Recent tragedies demand increase in airport security

New York City, our hearts are once again with you.

You have endured so much, and the burden of another tragedy has been placed upon your shoulders.

Two months and one day after the most terrible pictures I have seen in my life were emblazoned upon mine and the nation’s memory, an American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed into Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City.

After only three minutes of flight, nearly 250 passengers and nine crew members lost their lives.

And although, by all accounts, the earliest predictions are that the accident was caused purely by mechanical failure, the mishap nonetheless drudged up memories of that tragic September day.

Although this doesn’t appear to be the work of terrorists, it again brings into question something that has been under heavy scrutiny since Sept. 11: airline security.

It used to be that we took such a thing as airline security for granted. We go to the airport and the lady behind the check-in counter asks if we’ve packed our own bags. I’ve never in my entire life heard anyone say they haven’t.

Then it’s off to the metal detector and carry-on luggage X-ray scanner. The scary part about this portion of your journey is the caliber of the people checking your luggage. Most have little, if any, training on the security equipment they are using. On a recent trip, my roommate saw that a high school classmate of his was working at one of these security checks at Indianapolis International, having received little training beyond the classes we all slept through in high school.

The luggage that you check at the airline’s front desk is rarely scanned and only on international flights is your luggage "matched" with you. For instance, if you should not arrive at the gate in time for takeoff on an international flight, the plane will not leave the airport until your particular pieces of luggage are removed from the plane.

This is so that any bomb a terrorist has put into the belly of the plane will be removed.

Obviously, there are a plethora of loopholes in the way airline security is handled in the United States. In some European countries, the military is heavily involved in airline security and most other countries have extremely strict regulations and restrictions in comparison to our own.

Basically, we have been lax in the handling of our own security.

Moreover, the American public has been lulled into a false sense of security since the Sept. 11 attacks, when really all that seems to have been done to improve security is limit the number of carry-on bags and prohibit sharp objects on airliners.

Such measures are akin to putting a Sesame Street Band-Aid on a severed limb.

Personally, I would like to see our government take more proactive steps than those already mentioned to protect its citizens. Federal certification on security equipment, with rigorous standards, would be an excellent start. More thorough security checks would also be highly beneficial. Perhaps even complete federal intervention in the security industry, which has proven that it cannot handle the job that it has been given, would be a reasonable step.

But something has to be done. Frankly, I’m tired of watching our countrymen die needlessly.

Many might say that such measures would be too expensive. I would gawk at the short-sightedness of such people. Do they not realize the amount of money that goes to trivial amenities on flights, such as in-flight movies, bags of peanuts, and those oh-so-tasty in-flight meals? I find it infuriating that, in some cases, more money has been spent on the liquor and meals served in first class than on security for passengers. I’m quite willing to pay the extra money for an airline ticket for an increased amount of security, and judging from the sharp decline in passengers on all airlines, so are most Americans.

A second group of whiners might say that the extra security measures would take too much time and delay flights. To these people, I say that any delay in boarding the plane is worth our safety. And I am willing to bet four years of tuition that, with any delay due to extra security, a flight from New York to San Francisco would still be much faster than Greyhound.

And a final group would question whether or not our rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution and its amendments, would be infringed by increased security. Although these people might have the most valid point of all, I ask that they pull their heads out from the clouds of idealism and plant their feet firmly on the ground I like to call it realism. It’s hard to exercise your rights and freedoms when you’re no longer in existence. Just ask the more than 5,000 victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

I’m by no means advocating the Orwellian implementation of telescreens or something of the like. That would definitely not be "double-plus good." But I would say that making a few small sacrifices of time and money at the airport are fairly menial in comparison to the gains received from increased security.

I believe the civilian casualties our nation has suffered not only justify an increase in airline security but demand it.

Matt Poston is a sophomore in the School of Management. He can be contacted at opinions@purdueexponent.org

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