Security less severe at private terminals

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2001 | 9:43 a.m.

Long delays for security checks have suddenly become a part of air travel in Las Vegas, unless the traveler is flying on a private plane out of McCarran International Airport's general aviation area.

Security measures are far less severe at McCarran's private Executive and Signature Flight Support terminals than in the commercial terminals.

The private terminals sit at the northwest corner of the airport, across busy runways from McCarran's main terminals. The private terminals have their own entrances off Las Vegas Boulevard South between Tropicana Avenue and Sunset Road.

The aircraft leaving from those terminals use the same runways as commercial flights, but that is the only similarity.

There is no baggage scanning in the two private terminals, and relatively little security clearance overall, Clark County Aviation Director Randy Walker said.

"They do not have nearly the same level of security that we have over here," Walker said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that the security is different because of laws that require additional precautions for mass transit, FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder said.

"With general aviation you have private vehicles like a personal car," Snyder said. "Commercial airlines are mass transit, like a bus or a ship, and there is more stringent security there.

"One of the big concerns is that an airplane can be used as a weapon, and the FAA is looking at new security measures."

Snyder said that in the end there are more safety measures for commercial flights because more travelers fly on them. Two federal task forces are expected to deliver recommendations about airline and aircraft safety on Monday, and new regulations for general aviation could come from the groups, Snyder said.

Executive and Signature serve as a kind of truck stop for planes where private aircraft owners can get gas, store their planes and get maintenance and repair work done.

The types of planes most commonly found at the two terminals are the types not affected by the ongoing grounding of general aviation flights. The aircraft at these terminals are, for the most part, larger, corporate jets that are still allowed to fly while small recreational planes remain grounded.

Some private planes are housed in hangars rented from Signature or Executive, while other plane owners store their aircraft in private hangars.

Charter companies operating out of the terminals specialize in helping well-heeled passengers get to their destinations without the hassles of commercial airports -- including the security checks.

"I charge $3,500 to fly to Los Angeles and $25,000 to go to New York, so that tends to weed a lot of people out," Eagle Jet Charter chief pilot Doug Wright said. "But now it seems like the terrorists have the money to use charter services."

Many of Wright's customers are repeat business, and many are high rollers vouched for by Strip resorts. He also reserves the right not to take a passenger if he doesn't want to.

"We pretty much just check driver's licenses, but if I don't want to take someone somewhere, I just tell them the plane is having repairs done," Wright said.

The terminals keep the details of their security plans confidential, but Signature security administrator Leroy Jackson said that Signature makes a series of security checks that include requiring anybody leaving the terminal to show identification.

"We aren't required to run screens on bags," Jackson said. "A lot of that we have to leave up to the individual aircraft."

As at McCarran, Metro Police respond to all public safety calls and security breaches at the terminals, such as unauthorized people out on the tarmac, or in the hangars, police said.

The private terminals also rely on the same security badge system used at the commercial airport.

The employees who work at the Signature and Executive terminals must go through criminal background checks and employment history checks of the past 10 years. Metro conducts the background checks, and job applicants who pass must score 100 percent on a written security examination.

The coding on the back of the cards determines which areas employees have access to, airport spokeswoman Debbie Millett said.

"The cards will only give them access to the areas they need to be in," Millett said.

For example a gas man or mechanic would have clearance to be outside around the aircraft or in a hangar, but a counter worker may only have clearance for doors inside the terminal.

Pilots also go through the security checks to receive badges, because they have to be cleared to get out to the planes. Pilots, or other badged personnel, can escort those without security clearance to planes, McCarran officials said.

Private planes also are based in hangars at Quail Park Property Management, 195 E. Reno Ave., which are accessible to owners and passengers from street entrances. That allows them to get to their planes without going through restricted areas, avoiding the associated security measures.

The security measures at Executive and Signature are fairly common at larger general aviation airports nationwide. Only at Midway Airport in Chicago, where there is almost an equal split between commercial and general aviation, are private and charter flight passengers checked and their bags screened, Wright said.

But that could change, he said.

"That's the only place I know of that does that, but I expect that the Federal Aviation Administration will be handing down some new regulations for us," Wright said. "Right now we use our own common sense and vigilance, and I remember that when I'm flying someone, I'm also flying my kid's dad."