I am very disturbed and concerned by the attempt to bring down NWA 253 on Christmas day. Actually, I am less concerned by the failed attempt than I am by the failed security measures the United States imposes on domestic and international air flights.
Perhaps you believe that the security lapse was the fault of Northwest Airlines or the Dutch authorities at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. Well indeed, shame on them for not having adequate security controls in place prior to the departure of NWA 253. However, I believe the problem is NOT limited to the lack of proper security on the departure end. I believe the United States is also at fault here.
The United States, through the Department of Homeland Security should no longer permit airplanes destined for U. S. airports to take off UNLESS the plane, crew, and passengers have passed more stringent security checks than were apparently in place in Amsterdam on Christmas day. Even before Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, attempted to take down American Airlines Flight 63 on December 22, 2001, the United States government should have had more adequate security checks in place.
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is an extremely powerful explosive. Both Richard Reid, in 2001, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in 2009, smuggled PETN explosive on board their respective aircraft. Both thankfully tried and failed to successfully detonate this explosive. Had either succeeded, hundreds of passengers would have died as the aircraft plummeted to earth. Reid apparently hid the PETN in his shoes. As a result everybody boarding an aircraft in the United States today is required to remove their shoes and pass them through an x-ray machine. Abdulmutallab apparently hid the PETN by sewing it into the lining of his underwear. Will we now be required to remove our underwear and pass it through an x-ray machine. Will we be subjected to strip searches?
Shame on the transportation safety officials in 2001 to be so narrowly focused on preventing box cutters from being carried onto aircraft after 9-1-1. In 2001, we had a failure of imagination, a failure to plan for alternative means to bringing down a plane carrying hundreds of passengers. Now, eight years later, are we still suffering from a failure of imagination or a failure of leadership?
This past weekend, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security appeared on several Sunday talk shows. I found her responses to many questions to be superficial, non-responsive, and yes, disturbing. Apparently we are “in the process of reviewing the possible security lapses from NWA 253.” Her carefully couched answers provided little comfort to me. She was speaking from a political position not a position of leadership. And she was not the only politician who shows a lack of leadership on the issue of airline security.
This is a key issue for me. I voted for Barack Obama as President in 2008 because I believed he would represent a significant change from the policies and lack of leadership shown during the eight years of the prior administration. I must say, that on the issue of airline security I am deeply disappointed. The fact that the NWA 253 incident happened at all demonstrates a lack of leadership in this area. The administration’s responses to this incident have been disappointing at best.
Certainly we need to review what happened on NWA 253 on December 25, 2009. But we should have been showing more leadership prior to this incident so as to prevent this from happening in the first place. Failing to prevent Richard Reid from bringing PETN onto an aircraft in 2001 was a significant security lapse. Failing to prevent Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from bringing PETN onto an aircraft in 2009 is an even more significant security lapse. And it is a failure of leadership. Have we learned nothing from the Richard Reid incident and others in the succeeding eight years?
I believe the technology exists, and has existed for several years, to detect PETN on a person’s body – without requiring that person to remove shoes (and underwear) for x-ray, or strip searches, or pat-downs. I believe the technology exists to detect the presence of PETN in a reliable and non-invasive way. The failure to deploy existing technology over the last eight years is a failure of leadership. It is an example of politics prevailing over leadership.
What would I expect? What do I expect from the Obama Administration. I expect the Obama administrative to take a proactive, leadership position on airline passenger safety. I expect this administration to deploy available technology and to require all international points of origin to deploy this technology.
Obviously reviewing the circumstances leading to the significant security lapse on December 25, 2009 is of vital importance. But how many other times have substances been smuggled onto aircraft since 9-1-1. Why are passengers prevented from bringing water bottles or cans of soft drinks onto planes? Because we are reacting to another attempt to smuggle explosive materials onto an aircraft.
We cannot win this battle, we cannot close the security gaps by staying in reactive mode. We need proactive leadership, and we need it now. It starts by being candid with the American people and the people of the world.
Tags: airline safety, Homeland Security, leadership, Obama, Politics, proactive, reactive
