Editorial: A matter of flight safety

Saturday, June 10, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

Air marshal Spencer Pickard thought he might be fired when he appeared May 19 on ABC's "20/20" to protest rules that he says allow marshals to be easily identified. But Pickard - even though a terrorist could now spot the armed officer after his appearance on a nationally televised program - says he was ordered to continue to fly.

Incredibly, his supervisors at the Federal Air Marshal Service told him to continue to work as an air marshal. So he worked three flights on May 22, 23 and 24, but on two other subsequent occasions he didn't fly because air marshals refused to fly with him and sought different partners because - now that his cover was blown - to do so would jeopardize the safety of the flight. United Press International reported this week that Pickard, who had worked out of the Federal Air Marshal Service's Las Vegas field office, has been reassigned as a trainer instead.

Pickard, formerly a vice president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which has had previous run-ins with air marshal management, objects to some rules he says do not require the strict protection of marshal anonymity. He went on national television fully expecting to be terminated or grounded. "I was willing to take this risk to get these issues out there," Pickard told USA Today.

His complaints have additional merit in light of a recently released House Judiciary Committee report that found that the 45-year-old Federal Air Marshal Service does not adequately guard the identity of its marshals. The study noted that the service has shared some of its sensitive tactics and procedures with the media.

Most people who fly know the air marshal service was expanded after 9/11 in an effort to have the marshals blend in as regular passengers, hopefully enabling them to thwart and deter terrorists. But most people don't know who the air marshals are. Not yet, anyway.

The Federal Air Marshal Service, by allowing Pickard to be on a commercial flight, made a terrible decision, showing a callous disregard for air safety. Luckily for the Federal Air Marshal Service and the passengers who were on Pickard's flights, it didn't end in tragedy .