"Vehicles at Pittsburgh airport may be searched for explosives"

Thursday, February 13, 2003

Vehicles at airport may be searched for explosives 
By Mark Belko
The Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette


Vehicles entering Pittsburgh International Airport may be randomly stopped
and searched for explosives because of the heightened concerns nationwide
about a possible terrorist attack.

Airport officials said they were considering the searches at the request of
the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which oversees security at
the nation's airports.

The Allegheny County Airport Authority is working with the TSA to determine
how the searches should be conducted to ensure no civil rights are violated,
Executive Director Kent George said.

"They will be at random locations, at random times, using random protocol if
they are implemented," he said.

The authority initially was prepared to start the searches yesterday
afternoon, but delayed them until some of the legal and logistical issues
could be addressed.

George said the possible searches are not the result of any direct threat
against Pittsburgh International Airport.

Heather Rosenker, a spokeswoman for the TSA in Washington, said random
searches are among the general suggestions offered by the agency to airports
when the United States raises its terrorist threat level to orange, or "high
risk," as it did last week.

She said it is up to each airport and the TSA-employed federal security
director who works there to determine what specific steps will be taken in
response to the higher level of alert. Christine Keaggy, a spokeswoman for
the TSA in Pittsburgh, said random searches were deemed appropriate for the
Pittsburgh airport.

George said airport and TSA officials will decide within the next day or so
whether to go ahead with the searches. The Airport Authority plans to use
Allegheny County police to do the searches should they be implemented.

In response to the heightened alert, airport officials also have banned
parking at the side of airport roads, where many motorists wait before
picking up arriving passengers, and have increased scrutiny at the security
checkpoint, which has caused longer waits for travelers at times.

Rosenker said vehicle searches have been conducted at other U.S. airports.


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