August 15,
2005
TSA to Recommend
Lifting Bans on Carry-on Items
Chances are, unless you're an air traffic control groupie
(a very exclusive group indeed), you've never heard of
Edmund S. "Kip" Hawley. But Hawley, who was
just appointed by President Bush to head the Transportation
Security Administration, may soon become a household name,
thanks to some truly outrageous proposals put forth by
his staff recently, per his request. Seems the folks at
TSA have some recommendations on how to improve upon the
airline security measures put in place following the 9-11
attacks. They include-and I'm not making this up-lifting
the ban on carry-on items such as scissors, razor blades,
and knives less than five inches long. Apparently, the
fact that the 9-11 hijackers used box cutters to commandeer
the planes used in that day's attacks has slipped the
TSA's memory banks.
But it gets even more bizarre: the TSA has also suggested
that ice picks, throwing stars, and--brace yourself--bows
and arrows should be allowed on flights as well. Now,
if I didn't know better, I'd think this was some sort
of twisted practical joke the TSA threw out to tweak the
American public and liven up the dog days of summer. And
yet, there it was, all meticulously outlined in an August
5 TSA memo leaked by The Washington Post. Call
me crazy, but the thought of being seated next to a man
with an ice pick in his bag on my flights out of Washington,
D.C. doesn't make me feel more secure. And with the fourth
anniversary of 9/11 fast approaching, the TSA's proposals
seem that much more baffling, ill-timed, and inappropriate.
The TSA's thinking here is to make airline screeners'
and passengers' lives, not to mention the general flying
experience, easier and less intrusive by not conducting
unnecessary searches. Hence, another new TSA proposal
recommends only those passengers who set off metal detectors
or are flagged by a computer screening system should have
to remove their shoes when passing through airport security.
Does this mean that we'll no longer be treated to the
spectacle of 80-year-old Irish nuns being pulled out of
line for the once-over by security while 25-year-old,
bearded fellows from Saudi Arabia waltz right through
and collect their carry-on bags (which, apparently, may
soon include throwing stars and bows and arrows)?
Let's face it: removing one's shoes is a small price
to pay when compared with the possible alternative: an
Islamic terrorist getting the bright idea--much like the
would-be "shoe bomber," Richard Reid, did just
after 9-11--of slipping a deadly substance into his Nikes
to take on board a flight. Interestingly enough, Department
of Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff recently announced
that passengers no longer have to stay in their seats
during the first and last 30 minutes of flights using
Reagan National Airport. So potential terrorists now have
an official one-hour window to hop out of their seats
and wreak havoc on flights in and out of D.C. I think
I speak for a majority Americans, to put it mildly, when
I say that I'm willing to give up minor perks such as
using the bathroom prior to landing if it will prevent
a potential terrorist attack. Here's hoping that Edmund
Hawley is listening.
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