US transportation secretary Norman Mineta has appointed a six-member panel of aerospace, airport and security experts to develop detailed recommendations for improving security at US airports and onboardcommercial transports.
One team will examine in-flight security, including cockpit access, while a second team will scrutinise security at airports. The review by outside experts will augment the on-going government probe into problems with aviation security revealed by the US airliner hijackings. Mineta is due to receive the panel's findings by 1 October.
"Our efforts must now turn to developing long-term, sustainable security improvements within our airports and aircraft themselves," says Mineta.
Herb Kelleher, chairman of Southwest Airlines and Charles Barclay, head of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) trade association, have been appointed to the panel, as has Raymond Kelly, a former US Customs Service commissioner and New York City police commissioner. The retired law enforcement officer now heads corporate security at a leading international brokerage firm.
Also involved is Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Robert Baker, vice chairman of American Airlines, an expert on airline technical issues, and Robert Davis, who developed engineering and technology projects for Boeing until his recent retirement.
The General Accounting Office warned, however: "That previous tragedies have resulted in...little long-term resolve to correct flaws in the system as the memory of the crisis recedes. The future of aviation security hinges in large part on overcoming this cycle of limited action that has too often characterised the response to aviation security concerns."
Source: Flight International
