Personal Injury Law

Heightened Flight Security After Airline Terror Scares

By Jane Akre

Expect Delays

Planning to fly this holiday season?

Prepare for tightened security measures after a Christmas Day terror plot was foiled on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. Passengers and crew jumped the man as he attempted to ignite a device.

Then on Sunday, a Nigerian man reportedly refused to leave a restroom presumably trying to ignite a device on a Northwest Airlines plane over Detroit, reports Reuters.

Since then, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is tightening security on international flights into the U.S. Expect more bag searches bomb-sniffing dogs, and pat-downs and more inbound airport screening delaying flights.

TSA is giving limited details on its Web site. Several airlines have been ordered to implement a new policy including:

• Limiting passengers to one bag
• Increasing screening including a second round of security checks at the gate
• Restricting the use of any personal items in the last hour of a flight and requiring passengers to remain seated
• Prohibiting the use of pillows and blankets during the last hour of flight as well as books or magazines
  

The Nigerian man involved in Sunday's incident was released by the FBI after it was determined he was genuinely sick when he refused to come out of the rest room and not involved in any ominous plot.

As of Monday afternoon, TSA determined it will let pilots decide whether passengers have to remain seated and have nothing in the laps during the last hour of the flight.

European travelers can expect increased checks and reinforced security on all flights bound for the U.S. during the busy travel week between Christmas and New Years. The Amsterdam airport security has been heightened after a request from the U.S. for an indefinite period. #

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on December 28, 2009 (boomark / email).