Word: faa
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...more than $1 million each, thermal neutron analysis systems are designed to spot plastic explosives that can elude most other inspections. The FAA has installed TNA machines at two airports, New York City's Kennedy and Miami International, and plans to require U.S. airlines to purchase 150 of them, at a cost of $175 million. But the presidential commission contends that the machines are duds: if set to find a small bomb like the one that shattered Pan Am Flight 103 (apparently between 1 and 2 lbs.), they produce excessive false alarms...
...generate gamma rays; an array of detectors identifies the substance. But other items containing nitrogen, including wool sweaters and padded ski boots, can set off warnings. The manufacturer, Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego, says the false alarms can be reduced with further experience. At the moment, says FAA administrator James Busey, "we have no other system available...
...terrorist threat to flights within the U.S. than to international ones. Nonetheless, the commission urged that domestic travelers undergo the same tight screening that the Federal Aviation Administration now requires of U.S. airlines on international flights. The panel, headed by former Labor Secretary Ann McLaughlin, asked the FAA to station a security manager at major U.S. airports. FAA administrator James Busey, who praised the report, said some of the recommendations, including one for more sensitive metal detection, might go into effect within a "few weeks...
...plan's takeoff may be delayed in Congress. Some lawmakers believe that the FAA should first spend the $7.6 billion surplus already set aside in a fund for aviation improvements. Meanwhile, strain on the system keeps growing. By 2001, the FAA predicts, annual air-passenger traffic will increase an additional...
...agency acted more swiftly to address another threat to safety. Last week, just six days after a Northwest crew flying from Fargo, N. Dak., to Minneapolis was found to have been intoxicated on the job (though without incident), the FAA ordered its inspectors to notify airlines whenever a crew member is suspected of using drugs or alcohol before a flight. The directive also gave inspectors more latitude to ground flights in such cases. As for the three members of the Northwest crew, the FAA revoked their licenses...