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AVIATION SECURITY
October 2007
TSA Prepares to Take Over Responsibility for Checking No-Fly Lists
By Grace Jean
 The Transportation Security Administration is beginning operational testing of the Secure Flight program, which allows the agency to screen passenger information against government no-fly lists to prevent potential terrorists from boarding airlines.
Under the program, TSA will compare passenger data to federal watch lists and transmit any matches to aircraft operators.
When fully implemented, the effort will relieve commercial airlines of the duty.
“That’s a big step forward because right now the airlines don’t get complete access to all of the names,” says Robert Poole, director of transportation studies at Reason Public Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Los Angeles.
Comparing passenger data to watch lists should be the government’s responsibility, not the airlines’, says Douglas R. Laird, president of Laird and Associates Inc., a security consulting firm. “But I think they’ve lost sight of the fact that on 9/11, CAPPS, the program we devised at Northwest, identified 10 of the hijackers.” The airlines have used a system called CAPPS, Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System, to cull persons of interest based upon information submitted when passengers purchase tickets. If flagged by the system, selectees would have their checked luggage scrutinized more closely by airline personnel and detained until they boarded their planes.
Many of the 10 hijackers identified by CAPPS on 9/11 had their checked luggage held until they boarded the planes.
After 9/11, the government proposed a CAPPS II system to improve the passenger selection process. However, privacy concerns and a scathing Government Accountability Office report led to its cancellation.
Secure Flight is the TSA’s second attempt at revamping the system.
But critics say the program may not catch those operating for terrorist organizations.
“They’re not going to send over known terrorists whose names and their description and fingerprints are on file,” says Laird.
Please email your comments to GJean@ndia.org
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