Tiffany Network Again Reports General Aviation Is National Security Threat

From the CBS Evening News broadcast Monday, March 14th, 2005...

Bob Schieffer, Anchor: Well, we've learned to take off our shoes, remove the metal objects from our pockets and endure the endless lines at the metal detectors. But for all the time and inconvenience, for all the money spent to make us safer, the government says there are still gaping holes in air travel security. Aviation is still a prime target for a terror attack. Here's CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr in Washington.

Bob Orr, Reporter: Since September 11th, more than $12 billion has been spent to protect US airports, planes and people from another terrorist attack. Bags and passengers are being screened for explosives. Jetliners are flying with reinforced cockpits and thousands of new air marshals. Despite all that, a new report from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warns airliners remain a target and a platform for terrorists. And the worry doesn't end with big jets. Confirming a danger CBS News revealed a year ago, the report says terrorists may also find small aircraft attractive, because of their availability and destructive potential. But Phil Boyer, who represents pilots of small planes, questions the risk.

Orr, in interview with Phil Boyer, President, AOPA: Small planes, certainly you would agree, present some opportunity if somebody wants to do something bad.

Boyer: I would say a small plane puts no more opportunity before a terrorist than a car or a boat or anything that has that size and weight.

Orr: Small planes have not been used in terror attacks. But incidents have raised security questions. After 9/11, a student pilot in Florida stole a small plane and crashed it into a Tampa skyscraper. That was three years ago, yet there are still no government regulations that all small planes be locked and all airports secured.

Boyer: We can't fence every airport. Our estimate is, it would be a $30 billion bill.

Orr: And, three years later, the government has still not completed a national threat assessment. Security officials admit, it doesn't know if enough attention is being paid to small airports.

Michael Chertoff, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security: Going back to the 9/11 plot, we knew there was a period of time that the hijackers were looking at crop dusters. So, again, no one mode of transportation should get attention to the exclusion of everything else.

Orr: Security officials say they know of no specific threat against any sector of US aviation, large or small. But at the same time, intelligence suggests al Qaeda remains fascinated by airplanes -- and dedicated to probing the system for weaknesses. Bob?

Schieffer: You know, Bob, what strikes me about this is we're saying that the government has not yet concluded a threat assessment. What's going to happen after this report? Now we know about this, but what'll be done about it?

Orr: Well, as a practical matter, there's not enough money, not enough manpower or resources to secure all those small airports. There are 17,000 of them. As much as anything, this is just a call for vigilance, Bob, by pilots and the public.

Schieffer: Okay, Bob, thanks very much.

FMI: Bob Orr's Report