In the NEWS

Dec 1, 2002 12:00 PM

Highlights from our daily newsfeed at www.securitysolutions.com

• ALPA PRESIDENT SAYS BILL LIMITS AIR CARGO SECURITY

  The head of the nation's largest pilots union has blasted a last-minute lobbying maneuver that would exempt cargo airlines from a federal mandate in the Homeland Security bill to arm airline pilots. “The air cargo industry managed a back-room deal to get the word ‘passenger’ inserted in the bill's provision for arming pilots,” said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA). “The effect of this single word change is that it exempts all cargo carriers from the federal mandate to arm pilots in a bill that was intended to enhance the pilot's ability to protect the airplane.

  “The mandate provides a significant increase in security, and that is a very positive development. (But to) create such an obvious loophole in cargo security is mind-boggling,” Woerth said. “This is an insult to (those) who worked so diligently to provide all airline pilots with a last line of defense against terrorist hijackers.” Woerth points out that a cargo aircraft is devoid of cabin attendants and air marshals. He says that the entire burden for the security of the aircraft rests on the two or three pilots in the cockpit. (posted Nov. 21, 2002)

• AIRPORT WORKERS CHARGED WITH FALSIFYING INFORMATION

  Twenty-nine former or current workers at Philadelphia International Airport face charges that they lied about personal criminal histories or gave false Social Security numbers when they applied for screening badges. One of the men arrested, The Associated Press reports, was found to have two guns in his home belonging to police officers that reported them stolen from airport baggage checks. Convictions undisclosed on the applications included weapons charges, drug offenses and theft. (posted Nov. 13, 2002)

• CARGO SECURITY = NATIONAL SECURITY, CEO SAYS

  Addressing cargo crime on a broad scale can have a far-reaching impact on the overall security of the maritime industry, American Science and Engineering Inc. CEO and president Ralph Sheridan said in a presentation at the International Maritime Security Summit. “The anonymity of sea containers hides a $650 billion problem of cargo crime that spans drug smuggling, trade fraud, cargo theft, weapons smuggling and illegal immigration,” Sheridan said. “By addressing the broader problem of cargo crime, the industry can: improve the likelihood of finding terrorist threats and create a deterrent effect by making cargo off limits to crime and terrorism.” American Science and Engineering is based in Billerica, Mass., and markets X-ray inspection products. (posted Nov. 7, 2002)

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