Terrorism raises in-flight safety concerns

CHICAGO, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Two Orthodox Jews praying put passengers on edge aboard a Delta flight, three Saudi men were detained for trying to open the emergency door on a United plane and a drunken Australian man was arrested on an American jetliner.

Terrorism and the fear of hijacking have raised levels of stress and anxiety inside airline cabins both on and off the ground.

Jeff Zack, spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants, said the lack of in-flight policies on the part of carriers and federal government has left flight crews and passengers feeling they're on their own once the cabin door is shut.

There are anecdotal stories of pilots banning passengers from forward lavatories, asking passengers not to congregate in the aisles and ordering people to remain in their seats during flights.

"There are some restrictions on flights using Washington's Reagan (National) Airport," said John Mazor, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association. "I've heard that passengers are being asked to remain in their seats for the last 30 minutes of their flights into Reagan," Mazor said. But, he said, he has not seen a written directive by the airlines or the government.

Federal air marshals are supposed to be aboard all flights landing and departing from National and there are special restrictions on runway use to keep planes away from the White House, Capitol, the Pentagon, national monuments and other federal buildings.

American Airlines said its pilots began asking passengers to remain seated with their seat belts buckled two years ago, but that was to protect people from injury in clear-air turbulence.

"We don't tell passengers not to use the bathroom," spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said. She said passengers are not admonished to sit down if they get out of their seats.

"Instructions given by the captain are to protect passengers in the air," she said.

A United Airlines official had not heard anything about pilots restricting use of forward lavatories to keep passengers away from the cockpit area.

Passengers already undergo enhanced screening in terminals before they get to the gate. While curbside check-in is back on a carrier-by-carrier basis, passengers are required to show a government-issued photo ID at several points, including the gate, and are limited to one carry-on bag and one personal item like a purse or briefcase.

Electronic tickets are accepted with proper documentation, like a written reservation confirmation number. Some airlines still use automated check-in kiosks for e-tickets.

While walking canes, safety razors (with disposable cartridges) and nail clippers are now permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration, knives, cutting instruments, ice picks, straight razors, box cutters, metal nail files, corkscrews, bats, golf clubs, ski poles and hockey sticks are not allowed.

Only ticketed passengers are permitted beyond the screening checkpoints.

There have been calls for airports to install high-tech security systems, like touch screen fingerprint recognition or iris (eye) scans to authenticate employees and frequent fliers.

ALPA backs arming pilots on a voluntary basis, with proper weapons training, licensing and deputizing as federal law officers.

"We need to protect the cabin but we don't support pilots carrying guns," Zack said. The flight attendants have been on the front lines of air rage for years dealing with angry, disturbed and intoxicated customers.

The flight attendants association would like to see a non-lethal weapon, like a stun gun, capable of incapacitating an unruly person placed in a secure area of airline cabins, provided air crews receive proper training on how to use it.

"Airlines have been slow to deal with the problem," he said.

ALPA agrees flight attendants could use some new training.

"We were trained that you didn't resist during a hijacking ... There's a guy who wanted something. Now the hijacker may just want to kill you," Mazor said.

Pilots have discussed emergency tactics like violent maneuvering to toss would-be hijackers around or de-pressurizing the cabin as last-ditch actions.

Other than National Guard troops stationed around screening checkpoints at major airports, the flight attendants said there's no more security now than before Sept. 11 when two United and two American Airlines planes, were hijacked and turned into human guided missiles for attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington.

"Nothing has changed at all. People are being screened by the same screeners," Zack said.

Delta Airlines Flight 458 from Atlanta to Newark, N.J., landed in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday when passengers got nervous as two Orthodox Jews prayed. Three Saudi men who spoke little or no English were taken off a United Airlines plane at the O'Hare International Airport terminal when they tried to open an emergency door to give their ailing father some fresh air and an intoxicated Australian man was charged with interfering with a flight crew, a felony.

A mentally ill passenger who broke into the cockpit on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Chicago on Oct. 8 was sent to a federal prison in Butner, N.C., Monday for psychiatric evaluation.

Edward Coburn, a 31-year-old engineer, kept raving about pilots crashing the Boeing 767 into the Sears Tower after he was restrained by several passengers. He later attempted suicide at the Metropolitan Correction Center. A competency hearing was scheduled Nov. 9.