Word: faa
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...names of several well-known terrorists, including Abu Nidal. The producer did so, with ease. Yeffet says he pleaded in vain during congressional testimony after the Lockerbie tragedy for a more effective airport-security plan. "Unfortunately," he says, "it is easier to talk to a wall than to the FAA...
While no amount of fancy gadgetry will make our world completely safe from a fanatically determined terrorist, it could help. Such technology just happens to be very expensive, and the FAA has been reluctant to ask the airlines, many of which are strapped by debt, to make enormous investments in equipment that may soon be outdated, or that is not fail-safe...
Consider the most promising new development, and the only new scanning device certified by the FAA: the InVision CTX 5000, which combines computed tomography (CT scanning) and high-quality X-ray imaging to produce cross-sectional images of a bag's contents. The CTX 5000 is the only device available that is equipped to detect all varieties of bombs: military explosives that might be concealed behind a circuit board, like the bomb that brought Pan Am Flight 103 down; plastic-sheet explosives contained in suitcase linings; and commercial explosives that might be composed of dynamite and powders. The FAA...
England is also well ahead in developing stronger fuselages that can withstand blast damage. (The FAA is largely focusing its efforts on strengthening the containers that carry luggage, and not the entire plane.) But such improvements have their costs: they could boost an airplane's weight, and reduce by 10 or 20 the number of seats available. That could raise the price of a ticket some $50."They know these containers work, and they know they'd make detection cheaper, faster and more accurate," says Monetti. "But the airlines say they're too expensive...
Debates over cost infuriate some critics of the FAA. These days, about 75% of the agency's $8 billion annual budget is paid out of the Aviation Trust Fund--money collected from a 10% tax, which recently expired, levied on air fares. As the FAA's share of those revenues has risen--freeing billions for other federal programs--the portion of the trust fund earmarked for airport and safety improvements has fallen from $1.9 billion in 1992 to $1.4 billion this year, a cut of more than 25%. "The money is collected for aviation, and it should be spent...