WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) -- The management of the Federal Air Marshal Service told its agents last year to ignore changes to the rules designed to help them board passenger jets anonymously, and continue to board at the convenience of the airlines, according to restricted documents obtained by United Press International.
Whistleblowers and labor leaders in the service say that subjecting marshals to what one called "the whim of the individual airline employees" puts their mission at risk and their lives in danger.
For its part, the service says it would never do anything to put marshals at risk, and that procedures are designed to make boarding as inconspicuous as possible.
At the heart of the dispute is a rule issued by the Federal Aviation Administration in December 2004, designating federal air marshals as "trusted agents." The long-sought change meant marshals could board jetliners -- and stay on them during stopovers -- without the presence of crew members, who are legally required to be on the plane when regular passengers are present.
The change in status, wrote the FAA, was designed to ensure air marshals' anonymity, so that potential hijackers do not know whether or where they are on the plane.
Teams of marshals "have been required to board the aircraft ... in public view of the passengers ... only minutes before the general boarding process, greatly hampering their inconspicuous airport movement," reads the rule-change.
Boarding under such circumstances not only compromised marshals' anonymity, the FAA went on, it also made it difficult for them to properly meet and get to know the seat locations of the crew and any other law enforcement officers on the flight -- vital information in a crisis situation such as an attempted hijacking.
The rule-change was widely reported in the media and welcomed by marshals' representatives.
The new rules provided marshals "sufficient cover ... by allowing them to board the aircraft prior to any passengers being in the gate area," the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association told lawmakers at the time. The association, which represents 24,000 federal agents including 1,500 air marshals, added that the rule "required airline personnel to board the (marshal) when the (marshal) felt it was most opportune to do so."
But within weeks, the marshal service issued an order to its agents that effectively countermanded the FAA rule change.
Marshals "shall follow air carrier policies on pre-boarding procedures," reads a directive signed by the service's then-Director Thomas Quinn on Jan. 5, 2005.
Although marshals can ask to be allowed to board before the full crew is on the plane, the decision rests with the airline gate agents, who "may allow (marshals) to board without FAA minimum crew requirements being fulfilled."
"However, (marshals) shall not enter an aircraft without at least one representative of the air carrier present," concludes the directive, which is classified as "Sensitive Security Information" -- a category of quasi-secrets used by the Transportation Security Administration.
According to a whistleblower complaint by Federal Air Marshal Frank Terreri filed last week with the Office of Special Counsel, the January directive "once again gave the airlines the authority to dictate when the (marshal) would board ... The airline has the discretion to board (marshals) directly in front of all waiting passengers through the gate area immediately prior to general boarding."
Although complaints about marshals' boarding procedures even after the rule change have been aired before, the January directive has not previously been reported.
In an interview, Terreri said restrictions on Sensitive Security Information meant he could not discuss the directive.
"All I can tell you is, the situation is ridiculous," he said. "We are treated like nuisances."
Another marshal who has filed whistleblower complaints, P. Jeffrey Black of the service's Las Vegas field office, told UPI he could not comment on the contents of the directive either.
"But I can tell you what my opinion is" he said, adding, "We are boarded at the whim of the individual airline employees ... Every flight is different. It depends on what mood the airline employee is in that day".
He said the inconsistency was a source of friction and conflict with airline staff.
Federal Air Marshal Service Spokesman David Adams told UPI that he could not discuss or explain the January directive because it was Sensitive Security Information. He also declined to comment on Terrari's whistleblower petition, saying the service had not seen a copy of it.
The FAA rule-change granting trusted agent status was "something the (service's) management worked very hard to get," he said.
Adams said procedures were designed to allow marshals to board "as inconspicuously as possible." But he acknowledged that the air crew was in the driving seat.
"Airlines have control of the boarding process," he said. "The pilot is in charge of the plane."
Bodgan Dzakovic, a former team leader in the pre-Sept. 11 air marshal service, told UPI that one solution would be to have Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, staff meet marshals and escort them through security barriers onto the tarmac, where they could board completely out of sight of other passengers.
Currently, marshals only have security credentials for their "home" airport -- the one where they are based. But every airport has its own system for controlling access, and marshals need to be escorted into the sterile or airside areas of airports other than the one where they are based.
"Now that the marshal service is back inside the TSA," said Dzakovic, "these kinds of arrangements should be easier to make."
