"Aviation workers soon to get more criminal checks"

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Aviation workers soon to get more criminal checks 
By Thomas Frank
USA TODAY 


WASHINGTON -- More than a million aviation workers -- including pilots,
mechanics and flight attendants -- will begin undergoing more thorough
background checks in January as the U.S. focuses on preventing insider
terrorist attacks.

The Transportation Security Administration will take over the job of
checking backgrounds of 1.2 million aviation workers, TSA spokeswoman Ellen
Howe said. The agency will also check anyone applying for a job requiring a
federal aviation license.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, background checks have been done by the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The increased scrutiny comes as the Homeland Security Department cracks down
on the possibility of attacks by workers who don't have to go through
security checkpoints to get on a plane or enter sensitive areas. Last month,
a former Comair airline worker was sentenced to 15 years in prison for
sneaking guns and marijuana onto a Delta Air Lines plane in Orlando's
airport in March.

The TSA takeover means every licensed aviation worker will be checked
against the government's complete terror watch list, which the FBI runs,
instead of a partial list the FAA has used, Howe said. The FAA licenses 21
types of workers including flight instructors, air-traffic controllers,
dispatchers and flight engineers, FAA spokesman Les Dorr said.

Background checks are done automatically by a computer that compares
biographical information about aviation workers to the terrorist watch list.

Many airport workers, such as baggage handlers and store clerks, are not
licensed but already face TSA background checks.

In addition, licensed aviation workers will be re-checked every time the
Terrorist Screening Center's database is updated, which happens almost
daily, Howe said. The FAA checks people only when they apply for an
aviation-worker license and does not have the resources to do "perpetual
vetting," Howe said.

"This will raise the baseline of security," Howe said, adding that the TSA's
computerized vetting system can easily handle the additional checks.

The TSA last month launched a program mandated by Congress that will result
in background checks for more than 1million port workers.

The change was welcomed by pilot groups, though they also worry that the TSA
would mistake people for terrorists and prevent them from working.

"It would seem to be a logical step for the TSA," said Capt. Bob Hesselbein,
chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association's national security committee.

He added, however, that "We don't know that their processes will not
misidentify people who are not a danger as a danger."


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