Pilots get reprieve from new U.S. screening checks

A security official demonstrates a full body scanner during a photocall at Departure Gate 2 at Hamburg Airport in Hamburg September 27, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Christian Charisius

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:41pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. airline pilots will be allowed to bypass new heightened security screening at U.S. airports, the Transportation Security Administration said on Friday, relenting after a lawsuit and outcry that pilots already undergo rigorous background checks.

Pilots have complained bitterly they should not have to go through new full-body scanners or be subjected to thorough patdowns when they already go through extensive security checks and control the airplane.

"Allowing these uniformed pilots, whose identity has been verified, to go through expedited screening at the checkpoint just makes for smart security and an efficient use of our resources," TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a statement.

The TSA, created after the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001 by al Qaeda militants using hijacked passenger planes, has been under fire since introducing more rigorous screening procedures last month.

The extra security, which comes just before a busy travel season over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, followed two plots against the U.S. aviation system in the past year.

A Nigerian man tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear aboard a U.S. flight from Amsterdam to Detroit last Christmas. Last month, two packages stuffed with explosives made it aboard two U.S. cargo flights overseas.

The Yemen-based group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for both plots.

Complaints have flooded in that the new measures are too invasive and violate constitutional and privacy rights.

While Pistole has acknowledged the procedures are more invasive, he and administration officials have said they are necessary to prevent someone from smuggling a bomb or weapon aboard a plane.

'COMMON SENSE, RISK-BASED APPROACH'

Responding to the outcry, the TSA has agreed its screeners will no longer conduct patdowns of children aged 12 or younger.

Pilots will be able to skip the new screening checks if they are employed by a U.S. carrier, are on airline business and in uniform. They will have to show their airline identification and a second form of identification, which will be checked against crew databases, the TSA said.

They could still be subject to random screening, the TSA said. The new rules do not apply to flight attendants.

"Establishing a secure system to positively identify and verify the employment status of uniformed pilots is a common sense, risk-based approach that allows TSA to dedicate more resources to unknown threats," Paul Onorato, president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, said in a statement.

Earlier this week, two veteran pilots filed a lawsuit against the TSA and Department of Homeland Security arguing the patdowns and full-body scans violated protections against unwarranted searches afford by the U.S. Constitution.

New X-ray technology? Come on. How many more ineffective multi-milliion dollar toys will we be duped into buying? The scanner industry has a lot of influence in Washington and is constantly hawking the next-generation of improved scanners. There’s already enough deterrent in place. If they want more safety, why not screen checked bags? In the last ten years, 3,000 people in the US died by terrorism, while 150,000 people were murdered. Are the police going around doing unconstitutional searches on randomly selected people, looking for murder weapons? Not even the FBI is allowed to do that. Drive, don’t fly. It’s much more dangerous, but it’s better than being treated like cattle.

KU37 Report As Abusive

At least a little sense. These are the people in control of the airplane…so exactly who are we protecting if they screened? Just goes to show how ignorant the TSA. A lot of this is typical government senseless make work and pretending they are doing something useful…which they rarely do!

venturen Report As Abusive

So, what the TSA is saying is that they may exempt pilots but not passengers? Interesting. What about all of the cargo that isn’t screened? If they really want to reduce the threat, they would focus on the lack of cargo screening (think; toner cartridge bombs recently). Oh, wait! That’s right, business may not like it, so let’s not protect the most vulnerable area of the transportation system. Sounds very much like money talks!

stuartm3 Report As Abusive

What about flight attendants and the people who fly more often than even the pilots? As soon as any exceptions are made, they get out of hand entirely. Remember pilots don’t even have to leave the secure area of the airport during their work day, but a courier is nearly always going in and out of the secure areas to make deliveries, even if only to another worker in the airport non-secure areas.

The scans are either harmful or they are not. But, considering we all walk through an ocean of microwaves just being alive and having communications with each other, it seems likely the TSA is right about safety insofar as a modern urban dweller can be safe.

SeniorMoment Report As Abusive

This will be fine until a terrorist, posing as a pilot gets on board a plane someday. Seems like the pilots ought to set an example for the general public, that screening everyone who boards a plane is necessary. I understand they have already gone through a background check, but that doesn’t prevent some nut from trying to sneak something on board.

Yes, the whole screening process has its flaws. I went through the full body scan and received a pat down just days before this became a big public debate and at the time, I didn’t even give it a second thought. I was like, “Oh their using full body scans now. Cool.” I didn’t feel violated, inconvenienced, or that my personal freedoms had been infringed upon. Actually I felt a bit safer.

jadman Report As Abusive

I was at O’hare yesterday getting “patted” down. What a perverted act. It’s is wrong and needs to stop.

meganbrod Report As Abusive

Looking at it objectively, if they have to search anyone, it should be the guys with your life in their hands.

KansasErik Report As Abusive

A pilot can hide a weapon and bring down a plane just as any other person. So the normal “flyer” gets the shaft again

Whynot1 Report As Abusive