"Houston's Three Airports Undergo Safety Check That Will Last Five Years"

Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Houston's Three Airports Undergo Safety Check That Will Last Five Years
The Houston (TX) Chronicle


A sweeping security review of Houston's entire airport system is under way
in what may be the most comprehensive such study ever.

Plans call for every aspect of the city's three airports to be scrutinized
during the five years it will take to conduct the $7.5 million review.

"This is the first that we know of that anyone has done anything like this,"
said Mark Mancuso, deputy director for safety and security at the airport
system.

Everything from intrusion detection systems at the airports' perimeters to
video recognition software technology will be considered for use.

"We'll see what works and what doesn't work," Mancuso said.

The review of each airport will include looking at the security of
terminals, baggage systems, fuel farms and cargo areas. Utility
infrastructure, such as fuel hydrant systems, electric power and
telecommunications also will be probed.

Most of the airport studies that have been undertaken elsewhere in recent
years have involved smaller-scale security reviews, even in the wake of the
2001 terrorist attacks, according to security consultant Parsons Corp.

The Houston City Council awarded the security contract in April to
California-based Parsons, which has worked on many homeland security
projects.

"Houston is to be applauded for aggressively taking the measures," said
Milton Hunter, Parsons' senior vice president and a Houston native. "They
are not looking at patchwork solutions, but looking at a comprehensive
solution. I think it will put them at the forefront of airport security
systems."

Renewed focus has been placed on airport security since terrorists smuggled
weapons aboard flights and hijacked aircraft to carry out their attacks
against the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93,
which crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

The second anniversary of the attacks is next week, and airport security of
all kinds continues to be beefed up.

Some of the measures have to do just with security of the airports
themselves. For instance, Houston officials last week reiterated a laundry
list of security do's and don'ts, like not using terminal curbs unless
dropping off or picking up passengers.

Others measures have to do with security aboard flights.

On Tuesday, for example, the Transportation Security Administration
announced the transfer of the federal Air Marshal Service to the Bureau of
Customs and Immigration Enforcement. The move is expected to potentially put
as many as 5,000 more federal marshals in the skies through cross-training.

The government also has begun arming pilots under a security program started
six months ago. Some critics have said the program is not moving fast
enough, but the security agency defends it.

Parsons worked with the agency to design and implement new passenger
security checkpoint lanes at more than 90 airports throughout the country.

Funding of the Houston security contract includes $2.5 million from federal
sources. The rest will have to be covered by the city or other federal
grants, should they become available.

Parsons was chosen from about 20 firms that submitted proposals after the
city issued a request for qualifications for the security contract covering
Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport and Ellington Field.

The Houston review, which will take five years, will include changes and
improvements at different times during the life of the contract, officials
said.

The first "product" that is expected to be completed as a result of the new
study is a security master plan, Hunter said. Parsons is conducting a
vulnerability assessment of the airport system as a whole, as one of its
first orders of business.

The assessment must take into account some of the capital improvements that
are under way or planned.

"That will set the stage and guide on how we will move ahead," Hunter said.

It will include a federal inspection services building under construction
directly across from Terminal D, the new international terminal for
Continental Airlines.

Parsons is expected to work with Houston-based Continental, along with other
airlines, in conducting its review, officials said.

One unusual aspect of the Houston contract is that it involves three
airports.

Intercontinental is the largest, followed by Hobby and then Ellington, which
continues to have a large military presence, along with providing services
for NASA and offering space for cargo delivery operations.

"The uniqueness here is you are looking at a total system," Hunter said.

"Most of the airports are stand-alone systems."


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