Midnight Mike
2005-12-21, 02:24 AM
Sharp debate over sharp objects on US planes
Tue Dec 20, 3:46 PM ET
A Democrat lawmaker joined flight attendants to claim new rules allowing sharp objects back onto America's airliners made a September 11-style hijacking spree more likely.
But President George W. Bush's security czar Michael Chertoff hit back that bombs and not blades were now the biggest terror threat to US aviation.
The debate sharpened two days before the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) relaxes rules on sharp objects on planes to allow passengers to carry items like nail scissors and small screwdrivers.
Massachusetts representative Edward Markey (news, bio, voting record) charged that the move would make it easier for terrorist ringleaders to hijack US aircraft.
"Travellers heading off to airports across the country will be disturbed to know that the Bush Administration is now making it easier for the next Mohammed Atta to terrorize passengers at 30,000 feet by allowing sharp objects back on planes," Markey said.
"This administration's risky policy is a gift to terrorists this holiday season," he warned, as he introduced his "Leave All Blades Behind" Act to restore the TSA's prohibition on sharp objects.
Chertoff however defended the new approach, saying that other changes to airline security had made small objects less threatening.
Airport screeners needed to spend more time searching for sophisticated new explosive charges and detonators, rather than rooting out nail scissors and small screwdrivers, he said.
The alarming loophole in aviation security rules was exposed on September 11, 2001, when hijackers armed only with box cutters seized four airliners and steered them at US landmarks in the world's worst terror attack.
Chertoff said the risk had now been addressed with reinforced cockpit doors, rules which allow flight crews to carry firearms and more air marshals on planes.
"What that has done is it has really reduced the risk that someone is going to get into a cockpit and take a plane and make it a weapon of mass destruction," Chertoff said in a speech at George Washington University.
"We have to take account of that change in risk. If we're not, we're not adjusting to meet the new threats."
"We see an ever-increasing sophistication in the kinds of explosive devices that we encounter all over the world."
Markey's call was supported by New York Democrat Joseph Crowley, Carie Lemack, who lost her mother in the 9/11 attacks and The Association of Flight Attendants.
The TSA announced three weeks ago that scissors with a cutting edge of four inches or less and tools like screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers smaller than seven inches would be allowed on planes on December 22.
Larger scissors and tools like crowbars, drills, hammers, and saws will still be banned in carry-on luggage.
Tue Dec 20, 3:46 PM ET
A Democrat lawmaker joined flight attendants to claim new rules allowing sharp objects back onto America's airliners made a September 11-style hijacking spree more likely.
But President George W. Bush's security czar Michael Chertoff hit back that bombs and not blades were now the biggest terror threat to US aviation.
The debate sharpened two days before the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) relaxes rules on sharp objects on planes to allow passengers to carry items like nail scissors and small screwdrivers.
Massachusetts representative Edward Markey (news, bio, voting record) charged that the move would make it easier for terrorist ringleaders to hijack US aircraft.
"Travellers heading off to airports across the country will be disturbed to know that the Bush Administration is now making it easier for the next Mohammed Atta to terrorize passengers at 30,000 feet by allowing sharp objects back on planes," Markey said.
"This administration's risky policy is a gift to terrorists this holiday season," he warned, as he introduced his "Leave All Blades Behind" Act to restore the TSA's prohibition on sharp objects.
Chertoff however defended the new approach, saying that other changes to airline security had made small objects less threatening.
Airport screeners needed to spend more time searching for sophisticated new explosive charges and detonators, rather than rooting out nail scissors and small screwdrivers, he said.
The alarming loophole in aviation security rules was exposed on September 11, 2001, when hijackers armed only with box cutters seized four airliners and steered them at US landmarks in the world's worst terror attack.
Chertoff said the risk had now been addressed with reinforced cockpit doors, rules which allow flight crews to carry firearms and more air marshals on planes.
"What that has done is it has really reduced the risk that someone is going to get into a cockpit and take a plane and make it a weapon of mass destruction," Chertoff said in a speech at George Washington University.
"We have to take account of that change in risk. If we're not, we're not adjusting to meet the new threats."
"We see an ever-increasing sophistication in the kinds of explosive devices that we encounter all over the world."
Markey's call was supported by New York Democrat Joseph Crowley, Carie Lemack, who lost her mother in the 9/11 attacks and The Association of Flight Attendants.
The TSA announced three weeks ago that scissors with a cutting edge of four inches or less and tools like screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers smaller than seven inches would be allowed on planes on December 22.
Larger scissors and tools like crowbars, drills, hammers, and saws will still be banned in carry-on luggage.