TSA considers minimum cargo inspection requirements

Nov 17, 2003 12:00 PM

The Transportation Security Administration is considering whether to require that a certain percentage of air cargo be inspected before it is loaded on planes.

TSA spokesman Brian Turmail said that the agency may send a cargo security directive to freight and passenger airlines that would require a minimum amount of cargo to be checked.

Some members of Congress have pressed unsuccessfully for more stringent cargo protection, especially for freight carried aboard passenger planes.

Last week, the Homeland Security Department warned the al-Qaida network might be plotting to fly cargo planes from another country into such U.S. targets as nuclear plants, bridges or dams.

"It makes no sense to screen 100 percent of passengers, 100 percent of the baggage, but only 5 percent of the hundreds of commercial boxes and packages shoved on board every passenger plane every day," says Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

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