The attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253 highlighted the importance of detecting improvised explosive devices on passengers. This testimony focuses on: (1) the Transportation Security Admin.¿s (TSA) efforts to procure and deploy advanced imaging technology (AIT), and related challenges; and (2) TSA¿s efforts to strengthen screening procedures and technology in other areas of aviation security, and related challenges. This testimony is based on related reports issued from March 2009 through Jan. 2010, selected updates conducted from Dec. 2009 through March 2010 on the AIT procurement, and ongoing work on air cargo security. Illustrations.
"The attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253 highlighted the importance of detecting improvised explosive devices on passengers. This testimony focuses on (1) the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) efforts to procure and deploy advanced imaging technology (AIT), and related challenges; and (2) TSA's efforts to strengthen screening procedures and technology in other areas of aviation security, and related challenges. This testimony is based on related products GAO issued from March 2009 through January 2010, selected updates conducted from December 2009 through March 2010 on the AIT procurement, and ongoing work on air cargo security. For the ongoing work and updates, GAO obtained information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and TSA and interviewed senior TSA officials regarding air cargo security and the procurement, deployment, operational testing, and assessment of costs and benefits of the AIT."--Highlights.
Aviation Security: TSA Is Increasing Procurement and Deployment of the Advanced Imaging Technology, but Challenges to This Effort and Other Areas of Aviation Security Remain
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations
Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service, and Safety covers the immediate past, present, and future of the airline industry and its effects on consumers and the economy. Aviation receives a disproportionate amount of news coverage in the popular press—not to mention chatter at cocktail parties and workplaces around the world. And why not? Aviation represents a sector of the U.S economy, for example, exceeded in size only by the real estate, healthcare, and automotive industries. Furthermore, hundreds of millions of people fly each year, including 80 million Americans. So we all have airline stories—experiencing a delay and losing a business deal, spending a night or three in the airport, dealing with ornery airline personnel, losing money on airline stocks, or being involved in a near miss. (Or, as George Carlin more accurately put it, a “near hit.”) But things might be on the upswing. Knocked to its knees by 9/11 and a decade of falling revenue and rising losses, the industry’s “flying cheap” strategy and organizational efficiencies based partly on outsourcing have appear to have helped passengers and profitability return. As this book explains, we can look forward to better technology and infrastructure, speedier—and easier—travel, more effective and less invasive security measures, and more jobs in the air and on the ground. Turbulence is always a possibility. Rising fuel costs, economic uncertainty, and future terror attacks could cause tumult once again. Plus, airline companies intend to charge us extra for everything from the weight of our own bodies to use of the bathroom. But as the industry has discovered, we’ll put up with that—and more—if we can make it to our destinations with bags intact and a smaller dent in our wallets. Soft Landing will: Sort out the promise and perils facing the airlines Analyze and articulate the potential impact of changes in the aviation industry on passengers, airports, governments, the global economy, and the airlines themselves Give airline passengers worldwide an idea of what’s ahead when it comes to airline service, security, and technology
Intermodal transportation terminals -- locations where multiple modes or types of passengers or cargo transportation connect and merge -- are potentially high value targets for terrorists. For ex., NYCs Penn Station functions as an intermodal hub (IH) for Amtrak, 2 main commuter rail lines, and 6 subway routes. The Transport. Security Admin. (TSA) has responsibility for securing the aviation and surface transport. sectors (ASTS). This report addresses the following questions: (1) To what extent has TSA taken actions to ensure that efforts to strengthen the security of the ASTS are based on a risk mgmt. framework, esp. those that include IH? (2) To what extent has TSA taken actions to ensure the security of the ASTS, esp. those actions that involve IH?
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations
