TSA wants to sterilize large land areas around airports ======================================================= Washington, April 1st, 2003 The Transportation Safety Administration released today a comment that would indicate it will start issuing new regulations that would exclude anyone from accessing any land areas surrounding airports within a radius of three to five miles. "We are very concerned by the threat of shoulder-launched missiles which can be used to shoot down an aircraft" said TSA Administrator James Loy. "They are very easy to use and very easy to hide," he added. "The perimeter of security at airports has to be expanded to a much wider circle," said Joe Knoller to CBS a few months ago. "What we are looking at, is extending the current security perimeter around airports - which is currently enclosing runways and taxiways only - by 3 to 5 miles in order to fully protect airplanes during the landing and initial climb phases". Two missiles were fired from the ground at an Israeli jet that took off from Mombasa, Kenya, last November. Created in late 2001, two months after 19 terrorists boarded four planes destined for tragedy, TSA has improved airport security from curb to cockpit. Although there are gaps in any system, travelers are infinitely safer today than they were when TSA was created. If the TSA plans go ahead, thousands of building and facilities surrounding airports will have to move further away. A substantial number of households will also have to relocate. "Safety is an absolute necessity for the United States of America, nothing can deter the American public to request the safety that it deserves". One solution is ordering airlines to install missile warning and countermeasure systems on commercial jets, an official said. "That would not provide a 100% security barrier though" said Loy. Mandating no-man zones around airports would give a better shield. Airfields that are located in close proximity to urban centers may have to be closed down. Major airports affected would include La Guardia at New York City, Logan at Boston, Reagan at Washington, and San Diego, California. Meigs airport in downtown Chicago was bulldozed preventively on March 31st. "What we envision is large areas of deserted empty spaces around airports; that will be much easier to monitor and patrol". To save on surveillance costs, a noted alternative would be to land-mines these new artificial deserts. "This is Step Number 1 in our Vision. You can expect to hear more about this process in the coming weeks," concluded Loy.