http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/53968.htm
AIR-HEADS READY TO ALLOW BLADES
By GEOFF EARLE and IAN BISHOP Post Correspondents
November 4, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — The flying public turned
white-knuckled yesterday over word that the feds might ease post-9/11
restrictions to allow passengers to bring scissors and small knives
aboard planes again.
"I'd like to know why [knives] are no longer a threat when they were a
threat over the last four years," fumed Rep. Joseph Crowley
(D-Queens), whose firefighter cousin was killed on 9/11.
Crowley and others were steamed that the Transportation Safety
Administration is looking to shorten its list of "prohibited items" to
lessen travel delays and focus on other threats.
"I don't know why you would need to carry a pocketknife on a plane,"
said Joe Oerke, 25, of Manhattan, who was flying to Dallas last night
from La Guardia. "I'd rather keep things the way they are."
Nancy Marte, 37, of Brooklyn, who was flying from La Guardia to Fort
Lauderdale, called the TSA plan "a bonehead idea."
"I'm not going to quit flying, but I feel unprotected," she said.
Asked how the agency could consider lifting the ban on knives and
scissors, TSA spokeswoman Anne Davis said, "Because the security
environment has dramatically improved since 9/11."
Alisa Arnold, a flight attendant, wrote the TSA last week, describing
a frightening incident on board a plane and urging the agency to keep
the ban.
Arnold recalled that on a September flight, two drunken passengers had
to be subdued.
"If these men had the kind of dangerous items that you want to bring
back on board, I can tell you, without a doubt, that the situation
would have turned out gravely different," Arnold wrote.
Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik also slammed the
proposal at a time when terrorism is still a threat.
"I just hope this isn't a sign of the times, which is [that] four
years after Sept. 11, [we've become] complacent and less vigilant,"
Kerik told Fox News Channel.
"There are some serious implications to this," said a surprised Rep.
John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), a Transportation Committee member. "Congress
will require some answers from TSA."
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) said, "I'd rather have people be
inconvenienced than have somebody get away with something."
The out-of-the-blue changes, including the possibility that scissors
and small knives might be OK'd, was first reported yesterday by The
Wall Street Journal.
Currently, passengers can carry on nail clippers, cigar cutters and
safety razors.
Meanwhile, the TSA announced a plan yesterday that would allow
passengers to avoid extra security checks, such as secondary
pat-downs, if they register personal information with the government.
Additional reporting by Ed Robinson in New York |