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Airline Security: Appearance vs. Reality?
Depending on where you fly since 9/11, you may not notice much difference
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Business New Haven
10/29/2001
By: Linda Mele
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In the wake of the September 11 attacks on the U.S. and despite assurances to the contrary, security at some airports has not changed much, according to several people who recently took flights from Bradley International Airport.
At least outwardly, that is.
Interviewed earlier this month, Stephen E. Korta, airport administrator for Bradley, told BNH (October 1) that the airport was “actually recertified to the new security standards prior to the airspace being open.”
Asked about beefed up security, Korta added that, “The FAA prefers first of all that we don't discuss it, and second that if we do discuss something that it be the parts that are readily visible to the traveler. The heightened security level at Bradley was based upon the same security directive that was distributed nationwide to commercial airports.”
Stratford resident Nancy Monk had to take a business trip to California and North Haven resident Michael Gherlone, his son Harlan and Harlan's friend Andrew flew to Virginia to attend a NASCAR race so, as advised, they arrived at Bradley two hours in advance.
All agree that the single thing that has noticeably changed is the lack of baggage check-in at the terminal curb. All bags must be checked inside the terminal.
“I don't know what the wait would have been if we had to check our luggage, but I never check luggage. The only time I ever did, it got lost,” Gherlone says.
“I did see a National Guardsman,” Monk says, “while waiting to check in my bags, but that was the only outward sign of any changes that I noticed.”
Perhaps all the changes made effected behind the scenes?
Barry Pallanck, assistant airport administrator, says Bradley has increased security per the FAA guidelines, “but we don't talk about the details,” he says.
Once any baggage is checked, passengers take their boarding pass and proceed to the passenger-screening point with the X-ray machine and Magnetometer, which are typically at the entrances to concourses and are the responsibility of the airlines, Korta notes.
Both Monk and Gherlone say everything they brought to carry on the plane was placed on a conveyor belt and run through an X-ray scanner before they were allowed to enter the concourse, but that was not unusual.
“They didn't physically check anything, or make me open anything I was carrying,” Monk recalls, “although it looked like they were doing some spot checks.”
Harlan Gherlone says his father “beeped as he went through the security check. They passed the wand [Magnetometer] over him and decided it was his steel-toed shoes that caused it. They didn't make him take them off, though.
(In Phoenix, Ariz., however, Gordon S. Simmons of Santa Cruz, Calif. reports that passengers on a flight he was taking from that city to Albany, N.Y. were made to remove their shoes for scanning after “some sort of knife” was discovered in a passenger's cowboy boot.)
None of the carry-on luggage brought on board by the Gherlone party was searched, either.
“They did have someone there who was checking tickets. Only people with tickets were allowed into the concourse,” Gherlone says.
The Gherlone party had to change planes in Charlotte, N.C., where there were no checks at all because they went from one gate to another to catch their plane to Greensboro, N.C.
Although there were no checks when they got off the plane at Greensboro, there were MPs with M-16s patrolling inside the airport, Harlan Gherlone says.
“When we got to the racetrack at Martinsville, Va., their security was also beefed up,” Gherlone says. “They checked everything everybody brought into the racetrack.”
Getting back on the plane at Greensboro to return home, Gherlone's steel-toed boots again activated the Magnometer, but this time they made him take them off so they could inspect them.
“The whole time they were checking us, an MP stood by watching,” Harlan Gherlone says.
None of their carry-on luggage was inspected.
When they changed planes in Pittsburgh, they were told that random searches were being conducted and if an 'S' was marked on their ticket they would have to endure a “full” search.
Arriving back in Hartford, there were no checks, “but we did see three MPs with pistols,” Harlan says.
On her trip, Monk says that when she changed planes in Chicago she had to show a picture ID with her ticket before she was allowed to board the plane to California. Also, her laptop computer was checked.
Arriving at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., Monk says there was heavy security and long lines of passengers waiting to get on flights, so she knew what she was going to face coming home.
“They were checking picture IDs and passed the wand scanner over everyone, even the children,” Monk says. “I also saw a guard with a German Shepherd walking around.”
According to Monk, of the 1,800 people registered for the international conference she attended, 500 people canceled in the aftermath of September 11.
Overall, Monk and the Gherlone party say they didn't necessarily feel any safer at Bradley, but the heightened security elsewhere did make them feel safer.
Taking the Edge Off Wetness
Not only has security in the nation's airports changed, but security on our waterways has increased, too - which is nice to know in Connecticut, since we are home to a nuclear submarine facility and a nuclear power plant.
According to Lt. (jg) Pamela Garcia of the U.S. Coast Guard, beefed up security measures have taken place along the shore and in the state's rivers.
A restricted perimeter and additional security patrols around the New London Submarine Base in Groton have been established, as has one around the Millstone Point Power Plant, Garcia says.
“We've also asked all harbors [New Haven, Bridgeport, Milford, etc.] to increase their security measures and patrols,” Garcia adds.
“We're already getting calls from suspicious mariners,” says Garcia, “and we follow up on every incident reported. Mariners are very good about notifying us about vessels in distress or anything that doesn't look right.
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