Airport Security

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was formed in November 2001 in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in which airplanes were flown into buildings in New York and Washington, D.C. TSA's mission is to conduct security screening of air passengers and luggage. Originally part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the TSA became part of the Department of Homeland Security on March 9, 2003. Today the TSA faces the dual challenge of increased airline passenger travel and the need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of screening.

Policy makers and aviation security planners work continually to incorporate into established systems and procedures new technologies that do a better job of detecting security threats. Challenges they face in their efforts to maintain and improve screening functions include optimizing inline explosives detection, streamlining systems for checked baggage, improving the capability to detect explosives at passenger checkpoints, developing strategic plans to improve screening [Page 133]technology, more fully integrating trusted travelers programs, stopping cyberterrorism, maintaining the No Fly List, and possibly arming TSA workers.

Hijackings, bombings, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when hijacked airplanes were flown into buildings, and universal searches of passengers have permanently altered the nature of air travel worldwide and in the United States. On September 6, 1970, Palestinians hijacked four airplanes, two of which were American, and took 310 hostages. They transferred the majority of hostages to Amman, Jordan, and freed them on September 11, 1970. On September 12, they blew up the empty planes. Responding to this threat, President Richard Nixon placed sky marshals on designated flights to discourage hijackers.

Dan (D. B.) Cooper drew more attention to the problem of airport security when on November 24, 1971, he handed a note to a flight attendant shortly after Northwest flight 305 took off from Portland, Oregon, bound for Seattle, Washington. In the note he demanded a $200,000 ransom or threatened to blow up the plane with explosives in his bag. Northwest handed over the money, Cooper lowered the stairs at the back of the plane, and he, along with his ransom money, parachuted into infinity. After D. B. Cooper's escapade, airplane makers created a Cooper Vane, which made lowering rear stairs during the flight impossible.

A transportation security officer from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reviewing passenger identification at a security checkpoint on July 18, 2012.

Despite President Nixon and perhaps because of D. B. Cooper, the hijackings continued. In December 1972, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandated that airlines search all passengers and their bags beginning in 1973. Airport security directors installed metal detectors called magnetometers in their airports. It took some time, technology, and court cases for people to become accustomed to magnetometers and for their use to be widespread. Consumer advocates worried about metal detectors and radiation, but studies proved that they gave off scant radiation.

People took the FAA to court, claiming that magnetometers violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against illegal searches and seizures. The courts ruled that magnometers were covered by the Fourth Amendment, but they were acceptable as long as their searches were applied universally and limited to looking for weapons and explosives.

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