"Former NTSB Chairman Speaks Out on Aviation Security"

Monday, May 22, 2006

Former NTSB Chairman Speaks Out
By Tracy Smith
CBS News


TRACY SMITH, co-host:

As we just reported, a congressional report is blasting the federal air
marshal program, saying the agency's own rules put the marshals in danger.
That report comes on the heels of other changes under way at airports across
the country, aimed at making it easier for you to get through security. They
include a kind of secure speed pass for frequent flyers and a new shoe
scanner. For perspective on all of this, we turn this morning to former
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall, who joins us from
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.

Good morning.

Mr. JIM HALL (Former Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board): Good
morning, Tracy.

SMITH: Let's talk about the air marshals first. This report says that air
marshals can't effectively do their job because their cover's being blown.
Is it too easy for terrorists to figure out who the air marshal is on the
plane?

Mr. HALL: Well, I think the air marshals provide a very effective deterrent
in terms of aviation. However, the marshals themselves have been some of the
individuals who have first criticized the fact that they way they're
deployed may be a little too obvious and may make their work less effective.

SMITH: How do we fix this problem?

Mr. HALL: Well, I think, essentially, trying to look at it and make some
recommendations and adjustments in the program. I think we have a good
number of air marshals out there. I think we need to continue to deploy
them. We probably need to look at some alternative ways in terms of
scheduling them on flights as well as where they sit in the aircraft and the
attire they wear so that they're not quite as obvious as it appears they
feel they are now.

SMITH: Mm-hmm. Maybe not quite as predictable. I want to talk about this new
technology that's being evaluated by the TSA. There are two types, there's
the shoe scanner, which would allow you not to have to take your shoes off
if you go through security. There's also a device that scans your finger to
check for explosives. Are these technologies making us safer or just getting
us through security quicker?

Mr. HALL: Well, I hope they'll do both. I mean, we have spent billions of
dollars through Homeland Security since 9/11 on technology. So it's about
time some of that technology is paying off in terms of being able to shorten
the lines that all of us have to stand in at the airport. You know, the loss
of productivity in this country in terms of the amount of hours that all of
us have to spend standing in the airport lines, I think, is enormous, so I
welcome this and I think it can both make us safer as well as, you know, be
more effective.

SMITH : You know, some people would argue that be best technology is the
human mind, and that it's very important for screeners to know how to spot
erratic behavior. Has training improved in that area?

Mr. HALL: I think, overall, TSA does a pretty good job. I think that the one
thing that I have said from the very beginning is, in aviation security, we
need the same type of independent watchdog that we have with the National
Transportation Safety Board in aviation safety so, as we have incidents,
they can be examined and recommendations can be made to adjust or tweak the
system. We still don't really have an independent, outside look at all these
dollars that are being spent.

SMITH: And bottom line, is there a danger of sacrificing safety for the sake
of convenience?

Mr. HALL: Well, there is--I think we always--we have to keep foremost in our
minds that the reason 9/11 occurred was we were asleep on the watch, and we
can not permit that to occur again. And it's important for us, I think, to
try to make things more convenient, but we're going to have to be very
careful in how we approach that and take that in very small steps.

SMITH: Mm-hmm, and don't get complacent. All right. Jim Hall, thanks so much
to you.

Mr. HALL: Thank you, Tracy.

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