=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2002/01/23/n= ational1731EST0766.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, January 23, 2002 (AP) Transportation's inspector general says holes remain in airline security sy= stem JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated Press Writer (01-23) 14:31 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Until all luggage is screened for explosives, checked bags should be matched with airline passengers on connecting flights, the Transportation Department's inspector general said Wednesday. Many airlines will not load luggage on an airplane unless it is matched = to a passenger who also boards. But since luggage is not matched a second time if a passenger changes planes, Inspector General Kenneth Mead said, the system "creates a higher risk for flights departing hub airports, which are the largest airports in the country." Most passengers change planes at hubs. Mead testified before the House aviation subcommittee Wednesday. Some lawmakers have complained that passenger-bag matching would not stop a suicide bomber. "This is the Achilles' heel of aviation security," said Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, at the hearing. Mead, while acknowledging improvements in airline security, said there a= re other problems. For example, slightly more than half of the 161 explosive detection machines at airports are running full-time. At one airport, only 15 of 110 bags checked during a one-hour period were screened by machine. Subcommittee chairman John Mica, R-Fla., said one hole in the security system was exploited by Richard Reid. He was arrested on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami after allegedly trying to light an explosive hidden in his shoe. "Our aviation security is only as strong as our weakest link," Mica said. "If passenger screening measures cannot detect explosive materials, suicide terrorists may succeed." The aviation security law requires that all checked bags be screened by explosive detection machine by Dec. 31, 2002. John Magaw, the new undersecretary for transportation security, said he was trying to meet the deadline. "Sept. 11 taught us that our enemies are willing to die to attack us, and that means that we must successfully screen all baggage and cargo on a passenger flight, not just succeed at matching bags to passengers," Magaw said. "Screening all baggage and cargo through detection technology is therefo= re among one of our highest priorities," he said. One issue to be determined is where to install the new explosive detecti= on machines. Mead said the machines likely will have to be part of the baggage handling system once the luggage is checked at the counter. All of the new equipment -- and the employees needed to run the machines -- will cost billions of dollars. While passengers will pay a security fee of up to $10 for a round-trip beginning Feb. 1, airline officials said neither their customers nor the industry should not have to pick up the entire cost. "Just as we do not turn to subgroups of taxpayers to support the Defense Department or the Capitol Police, we should not expect aviation system users to shoulder the full cost of the nation's protection from aviation terrorism," said Carol Hallett, president of the Air Transport Association, the trade group for the major airlines. On the Net: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: www.house.gov/transportation Department of Transportation Inspector General: www.oig.dot.gov =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 AP