Copyright 2001 Federal News Service, Inc. Federal News Service
September 20, 2001, Thursday
SECTION: PREPARED TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 4693 words
HEADLINE:
PREPARED STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN DUANE WOERTH PRESIDENT AIR LINE PILOTS
ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL
BEFORE THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE
SUBJECT -
AVIATION SECURITY
BODY: Good
morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. My name is Duane Woerth and
I am the President of the Air Line Pilots Association, International. ALPA
represents 67,000 airline pilots who fly for 47 airlines in the U.S. and Canada.
In addition, I am also here today representing the Transportation Trades
Department of the AFL-CIO, of which I am a Executive Vice President.
It is an honor to be able to speak to you today, but I
sincerely wish that I could do so under more pleasant circumstances. Before last
Tuesday, most of us could not have imagined the possibility of the horror that
occurred on that day.
Our hearts, thoughts and prayers
are with the families and friends of those killed as a result of the four
separate aircraft hijackings. We have lost pilots and flight attendants from our
ranks who, though gone, will never be forgotten. The survivors of the Attack on
America, as it has been called, must now work diligently to ensure that our
beloved country, and its airline industry, are protected from further acts of
terrorism.
One of the lessons of this tragedy has been
that the nation truly does rely upon the aviation industry as the "wings" of our
economy. Without a strong airline industry, our economy is in serious peril.
With that thought in mind, I want to inform you that we are striving to do all
that we can to help the industry get back into the air and we urge the
Administration and Congress to do likewise. I am certainly proud to inform you
that union pilots and flight attendants demonstrated a "can do" spirit and a
willingness to return to work shortly after the events of the 11th in order to
get the aviation system running again.
General
Comments
Prior to the events of last Tuesday, the
aviation security community was generally opposed to the concept of adopting a
"fortress" mentality to protect our airlines and airports. The use of tall
security fences, highly visible armed police officers roaming the airport
terminal, hand searches of bags, interviewers asking probing questions of
passengers, and other such measures were thought to be incompatible with
commercial aviation in a free society.
It is probably
safe to say that the entire aviation industry, including most in the government,
traveling public, airlines, airports, and perhaps, even crewmembers, enjoyed a
false sense of security before September 11th. I suspect that many of us
believed that, although flawed, our security system was generally doing the job
that it was intended to do. Unfortunately, that mind set may well have been at
the root of what enabled the 19 terrorists to perform their acts of unspeakable
devastation on an unsuspecting and innocent public.
If,
in fact, there has ever been a false sense of security, it most certainly no
longer exists. We must replace that false sense of security with a genuine sense
of security, by instituting the most advanced civil aviation security system in
the world.
The security improvements that I am here to
recommend to you today range from the simple, inexpensive and quickly achieved
to the difficult, expensive and longer term. We believe that if the government,
working with us and the rest of the aviation industry, will act on them
forthrightly, we will some day be able to tell our children and grandchildren
that we turned tragedy into triumph.
Several years ago,
ALPA embarked on a campaign entitled One Level of Safety. That effort, as you
probably know, was highly successful in bringing to the attention of the
traveling public, elected officials and the aviation industry the need for
significant safety improvements to small airline aircraft operations. As a
result of those efforts, smaller airline aircraft now meet the same, or
equivalent, standards of the largest aircraft in the fleet.
This week, we must embark upon a new mission to achieve one level of
security throughout the airline industry. The security in place last week was,
by design, of differing levels. The rationale behind those disparate levels of
security was that the threat posed to small aircraft was thought to be less than
that posed to large aircraft. The dangers associated with operating at small
airports were thought to be less than the risks germane to large airports. The
hazards posed by service personnel carrying items around the screening
checkpoint were, curiously, thought to be of less concern than those associated
with uniformed crewmembers going to their aircraft. And for the most part, we
even felt that the threat to domestic flights was less than the threat to
international flights. These assumptions have been proved wrong.
We now know that those assumptions must be discarded so that we can get
about the work of preventing any further acts of aircraft piracy and other acts
of malice. It is now clear that any size aircraft flying from any size airport,
international or domestic, can be used as a human-guided weapon. Accordingly, we
believe that in order to create a truly secure aviation system, we must start
with the principle that the traveling public and aircraft crewmembers need one
level of security, no matter where they fly to or from and regardless of the
size of aircraft in which they travel. The remainder of our comments should be
understood in that light.
Last week's horrific acts of
violence were perpetrated, as we now know, against a nation despised by certain
Islamic terrorists. The weapon of choice, namely, an airline aircraft loaded
with fuel and passengers, was viewed as a handy resource aimed at destroying our
nation's economic viability and wracking the American people with fear. I am
sure that you will agree with me that the terrorists will accomplish neither
objective. But, it should be recognized by all that airline security must be
viewed as a component of national security from this day forward. It is no
longer feasible to expect that the airlines alone can protect the industry that
gives wings to the rest of the national economy. While we are not suggesting
that airlines be excused from all costs associated with securing their aircraft
or the facilities that they occupy, we are saying that the federal budget must
share in the costs of defending this national resource.
We call upon the Administration and Congress to ensure that the funding
necessary for fortifying our airlines and airports be made available so that we
can boost the public's confidence in returning to the skies. Our economy needs a
healthy airline industry and enhancing security immediately will be essential to
achieving that goal.
A New Aviation Security
Blueprint
In the early 1970's, pilots took a strong,
solitary stand against hijackings by demanding that the government mandate
security screening of passengers. We were not successful in persuading the
government to provide that protection, despite literally dozens of hijackings in
prior years, until late 1972, when two separate incidents resulted in two
woundings and one death.
Thirty years later, we find
that we must take another strong stand. The aviation security system, as
constructed today, must be completely overhauled in order to (1) address the new
risks that could harm us and (2) bolster the confidence of the traveling public
that it is safe to fly again. We are promoting a new security "blueprint" which
we believe will accomplish both of these goals.
Near-Term Actions
Aviation security must be
dramatically improved, and it must begin not next month or next year, but today.
It must happen now to limit the amount of damage being done each day to the
health of the airlines and our national economy. As mentioned previously, the
federal government should provide the funding for these "defense-related"
expenditures to avoid further harm to an already weakened industry.
Following are the near-term actions that we are pursuing,
for which we request your support and assistance. As used herein, we define
"near- term" actions as those that are under development now, or could be very
shortly, and can be implemented in a relatively short period.
1. Current cockpit doors are weak and flimsy, and can be easily
compromised by a determined adult. There is a clear need for the increased
security that a stronger door would provide. A dead bolt lock should be
installed on the inside of cockpit doors that cannot be overridden with a key
from outside; the door must be capable of being opened quickly in the event of a
safety problem. This will offer a relatively small, but needed, additional
margin of security over today's cockpit doors.
A
second, lightweight mesh net door should be installed behind the cockpit door on
the flight deck side. This net door could be used as an additional protection
device in the event of a security breach in the cabin.
2. The development of standards for an advanced cockpit door
technology, and research on this technology, is already under way. Such a door,
when installed, will be capable of securing the flight crew against attacks by
would-be cockpit intruders, armed or otherwise. The door system, which must be
fail-safe in the event of an accident requiring rapid egress, should be retro
fitted on current aircraft and installed by the manufacturers on new airplanes.
This item cannot be accomplished immediately, but ongoing work on it needs to be
expedited.
3. Before last Tuesday, we could scarcely
have envisioned calling for cockpit protection in the form of weapons carried in
the cockpit. However, the world has changed and we must change with it. We
recommend the installation of at least two stun guns as standard equipment in
the cockpits of airline aircraft, three if there are three flight
crewmembers.
There are sophisticated stun guns on the
market today that are capable of immediately incapacitating a person of any size
or strength, without posing any health risks to the individual. The devices have
laser sights for accuracy and are capable of being used on a person up to 15
feet away. Use of these guns would be done in only the most extreme
circumstances, to protect the lives and safety of the passengers and crew.
4. We are most pleased to learn that the FBI is in the
process of creating a cadre of federal law enforcement officers to fly armed on
airline aircraft. The FAA is also making plans to increase the number of Federal
Air Marshals (FAMs) assigned to its contingent. ALPA has long been a proponent
of the FAM program, because we are confident in its training standards and
professionalism. We are also confident that the FBI will successfully create a
professional air marshal group capable of defending against the types of
hijackings that we saw last week. We recommend that the Congress provide such
assistance as may be needed to facilitate the creation of the FBI's marshals and
an enlargement of the FAA's FAMs.
5. One of the most
basic functions of a good security system is positively identifying those
individuals who are authorized entrance to an area and keeping out all others.
The absence of access controls was a primary factor in the downing of PSA flight
1771 in December 1987. Since that time, we have called for the institution of
electronic means of positively identifying each and every employee who has
authorization to enter secured airport areas.
Today,
the failure to require airlines and airports to verify employee identities is
the cause of serious concerns about the security of flight. The reported
possibility that terrorism are, or may have, posed as airline employees has
caused us to focus our limited security resources on honest, trustworthy
employees instead of unknown possible-threat passengers.
Last spring, it became public knowledge that GAO inspectors were able
to gain entrance to 19 federal office buildings and carry weapons around two
airport security checkpoints using phony credentials. The FAA is in the process
of developing a highly secure Memory Chip Card (MCC) system to identify armed
law enforcement officers (LEO's). Plans have been announced to install a special
MCC reader at each security screening checkpoint in the U.S. in order to
positively identify armed LEO's. This technology could also be used to
positively screen airline and airport employees traversing the screening
checkpoint.
Until there is a means in place to
electronically verify the identity of all employees and armed law enforcement
officers, they should produce a company ID and a photo driver's license for this
purpose. These items should be examined and validated by the airport police at
the security-screening checkpoint. An alternative measure that would work for
those airports having a computerized access control system would be the
placement of a card reader at the screening checkpoint for use by employees.
6. In today's aircraft, there is only one way for the
flight attendants to talk with the flight crew when the cockpit door is closed,
namely, by calling on the interphone. This method of communication is very
observable when a flight attendant makes a call under duress. We recommend the
installation of a discreet switch(es) in the cabin for use by flight attendants
which enables them to discreetly notify the flight crew that there is a security
breach occurring in the back of the airplane.
7. All
personnel seeking employment in the aviation industry who need access to airline
aircraft in the performance of their duties should, effective immediately, be
required to undergo a criminal background check. The airline industry must
create and maintain the highest personnel hiring standards in order to protect
against "insider" threats. The technology for processing criminal background
checks has advanced to the point where they can be made via electronic means.
8. Related to item 5, airports and airlines should
immediately revalidate all of their employee's identification cards using
hologram stickers, or through card reissuance. Some airports may be able to
electronically revalidate their cards, if they have a computerized access
control system. The industry is going to experience significant layoffs and
reductions in force over the next several months; this could lead to many
unaccounted-for ID cards that could be used in an illegal manner.
9. The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System
(CAPPS) is designed to use the passenger information in airline data bases to
determine whether the individual poses a security risk. We have recently learned
that CAPPS is assisting the FBI in its ongoing criminal investigation by
providing information on the travel history of known and suspected terrorists.
If properly configured, CAPPS can help identify potential security risks prior
to boarding. We recommend that CAPPS be used on all domestic and international
arrivals and departures in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, even after the current
threat is diminished.
10. It has been the experience of
U.S. pilots and flight attendants that, depending on the carrier,
airline-provided security train g is poor and outdated. Current training
includes showing crewmembers videos that focus on hijacking situations faced in
the 1970' s. Airline security training must not only be more current, it must
also address the threats that a crew is likely to encounter. We recommend that
the airlines enhance their crewmember training through the use of cabin mockups,
problem solving, role-playing scenarios and other quality instructional
methods.
11. The FAA is in the process of updating its
documentation on the "Common Strategy," which is used by FAA, law enforcement,
airlines, and pilots during hijackings. The Common Strategy was written in the
Cuban hijacking era, and so involves procedures for handling extortion-types of
hijackings (e.g., demands for money). It does not address suicidal hijackers or
other such extreme hazards. ALPA recommends that the Common Strategy be amended
to include procedures and training on the newest type of threats.
12. We have a long-standing opposition to the INS's
practice of deporting illegal aliens via airline aircraft.
The agency's current guidance allows groups of up to 10 deportees to
board airline aircraft without any type of escort. There have been serious
incidents of unruly behavior and, most disturbing, the possibility exists that a
large group of deportees may attempt to commandeer an aircraft to avoid
deportation. Clearly, INS should find another method of deporting illegal aliens
that does not place the traveling public at avoidable risk. We urge the INS to
only board deportees when they are accompanied by two or more armed INS agent
escorts.
13. The FAA issues its pilot licenses as
traditional paper and ink documents that could be easily duplicated or forged.
Given that pilots use these licenses to help identify an individual who desires
to ride the jumpseat, it is essential that they be produced in a highly secure
format (i.e., electronically verifiable).
The FAA
decided approximately one year ago to put the names and addresses of pilots in
public view on the World Wide Web. This information could be used in any number
of malicious ways. We recommend that FAA remove the data from the Web and any
other publicly accessible locations.
14. We are all
familiar with the long-running public information campaign of Smoky the Bear, a
cartoon figure who reminds us that "only you can help prevent forest fires." We
believe that a similar campaign should be created by the government and industry
aimed at educating the traveling public about aviation security. A
better-informed public could serve as additional "eyes and ears" of security,
assist crewmembers as appropriate, and cause fewer problems onboard aircraft. We
recommend the slogan "Security is Everybody's Business," and some type of
cartoon figure to carry that message via advertisements, posters, etc.
15. Consistent with #14 above, the industry should
implement the recommendations of the FAA's Aviation Security Advisory
Committee's Employee Utilization Working Group. The essence of those
recommendations is that all airport, airline and service employees can, and
should, receive an appropriate level of training and ongoing information about
how to make aviation more secure. One noteworthy recommendation is the creation
of a security reporting "hotline" at all airports for tips, suspicious behavior,
abandoned bags, and the like. 16. The threat information that pilots get, if
any, is poor and usually outdated. The government intelligence community,
working in concert with the airlines, should develop a greatly enhanced
methodology for relaying timely threat information to the carriers, which can be
shared with airline pilots.
17. We must prepare today
for the possibility of a chemical/biological agent attack in our aircraft.
Airlines should install full-vision oxygen masks in all commercial aircraft to
enable the crews to safely land during a chemical/biological agent attack.
Aircraft should be equipped with air quality monitors that can provide an alarm
in the cockpit if the presence of chem/bio agents is detected.
18. The FAA should immediately develop and implement an ATC
communication code for advising all pilots within radio contact that an aircraft
is under duress or has experienced a significant security- related event. The
major purpose of this action is to alert crews to take appropriate precautionary
measures to prevent a similar occurrence on their aircraft.
19. The ban on all remote check-ins must include disallowing electronic
ticketing check-in kiosks that currently let passengers check-in and receive a
boarding pass without ever being identified by the carders. All passengers must
check in and show identification at staffed check-in counters.
20. Regarding baggage security, we recommend that the FAA impose
standard limits on carry-on baggage in order to let security screeners spend
more time examining each item brought on the aircraft. We strongly support
increasing the percentage of bags subjected to search.
21. Security deficiencies can, and currently are, impacting safety. One
example virtually every cockpit crewmember has traditionally carried a small
tool kit or "combination" tool in their flight case for dealing with small
mechanical issues inflight. Based on the most recent FAA Security Directives of
which we are aware, pilots may not carry them through the security-screening
checkpoint.
We are urging the FAA to (1) allow pilots
to carry such tools through the screening checkpoint after their identification
has been verified, and (2) require that the airlines place these tools in the
cockpit as additional aircraft equipment.
Longer-Term
Actions
Following are our recommendations concerning
action items that could be initiated fairly soon, but will take longer to
implement than those above.
1. In view of the
unprecedented terrorist threat that may continue for some time, we believe that
the Administration and Congress should consider the creation of a new aviation
law enforcement agency. Currently, civil aviation security is but one of many
responsibilities of the FAA. The FAA assumed the task of providing aviation
security in the 1970's, approximately 20 years after its creation as a civilian
agency. Although there are many hard-working, talented people at the FAA, it is
not a law enforcement agency nor is it staffed to provide law enforcement
support.
Additionally, this branch of the FAA has to
compete internally for resources and priorities within the agency's overall
budget. To avoid this conflict and provide the law enforcement expertise which
is now necessary, we believe that a law enforcement agency should be established
whose sole responsibility would be to prevent and combat aviation-related crime.
The removal of the security responsibility from the FAA would allow the new
agency to be much more proactive. Whereas the FAA's focus is on the development,
promulgation and enforcement of regulations, the law enforcement agency should
be focused on countering existing and evolving threats. This agency would also
be responsible for coordinating threat and other security information with other
law enforcement agencies. ALPA is committed to work with you to create such an
agency.
2. The government's own inspectors, from the
General Accounting Office and DOT Inspector General's Office, not to mention the
FAA's security auditors, have found time and again that the U.S. security
screening system is ineffective. The status quo, whereby airlines contract with
the lowest bidder to perform security screening, has been a complete validation
of the concept "you get what you pay for." It is past tune to fix this problem
using highly trained and motivated, wellpaid, screening professionals and the
best possible equipment. A well-run, security-screening corporation, selected
not on the basis of lowest bid but highest competency, should perform the
screening function under the aegis of the aforementioned aviation law
enforcement agency. The U.S. should borrow from successful European security
screening systems, which employ interviewers, maintain separate ramp crew access
and other measures in the development of the new security screening system.
3. Government and industry have, as partners, made great
progress in the development of explosive detection systems capable of spotting
the most ingeniously disguised bombs and most minute particles of explosive
material. However, there is much work still to be done.
FAA is in the initial phases of researching "Free Flow," a high-tech
security screening system. We strongly support this concept and urge the
Administration and Congress to fully fund it, ultimately as a means of rapidly
and accurately detecting explosive devices, weapons, and chemical/biological
agents on persons and in their bags.
4. We have known
for some tune that individuals, almost certainly terrorists, are stealing pilot
uniforms and credentials. The imposter threat cannot be effectively dealt with
unless there is positive, electronic verification of the identities of each
employee authorized to enter the secure areas. It is past tune that we created a
system that will prevent an airline employee imposter from fraudulently gaining
access to our aircraft and threatening the lives of all onboard and others on
the ground. We have long supported the development and implementation of the
Universal Access System (UAS), an effort aimed at closing the gaping hole in
airline employee identification. FAA has completed UAS standards; we urge that
implementation of it begin immediately.
5. Similar to
the problem of employee identity verification, the airlines are not currently
capable of positively determining who is getting on their aircraft. This is
demonstrated when aircraft leave the gate with art inaccurate manifest; we know
of one airline that routinely allows flights to leave the gate with a two-person
error.
As another example, after one accident last
year, an airline CEO made a public request for assistance in identifying the
passengers on his own aircraft! The security ramifications are substantial -
unless we know that the person boarding the aircraft is the same one who bought
the ticket, we cannot positively ascertain that the individual has been through
the security checkpoint and is not carrying a weapon.
6. We are aware of a technology, available today, which is capable of
taking a photo of each person and their checked bags. The photo is encrypted on
the airline ticket in the form of a striated bar code, known as two-dimensional
bar coding. The ticket is machine read at the gate and a monitor shows the gate
agent the photo of the ticket bearer. If the two faces do not match, the
passenger is denied boarding. The photo of a checked bag can be used to identify
it easily, if it needs to be taken off the aircraft subsequent to boarding, but
prior to flight. The system also avails the ability to positively match the
passenger with his/her bags.
We recommend that the
government investigate the various technologies available for positive passenger
and checked baggage identification and begin moving toward the eventual goal of
requiting the airlines to use it for security purposes. This identification
system can be integrated with CAPPS for even greater synergy.
7. In connection with the item above, the airlines should create, and
have readily available, basic information about each passenger's special
capabilities, if any. In the event of an emergency, the captain could, by
contacting dispatch, immediately determine if there were any doctors, police,
bomb specialists, etc., on the flight who could be requested to provide
assistance. This capability would be extremely helpful in the event of a
security breach, because the captain could determine whether there are onboard
resources that could help resolve the problem.
8. There
is much discussion ongoing today about the feasibility of arming
pilots. The events of last week demonstrated that lethal force could be used
to advantage. We have given this matter serious discussion and we believe that
there could be potential for making this possibility a reality. However, as
noted above, we have a seriously deficient employee identification system that
must first be addressed. We want to ensure that anyone who is armed and going
through the security checkpoint is positively identified. After meeting that
goal, a thorough study should be given to a program where airline pilots who
meet strict qualifications could voluntarily be trained as sworn federal law
enforcement officers with arrest authority and allowed to carry weapons in the
cockpit to protect themselves and their passengers.
9.
The FAA should begin a program to certify flight attendants as safety
professionals. This would enhance flight attendant training and formalize and
reenforce their role as safety professionals. This would also ensure proper
training for all types of emergencies. It is essential that flight attendant
training be improved in this area.
Thank you, again,
for the opportunity to appear before you today. I would be pleased to respond to
any questions that you may have.
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