"As Strong As The Weakest Link: Airport security still lacking, expert says"

Saturday, October 5, 2002

Airport security still lacking, expert says
BY JULIE STEWART
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette


MOUNTAIN HOME - Isaac Yeffet says aloud what some Americans privately
fear: that security at airports around the country is failing to protect
travelers from terrorists. 

The changes in aviation security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks have done little to protect those flying, he said Thursday
night. Yeffet is the former security chief of El Al, Israel's national
airline. 

Speaking to about 200 people attending the Jim and Jill Gaston Lecture
series at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, Yeffet said Americans
could have the best aviation security system in the world if they decide
the cost and inconvenience are worth the lives that can be saved. 

Yeffet said all U.S. airports should adopt the same comprehensive
security system - including the small- to medium sized airports that
dominate air travel in Arkansas. His New Jersey-based firm, Yeffet
Security Consultants Inc., has worked on anti-terrorism and aviation
security in Europe and the United States for the last 18 years. "There
is no difference between a big airport and a small airport, because the
terrorists are doing their homework," Yeffet said. 

Although federal law requires the Transportation Security Administration
- the new federal agency in charge of airport security - to hire 60,000
to 70,000 qualified screeners this year, Yeffet said only 2,500 of the
federal hires are new to airport security. He said the bulk are the same
people who worked at airports before the federal government took over
aviation security from air carriers. Their training is no better,
either, he said. 

The only difference? "Now they have new uniforms." 

But Jerry Henderson, federal security director for the three largest
airports in Arkansas, disagreed. He said the 45 new screeners at Little
Rock National Airport, Adams Field, are new to the profession, not past
employees of the airport's former private security firm. "I think what
we're doing now is a reasonable approach, and I think it's going to get
better," Henderson said. "It is safer to fly," he added. 

Henderson is in charge of security at the Little Rock airport; Fort
Smith Regional Airport; and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at
Highfill for the Transportation Safety Administration. He said new
screeners receive 44 hours of training, plus 60 hours of on-the-job
training. The starting pay is about $23,000 a year. Henderson also said
armed undercover officers would eventually work at the Little Rock
airport. 

As an intelligence officer in the Israeli Secret Services, Yeffet
established security standards for Israeli embassies and consulates
worldwide. From 1978-84, he was security director for El Al, where he
developed passenger profiling and screening programs, security personnel
training and "envelopes of security" around El Al terminals. 

He said today's terrorists are sophisticated - and systematically look
for weaknesses. If a large airport is too difficult to attack, he said,
they will try a medium-sized one. If they cannot breach security there,
they will go a to small airport. 

Yeffet said a recent survey by the Transportation Security
Administration shows that the U.S. system is not working. 

He said the survey found that despite an increase in the number of
screeners and more security measures, 70 percent of screeners failed to
detect knives smuggled onto planes; 60 percent failed to identify
explosives planted in luggage; 636 planes had to be evacuated because of
security problems; and federal agents were able to reach aircraft
outside airport terminals at 17 of 32 airports surveyed. 

Yeffet advocates a security system modeled after El Al, which uses
highly-trained screeners to conduct face-to-face interviews of every
passenger. Screeners look for the slightest signs - both psychological
and physiological that a passenger may be lying. 

He said El Al takes about two hours to conduct screening interviews of
400 passengers waiting to board a Boeing 747 aircraft. 

Screeners are trained to spot fake passports and passengers traveling to
and from countries sympathetic to terrorists. El Al also keeps lists of
suspected terrorists to compare against passenger lists. 

Yeffet said only ticketed passengers should be allowed inside U.S.
airports and armed undercover security personnel should be posted at
every airport. 

But Gary Williams, who manages Baxter County Regional Airport at Midway,
said his airport cannot afford that kind of security. "For a small
airport it's just cost-prohibitive," Williams said. "We're barely
keeping our head above water now." 

He also doubted that the passengers would pay higher ticket prices for
El Al-style security. 

Yeffet blamed the "pessimistic attitude" among large U.S. air carriers
and the federal government for blocking effective security measures.
Yeffet said the federal government should not be in charge of airport
security. He said that job should go the airlines, with the government
setting and enforcing tough security standards. 

Yeffet said U.S. aviation security will not improve until Americans
convince the airlines and their elected officials that they want better
security and are willing to pay for it. "The airline with the best
security, they will make millions more than other airlines," he said.


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