The US Congress continues to debate air cargo screening with the issue now being taken up by the US Senate. Senators are pressing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to screen all cargo carried on passenger airplanes, amid signs that Congress may mandate stricter standards unless the administration acts quickly.
Soon after taking the reins on Capitol Hill, Democrats have indicated that a top priority will be implementing the recommendations of the September 11 Commission that included tightening security screening of air cargo on passenger planes. The House already passed legislation (HR 1) that incorporates this provision.
But the mandate has been less well-received in the Senate. Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) is urging TSA chief Kip Hawley to come up with technological innovations that would help secure air cargo, such as blast-proof cargo containers. Hawley told Senate members that the TSA is moving as quickly as possible given cost and privacy considerations inherent in some new technologies. Hawley appealed to lawmakers not to mandate screening of all air cargo on passenger planes, urging instead a risk-based approach to deciding which cargo should be screened and which should not.
"For a very small incremental benefit of security it would take away resources that we could more productively apply elsewhere," Hawley said.
Industry summit
The issue was the focus at a recent meeting of air cargo executives attending the Aviation Security Summit in Arlington, VA in mid February. Many participants felt that lawmakers today blame the TSA for not enforcing better security measures at airports. Yet, educating these policymakers about the complexities of airport and air cargo security remains paramount. The industry itself is working hard to grasp all issues at hand. During a question and answer session, for instance, it was noted that blast resistant containers cost about $20,000 per unit.
'Such units have a lifespan of about one year as opposed to ULDs that cost approximately $1,000 and last about eight years,' one attendee stated.
Research on blast resistant containers has been ongoing since 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbee, Scotland.
'The issue is these containers are heavier than ULDs and much more expensive,' commented Brandon Fried, executive director, Airforwarders Association. 'Some argue that there should be one blast resistant container per aircraft and that all dangerous stuff should be placed in there.'
That discussion brings up issues of initial screening and questions why passenger aircraft would be allowed to carry dangerous and explosive cargo in the first place, Fried noted.
Security is a highly complex issue. John Beckius, TSA Acting Branch Chief for Air Cargo Programs, explained that concerns also center on vulnerabilities at airports, such as the storage of cargo and the aircraft themselves.
'That includes securing all the cargo ramps -- not only where the cargo is being loaded and unloaded,' he said. 'If you want to reduce the vulnerability, you have to reduce it all; not only some of it.'
Peter Troyer, chief of Police, Spokane International Airport, pointed out that security is not just an issue of securing cargo at checked areas. 'We are seeing a large population of general aviation aircraft co-mingling with cargo aircraft,' he said.
This includes airports that are serviced by private aircraft, passenger, all-cargo and integrators like Federal Express. In that regard, Troyer suggests that security could go as far as including the taxiway.
'At the end of the day, we have to decide what we are trying to accomplish,' he stated.
Troyer emphasized the importance of daily meetings between airport management and security. Yet, he explained that frustrations often arise since security walks a thin line in how much it can reveal.
'We get a lot of information about security threats that cannot be passed on,' he said. 'Many airport managers get tired of things being ramm
