Flight Attendants Say Everyone Should Be Checked

About a year ago, Congress passed a bill intended as a tune-up to US anti-terrorism merasures. It ordered the Transportation Security Administration to find some way to expedite airport security screening for pilots, instead of simply having them cut in line ahead of passengers.

USA Today reports the TSA has begun testing a new system this week, but not everyone's happy about it.

Separate checkpoints for pilots are being tested for the next 60 days at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and South Carolina's Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Pilots arriving at the checkpoints will not be screened for weapons, but will have their photo IDs checked against photos in a database, to make sure the IDs aren't being used by anyone but the rightful holders.

Air Line Pilots Association chief Capt. John Prater says the new system is a good idea. "It will definitely be a benefit to passengers not having to see someone cut in line," he said.

The Association of Flight Attendants is protesting, saying safety demands everyone boarding an airplane be checked for weapons. Prater responds that if you're going to allow someone in the cockpit to take control of the plane... why would he need to bring a weapon?

FMI: www.tsa.gov