Bumps in the Sky

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The federal air-marshal program has also suffered growing pains. In its rush to get cops in the air, the TSA put hundreds of marshals aboard planes without waiting for them to receive final security approval. Initial training was criticized as quick and dirty. And some marshals seem confused about their role. According to an aviation source, a marshal recently searched an emptied plane during a layover, discovered some pot in a passenger's seat back, and demanded that a local police officer arrest the alleged offender. "Have you ever heard of illegal search and seizure?" the miffed cop asked, refusing to make the arrest. The program is getting an overhaul. The TSA is ceding command this week over the marshals to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A hiring freeze imposed last year is ending, with plans to replace some of the frequent-flying cops lost through attrition or failure to pass background checks.

The Vulnerable Belly
Security experts shiver when they talk about the nation's cargo-handling procedures. Thousands of low-paid workers have carte blanche to roam airports, ramps and runways without undergoing personal inspections or having their belongings checked. "We put big steel doors on the front of the airport, but the back door is wide open," says Walsh. Cargo on freight planes is rarely inspected. Their cockpit doors, if they exist, aren't required to be reinforced, and security is lax. "There's easy access for a midnight takeover of a major cargo carrier, and a 747 has enough gas on it to make a big impression into the next World Trade Center," says Jay Norelius, security chairman for the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations.

Despite a congressional mandate that 100% of cargo on passenger planes be screened, it is rarely inspected. Cargo companies and airlines have argued that the measure would be too costly, and the government has so far acquiesced. What happens instead is that companies with an established shipping record get a pass under the federal known-shipper program. Yet the program is so secret, no one really knows how effective it is; the number of times a company must ship air freight in order to win trusted status, for instance, is classified. Some airport authorities aren't waiting for the feds to act. Boston's Logan International Airport, where 10 of the 19 hijackers boarded planes on 9/11, just became the nation's first test site for electronic scanning of cargo stowed on passenger flights. The machines use Xray technology, and if the process proves accurate — and minimally intrusive — the feds will face further pressure to impose such a system nationwide.

Policing the Police
The TSA has been criticized by Congress for approving at least 80 contracts worth $54 million without competitive bidding. In one case, the inspector general of the Department of Transportation found that a contract originally valued at $104 million was allowed to balloon to an estimated $700 million. The agency is nearly $1 billion in the red, and complains about congressional budget cutters, but curious spending practices continue. Many TSA employees cruise around airports in pricey SUVs, not standard-issue Crown Victoria sedans. "Does that make us more secure?" asks one skeptical law-enforcement agent.

The agency is also showing a taste for secrecy. One reason the airline industry has balked at helping the TSA develop a better passenger-profiling system is that the TSA will not share the computer algorithms it's developing to detect threats. "It's a black box," gripes an industry executive. According to critics, the TSA IS TOO INFLEXIBLE AND ARROGANT. Pilots who have worked with the AGENCY say, "They still don't trust us."

For all these reasons, aviation experts say, there is some merit to gadflies like Heatwole. Says security expert Slepian: "It should not be forgotten that every time he walked up to a screening station, he was subjecting himself to arrest and a possible 10 years in prison." Although he evidently broke the law and faces a criminal charge, Heatwole showed what we have learned to carry since 9/11: a huge personal stake in making sure the system becomes terrorism-proof.