Serious gaps seen in airline security since 9/11 attacks
2006-09-12
Source: Washington Times
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rss feedCongress has spent billions to protect against future airplane hijackings, but critics say many changes made are haphazard and misguided and that serious security gaps remain in place five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"We are a token amount safer only because we are more aware -- but nowhere near safe enough to be confident," says David Mackett, director of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance. "The systems we've spent billions on have a record that is anything but confidence inspiring."
Mr. Mackett says airline security is a "patchwork" of "desperate attempts" to appear safe without offering long-term solutions.
Reinforcing cockpit doors is the accomplishment most cited by government officials to keep terrorists from gaining the controls of airplanes, but Mr. Mackett says several breeches have occurred putting pilots at risk.
"We're just trying to keep the pies from falling off the end of the conveyer belt," said Mr. Mackett, a commercial airline pilot.
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