ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607290034
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
SOME WORRY that as the memory of TWA Flight 800 fades from the public mind, so will the impetus for better bomb detection.
Americans check an average of more than 2 million pieces of luggage every day on domestic airline flights. In a year, that adds up to 750 million suitcases, garment bags, boxes, briefcases, strollers, golf bags, skis, musical instruments, pets and who knows what else.
``When I heard President Clinton say he wanted to screen all domestic bags, I thought: `Not tomorrow,''' said Marty Selfen, vice president of the International Airline Passengers Association. ``So the only thing they can implement immediately is spot-checking.''
Aviation security analysts say the steps the president announced Thursday in the aftermath of the TWA Flight 800 disaster will buy some higher measure of safety for the flying public, even as it inconveniences passengers. But because of the size of the task, the analysts add that the effect of the changes may be as much psychological as practical.
``Clinton's right, that he's got to take some measures right now, even though they may not be optimal,'' said Robert Kupperman, a terrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ``To say `Just wait around until something magical occurs in the security field' is simply irresponsible.''
With the changes, travelers may feel safer knowing that more checking is going on, and perhaps some who thought of attacking an airliner will be deterred.
Indeed, analysts said, the heightened level of surveillance of all luggage and the thorough checking of cabins and cargo holds on international flights Clinton ordered might have been enough to detect a bomb - if it was a bomb - that destroyed the TWA 747 on July 17 and took 230 lives off Long Island, N.Y.
But there are not enough people or machines to examine every bag.
What may be more effective in the longer run, however, is a commitment to new technology that can detect the more sophisticated explosive devices of today's terrorists, analysts said. Machines to do the job - being tested in Atlanta and San Francisco - undoubtedly would mean additional delays in flights because they work slowly. And the devices are expensive.
Bomb-sniffing equipment runs about $1 million per machine. Outfitting the major airports with such technology could run anywhere from $100 million to as much as $1 billion nationwide.
The screening devices now in the nation's 474 commercial airports, installed during the 1970s to combat hijackings, have proved effective in finding guns, knives and other dangerous items purposely or accidentally stowed in luggage or carried by passengers. But the devices, used more for carry-on bags than checked luggage, do not pick up nonmetallic materials such as plastics used in many bombs.
Nor do they ensure against such incidents as the hijacking of a Havana-bound Iberia Airlines flight from Madrid to Miami on Friday by a man who claimed to have a bomb.
Some nations that cannot afford exotic machines have turned to exotic animals instead. Some Asian airports, for example, have used gerbils to detect explosive devices. Sri Lanka has used mongooses.
But no system is foolproof, and the technology of bombs and weapons is sure to change even as detection devices improve.
But the costs of bomb-sniffing machines may not be so prohibitive, considering that one jumbo jet costs almost $200 million, said Wayne Williams, a Florida-based aviation safety consultant.
``You are going to pay now or pay later,'' he said.
The Airport and Airways Trust Fund, earmarked for airport and runway improvements as well as security, is funded by a tax on airline tickets that passengers have paid for years and has swelled to about $10.5 billion. That tax expired during budget debates last year, but is expected to be renewed.
``The money is sitting there,'' said Selfen of the International Airline Passengers Association, a group of frequent business flyers.
The danger, Kupperman said, is that the resolve to boost security may weaken as the TWA tragedy fades for all but the families of the victims.
``Policy-makers are in the business of tradeoffs and compromise, and they will feel less heat,'' he said. ``The other thing is, the traveling public, if there hasn't been a bomb lately, is going to be less tolerant of these [tougher] measures.''
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Massachusetts State Trooper Daniel Griffin watchesby CNBas his bomb-detecting German shepherd dog sniffs a passenger's
luggage at Boston's Logan International Airport on Friday.