Study Finds Slow Airport Security Has An Upside

by Reena Ganga on

Going through airport security is a lesson in patience for even the most Zen traveler, but the good news is that those frustratingly slow security screenings might actually be more effective. According to a new study, TSA screeners who take their time are more successful at identifying targets like weapons or restricted items.

The study pitted TSA agents against Ivy League college students to test how well each group conducted a visual search. The experiment was simple and tested natural search skills (searching for a particular shape on a computer screen) – so the TSA screeners had no advantage over the students. The results showed that the college students were faster at completing the tasks but the TSA agents were more accurate.Stephen Mitroff, the psychologist heading up the research, told NBC news that the TSA screeners were slower because they were more methodical, which is ultimately what led to better results. “Our interpretation is those who are most experienced have found their strategy and use it the same way over and over – whether you spiral through the bag or are zig-zagging left and right. If you’re always doing the strategy and always doing it consistently, you’re freeing up your cognitive resources – your other abilities to try to identify targets,” he said.

The research is part of a larger study being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security.

Government Drops Plan To Allow Small Knives On Planes

by McLean Robbins on

The TSA today announced that they are dropping the plan that would have permitted passengers to carry small knives and other previously banned items, like bats and golf clubs, on planes. These items have been banned since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when terrorists famously hijacked planes using items like box cutters as weapons.

TSA Administrator John Pistole formerly announced the plan to allow small knives (those under 2.36 inches long) and certain club-like sporting equipment back into carry-on luggage on March 5. Pistole had argued that relaxing the ban would allow security screeners to focus on items that posed a greater risk to air safety, such as explosives.

See TSA To Permit Pocket Knives And Golf Clubs On Planes (But Still Not Liquids

Back in April, CNN reported that the TSA was hearing additional testimony about the proposed ban reversal, and, as of today, the plan has officially been dropped.

The TSA had faced strong opposition to the ban reversal from airline CEOs, lawmakers, and relatives, friends and victims of terrorist attacks, among others. In total, nine groups petitioned legally against TSA and the Department of Homeland Security, USA Today reported.

Congressional representatives Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) also proposed legislation to ban the TSA from allowing knives and clubs back onto planes. At present, the TSA finds about 2,000 small knives per day during routine security searches.

“We will continue to take steps to improve our ever-evolving security posture while also improving the experience of the traveling public,” Pistole said. “Risk-based security enhances the travel experience while allowing TSA to continue to keep passengers safe by focusing on those we know less about.

Are some groups still unhappy? Sure they are. The knife industry, for example, tried to fight back. But what do you think? Should the ban have been lifted? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Report: Government Oversight Allowed Known Terrorists Onto US Flights

by Megan Fernandez on

Some “suspected or known terrorists” on the TSA’s No Fly list were able to board commercial flights in and over the United States for years, according to a new internal report from the Department of Justice.

The report, released this month and cited by Breaking Travel News, focused on the U.S. Marshals Service and another office’s handling of terrorists in the federal witness security program (WITSEC), commonly called the witness protection program. It concluded that those authorities were not communicating with “national security stakeholders,” such as the FBI, before admitting terrorists into the program and giving them a new identity. Part of the problem was that the new names didn’t make it onto the Terrorist Screening Center’s watch list or the TSA’s No Fly list, creating a serious and surprising loophole:

We found that WITSEC Program participants include individuals known or suspected by the government to be involved in terrorism. This includes individuals trained in areas such as aviation and explosives, involved in plotting bombing attacks, and guilty of serious offenses such as conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals.

We identified some WITSEC Program participants who were on the TSA’s No Fly list yet were allowed to fly on commercial flights with WITSEC Program officials’ knowledge and approval. Moreover, these individuals, on their own accord, could have flown without WITSEC Program officials’ knowledge and approval.

But that’s not even the worst revelation in the report. This is:

In addition, we found that the Department did not definitively know how many known or suspected terrorists were admitted into the WITSEC Program.

This alarming example of the potential problem isn’t much better:

In one instance, we noted that in a June 2009 field report a USMS Inspector reported his belief that a WITSEC participant was trying to gather intelligence on sensitive policies and procedures of the USMS WITSEC Program for militant Muslim groups. We found no evidence that this information was shared with the FBI when it was reported to USMS WITSEC headquarters personnel near the time the Inspector recorded this concern.

The DOJ issued 16 recommendations to address the situation. Since March, 15 of those have been implemented, and the final one is in the works.

It is unclear from the report whether participation in the witness protection program overrides the terrorist watch list, but the fact that the loophole sparked a lengthy DOJ investigation suggests that it does not. At the very least, the government was supposed to know if witness protection participants who also appear on the terrorist watch list were attempting to fly, and it didn’t.

Notably, the report acknowledges the value of allowing terrorists into the witness protection program:

These witnesses cooperated in major terrorism investigations and prosecutions that the Department described as integral to its primary counterterrorism mission, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the East Africa Embassy bombings, the “Blind Sheik” prosecutions, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building attack in Oklahoma City, the New York City subway suicide-bomb plot, and the plot to bomb John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Via Breaking Travel News

‘Airport 24/7 Miami’ Takes Off On Second Season

by Chris Owen on

When “Airport 24/7 Miami” took off last October, the Travel Channel show delivered to viewers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of the busiest airports in the world. We watched as an army of Miami International Airport (MIA) staff moved 100,000 travelers a day through the facility like clockwork.

Handling everything from lost luggage to drug smuggling and terrorist threats, viewers saw a real, unfiltered look at the people who work every day to keep planes and people moving. Coming up later this month, “Airport 24/7 Miami” returns for a second season with all new episodes.

Starting April 30, fans will reserve Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT for 19 weeks of all new episodes. Each week, viewers will have an all-access pass inside the intense and dramatic world of MIA. This season, “Airport 24/7 Miami” promises even more unprecedented behind-the-scenes footage.In the season opener, MIA staff works together when two passenger planes collide as we see in this sneak peek video:




Can’t wait until April 30? Need an “Airport 24/7 Miami” fix right now? The Travel Channel has a photo gallery, video library and an “About the Staff” intro to some of the key people who run the airport every day.

Want to know what happens while moving 38 million people every year through MIA, an spot considered a prime terrorist target and Category X airport? “Airport 24/7 Miami” has the stories, people and events we don’t see on the news or read about online … well, except for here, that is.

[Photo credit – The Travel Channel]

CNN Contributor Doesn’t Welcome Blades On Board Planes

by Libby Zay on

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced less restrictive rules for carrying knives on planes, a move CNN opinion columnist Bob Greene calls “insane” and “dimwitted.”

In early March, the TSA declared it would soon allow knives with blades shorter than 2.36 inches in length, and no wider than a half-inch, to be carried onto flights. The green-lighted knives cannot have a molded grip or a blade that is fixed or locked into place, meaning pocket knives are pretty much the only exception. Although, as Greene explains, there has been push back from members of Congress and aircraft crew members, the TSA has shown no sign of rescinding the decision, which should go into effect on April 25.In a press luncheon late last month, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explained the reasoning behind the new policy: “We’re trying to prevent a bomb from getting on a plane. And if you are talking about a small knife, there are already things on a plane that somebody can convert into a small, sharp object.”

But Greene clearly disagrees, writing there is still a whole lot of risk involved in allowing knives on planes, and pointing out it was blades–not bombs–that allowed terrorists to take over planes on 9/11. However, he fails to note the many ways air travel has changed since the attacks, both at the airport and on the plane, including the creation of the TSA, increased screening processes, fortified aircraft doors and trained air marshals, not to mention a motivated passenger base willing to fight back. He also doesn’t mention that box cutters, the weapon used in the 9/11 attacks, will not be permitted to be carried on planes when the new rules go into effect later this month.

Greene’s other argument is that the move won’t speed up airport screening. He envisions TSA officers holding up the line to pull out rulers and ensure blades are falling under the 2.36 inch mark. But since small pocket knives are pretty much the only tools that will be allowed on planes, it seems pretty easy to quickly identify what is up to snuff and what’s not.

As someone who always carries a tiny Swiss Army Knife on my keychain, there’s been more than one occasion I’ve forgotten to leave it at home. I’ve had to forfeit two to airport security, and there’s been once or twice when I passed through the checkpoint with the tiny tool. It’s nice to see the TSA is implementing some concrete rules that conform to international standards, and I’ll be happy to soon travel with my knife (and screwdriver, and can opener and toothpick) in tow.

[Image credit: The Transportation Security Administration]