Word: cockpit
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Once intelligence has been collected, analyzed and shared, it must be acted on--used to set priorities and bolster defenses. The government knows it can't wait. In the past six months, billions have already gone toward reinforcing cockpit doors, tightening the airline baggage-screening process and hiring 28,000 new federal employees at airports to replace the private security firms that let al-Qaeda through on Sept. 11. In October the Administration created a new Office of Homeland Security to deal exclusively with the job of preparing the country for future terrorist threats. Since he took...
...airports, and the TSA has not yet bought the 2,000 large detection devices it aims to have operating within nine months to inspect checked baggage for explosives. Airlines still aren't required to match bags to passengers on every plane; on some aircraft, the improvements to cockpit doors amount to nothing but "a silly little bar," in the words of one pilot. "It's easy to imagine hundreds of horrific possibilities," says TSA deputy head Steven McHale. "We can become paralyzed if we start thinking about all possible threats...
...department of corrections to track the movements of parolees using Digital Angel. Seelig believes VeriChip could function as a theftproof, counterfeit-proof ID, like having a driver's license embedded under your skin. He suggests that airline crews could wear one to ensure that terrorists don't infiltrate the cockpit in disguise. "I travel quite a bit," he says, "and I want to make sure the pilots in that plane belong there...
...have noticed some of them in that long, long wait to clear security on your last flight. For passengers: a ban on carrying any sharp instruments; government-issued identification needed to board; only ticketed travelers past security; and restricted parking near terminals. For the airlines: tightened cockpit access; a requirement that each aircraft be searched at least once a day; and increased screening procedures and technology at security checkpoints. As of Jan. 18, airlines will be required to inspect every bag on domestic flights for explosives, as they now do for foreign flights. (Even that scrutiny won't catch everything...
...disaster, Jonathan Ornstein, the CEO of Mesa Airlines, a commuter carrier based in Phoenix, announced that he was hiring his own corps of unarmed security personnel. Given their tiny fleets, enthusiastic employees and more nimble management, outfits such as JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines redesigned and reinforced cockpit doors within two weeks. The big carriers will need months, at a minimum. "Past practice has been to wait and see what others will do," explains Thomas Nunn, Frontier's director of safety. "This was no time to wait." Both JetBlue and Frontier are also making plans to install cameras to monitor...