Airport screeners busy this weekend

Stephen Curran

Friday, May 28, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

A day after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge asked U.S. residents to be on the lookout because of a possible terrorist threat, officials from McCarran International Airport and the Transportation Security Administration on Thursday announced a plan the agencies say will make their post-Sept. 11 safety measures more efficient.

Saying the plan will help accommodate the anticipated 200 million airline travelers expected to move through the nation's airports this summer, Jose Ralls, deputy federal security director at McCarran, said the country's roughly 45,000 baggage screeners would work "lengthy overtime" this weekend to help the process move more smoothly.

With the airport's security personnel already working at "maximum level," Ralls would not elaborate on further measures implemented at McCarran.

Airport officials expect an estimated 400,000 arrivals and departures this weekend, spokeswoman Elaine Sanchez said.

The Aviation Partnership Support Plan includes an education and public-relations blitz, including a Web site containing a list of prohibited items, designed to instruct passengers on how to avoid delays, Ralls said.

In Washington today, the federal official in charge of the nation's airports said security has been "stepped up a notch" in the face of renewed terrorism warnings this holiday weekend and said authorities are asking the public to be vigilant.

"If they see anything unusual, report it -- an unattended package, something that just doesn't look right, even odd behavior in the terminal or on the aircraft," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said on NBC's "Today" show.

She said photographs of seven suspected terrorists released Wednesday by the FBI "are everywhere" and that screeners have been redeployed to some of the busiest airports in anticipation of heavy Memorial Day holiday travel.

"Certainly we are going to be on red alert looking for those individuals," Blakey said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Screeners have been told to watch for the seven people wanted by the FBI in connection with suspected terrorist plots, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the TSA. The FBI on Wednesday published a poster with the suspects' photographs, urging the public to report any suspicious behavior.

"That's 45,000 more people in addition," Melendez said of the screeners. "That's what we've been asking our screeners and asking the public."

McCarran officials have not received any "specific information" about a potential attack in Las Vegas, Ralls and Nevada homeland security officials said.

Ralls said some of the responsibility belongs to passengers, adding that they "play an important role in the efficiency of the screening process."

The TSA last week, under pressure from Nevada politicians, announced that McCarran would get 81 additional federally mandated screeners instead of the 35 new slots it originally recommended.

Security back-ups are often caused when passengers mistakenly pack items the Federal Aviation Administration has deemed dangerous, he said.

A baseball bat, for example, could be a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands, Ralls said.

Nationwide, the TSA has confiscated more than 60,000 box cutters and about 1,500 guns since February 2002, Melendez said. Penalties for such offenses include a fine up to $10,000. The average penalty is about $210.