[Infowarrior] - U.S. Eyes Antiterror Rules for Small Jets and Boats

[Richard Forno]

U.S. Eyes Antiterror Rules for Small Jets and Boats

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/washington/16secure.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

By ERIC LIPTON
Published: June 16, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 15 ‹ Acknowledging that the nation remains too vulnerable
to terrorist attack by small planes and recreational boats, the Department
of Homeland Security is considering new requirements to allow authorities to
identify operators and passengers in millions of these vehicles as they ply
the coasts and skies.

Department personnel have been touring the country meeting with trade groups
and elected officials to gauge their reaction to the proposed changes, to be
issued by the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard.

³What I¹m trying to do is to kind of stick my toe in the water and see if I
get bit by a piranha,² the Coast Guard commandant, Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen,
told a group of state legislators at a recent briefing.

The Coast Guard proposals in particular are still in the conceptual stages
but are already drawing protests from boat owners, who under one measure
would be required to pass a proficiency test and to carry a form of
government-issued identification.

³These are ill-conceived solutions that will inconvenience everyone and not
result in a substantial increase in security,² said Michael G. Sciulla,
senior vice president of the Boat Owners Association of the United States,
which is already organizing to fight the proposals.

The threat posed by small planes and boats has been well documented. While
the United States is spending billions of dollars to screen cargo containers
carried by ships, as well as passengers and baggage on commercial planes, a
small private jet could be used to fly a weapon, or a team of terrorists,
into the country.

The first set of new rules, to be announced by the end of this summer, will
most likely be for small planes. Under those rules, boarding of small
private planes would continue to be allowed without X-ray screening of
passengers and baggage.

But passengers on corporate and fractionally owned jets would for the first
time be required to undergo terrorist-watch-list checks, particularly if
they are flying into the United States from overseas.

A similar mandate now generally applies only to small planes flying as a
charter.

Under another proposal, general aviation airports, which range from a grass
runway in the middle of a field to sprawling complexes with air traffic
rivaling that at some major city airports, would have to conduct security
assessments, identifying vulnerabilities. In addition, planes parked at
those airports might be required to have ignition or propeller locks.

Kip Hawley, assistant secretary of the Transportation Security
Administration, said two goals of the new initiative could provoke at least
some protests: ensuring that unauthorized pilots cannot gain access to small
planes and that officials have a way of knowing who is at the controls of a
plane in flight.

A variety of options are under consideration to meet these goals, including
requiring that small planes eventually have equipment that would allow the
authorities to know automatically the plane¹s owner and the pilot¹s
identity.

³We know which pilots own which aircraft,² Mr. Hawley said in an interview.
³The next step would be to know who is on the runway in that aircraft.²

Many pilots maintain adamantly that their small planes pose only a very
modest threat: a four-seat, single-engine Cessna weighs about the same as a
medium-size S.U.V. And the industry is represented by a lobbying group ‹ the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association ‹ that is known for its campaigns to
preserve liberties and that is indeed sometimes referred to as the ³N.R.A.
of the air.²

The right to captain a small boat, meanwhile, with little interference by
the government is fiercely defended by organizations like the boat owners
association.

Mr. Hawley and Admiral Allen said they were trying to work closely with
these groups to avoid a conflict. A National Small Vessel Security Summit,
for instance, is scheduled for later this month in the Washington area.

But Michael Chertoff, secretary of homeland security, said his department
would not be shy about making new demands.

³If we just need to be a little tougher,² Mr. Chertoff said, ³we¹re going to
be a little tougher.²

Matthew L. Wald contributed reporting.
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