"North Carolina airport meets security standards, officials say"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Goldsboro-Wayne Airport meets security standards, officials say
The Goldsboro (NC) News-Argus


Although the Goldsboro-Wayne Airport may not have some of the more visible
security measures seen at larger airports, local officials say that it
meets, and exceeds, federal security standards. 

"We have additional lighting, cameras, locked gates and security tie-ins
with the sheriff's department," said John Taylor, a pilot with Sig Aviation,
the company that manages the airport. "We don't truly believe the General
Aviation Airports will be threatened, but we're ready." 

Security was the focus of a presentation at last week's meeting of the
Airport Authority's safety committee. 

Gary Harrison, the assistant federal security director for the
Transportation Security Admin-istration, described security requirements for
the different types of airports. The Goldsboro-Wayne and Mount Olive
airports are categorized as General Aviation Airports. 

Harrison, a former Naval aviator, was one of 500 security agents working for
the Federal Aviation Administration when terrorists attacked the U.S. on
Sept. 11, 2001. Within a year, there were 60,000 agents at work. 

Most of those are baggage screeners, Harrison said. The FAA, he said, is now
primarily concerned with airplane safety, while the Transportation Security
Administration is concerned with airport security. 

The FAA looks at how the planes are working, or how long the pilot has been
flying, Harrison explained. TSA officials look at how luggage is stored and
how passengers are screened. 

After the attacks, Congress approved a number of regulations governing
airports, which the TSA enforces. But those regulations don't cover every
airport in the country, Harrison explained. There are distinct regulations
for commercial airlines, international airlines flying into the United
States, chartered flights and cargo flights. 

The regulations set out criteria that each airport is expected to meet, and
each is expected to develop its own security plan to meet those
requirements. 

"For example, we say that you've got to control access to the airport,"
Harrison said. "And the airport writes its own plan on how it's going to do
that." 

Harrison said that people working at smaller airports just need to be taught
what to look for and who to contact if they notice something unusual or
suspicious. 

He said that before the Sept. 11 attacks, that law enforcement agencies such
as the FBI did not regularly communicate with airport managers. That has
changed dramatically, he said, and now there is a joint task force among
groups involved in airport security at all levels. 

"Mostly, the General Aviation Airports need to be educated and know how to
contact my office, or the FBI, in a timely manner," Harrison said. "And
that's what education seminars like this one are about." 

Harrison said that baggage screeners are the most "public faces" of the TSA,
but that there are other security measures in place that most people are not
aware of. 

"We don't count on just the check points," he said. "We also have air
marshals and reinforced cockpit doors." 

But, he said, the biggest security defense the U.S. has is its people. 

"I don't think people would sit quietly now through an attack," Harrison
said. "Our most precious defense is our people saying they're not going to
be passive."


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