look more bleary-eyed than eagle-eyed. Americans now say they're more hassled by wait times at check-in counters than those at security checkpoints.
Yet in the two years since U.S. aviation began its most radical security overhaul, it doesn't take much to scare us and rekindle this question: Is our system really working? To some experts, the answer is no, and they point to Heatwole's actions as evidence. Saying he was committing civil disobedience to expose flaws in the nation's aviation-security system, Heatwole breached security six times over an eight-month period at Raleigh-Durham International and Baltimore/Washington International airports. He carried aboard contraband such as box cutters and a knife, along with bleach, reddish molding clay (which he hoped would be identified as a plastic explosive) and matches. Frustrated that his efforts were not detected, he finally stowed the items in the lavatories of two Southwest Airlines jets and on Sept. 15 sent federal authorities an email alerting them and identifying himself as the culprit. No one listened. It took a pilot's complaint about a toilet in the rear of a plane for workers to discover the items, which had sat undetected for five weeks.
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It's worth pointing out that Heatwole was never a threat. He didn't plant a bomb, and box cutters on a plane aren't a big deal anymore for one simple reason: other passengers. "A terrorist who jumps up with box cutters will probably be beaten to death," says Brian Jenkins, a security expert with the Rand Corp. That said, some security professionals say they're indebted to Heatwole. "That kid is my hero," says Charles Slepian, head of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center. "He got us to pay attention to what many of us have known since 9/11--that security at airports is all smoke and mirrors." That may be overstating it, but even Admiral James Loy, the outgoing head of the TSA, admits that Heatwole's stunt "shows us we have much to learn."
First the good news: we're safer today than we were before the feds turned airline security into a matter of national security. Nearly all cockpit doors have been hardened and bulletproofed, and some pilots have qualified to carry guns on board. Crews hold detailed preflight security briefings led by the captain, and, perhaps more importantly, crews are no longer trained to think they can deal with terrorists by themselves. If a threat is detected, a pilot will alert air-traffic controllers, who will likely call in jet fighters while the pilot would land the plane immediately. Some airlines installed video cameras in the cabin and a screen in the cockpit so pilots can monitor passenger behavior. Virtually all large U.S. airlines now have such doors and procedures in place, and many foreign carriers that fly into the U.S. are required to install them as well.
Passengers, their carry-ons and checked luggage are being more rigorously scanned. One thousand bomb-detection machines have been installed in airports since the start of 2002 to search checked luggage. The TSA has deployed 5,300 explosive trace-detection devices, which hunt for evidence of bombs and plastic explosives by the residues they leave. The agency is also using bomb-sniffing dogs, hand searches of checked bags and, most controversially, bag matching, in which the airline checks that both passenger and bag make it on board. But that's a requirement for originating flights only, meaning a bomber could hop off during a layover while his bag stays on.
As for those federal airport screeners, they look sharp for good reason. Now on the federal payroll, they're paid more than the minimum wage often earned by their predecessors. Their turnover rate is lower partly because they get government benefits. They undergo more rigorous training and there are more of them--48,000 vs. about 20,000 before 9/11. The TSA boasts that the screeners' efforts have resulted in almost 800 arrests and the interception of 4 million prohibited items. They recently found a gun hidden in a teddy bear and a knife in a sealed soda can, and they eased up on one absurdity: you can once again carry nail clippers on board.
Then there's the invisible security wall in the form of federal air marshals and vigilant citizens. On 9/11 just 33 marshals were patrolling the skies. Today there are several thousand (the exact number, identities and methods are classified). Everyone from passengers to mechanics to airport cops are on the lookout for mischief. The TSA can't take credit for it, but that unofficial screening system is more effective than any piece of technology alone.
Tom Friedman
August 30 - September 5, 2008
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