USA TODAY September 29, 2004
Terrorists could bring down U.S. jets with hidden bombs
By Alan Levin
Suicide attackers armed with hidden explosives that can weigh as little as a cellphone pose a serious threat to the nation's aviation system despite billions being spent on new efforts to tighten security, according to more than a dozen members of Congress and security consultants.
The nearly simultaneous bombings of two Russian airliners in midair on Aug. 24 prompted the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to unveil new security equipment and to order more aggressive searches of passengers. But alarming vulnerabilities remain: There's no reliable way to detect bombs under people's clothing, and the vast majority of carry-on bags are not checked for explosives.
"We have very low protection against a suicide bomber strapped with explosives," says Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Aviation subcommittee. "It ushers in a whole new era of danger for the aviation industry."
Security officials have struggled for years to defend against plane bombings. Blowing up jets is a high-priority goal for terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, which has tried to bring down planes with nitroglycerin poured into a bottle of contact lens solution and plastic explosives molded into a shoe.
But the Russian bombings, likely carried out by Chechen female suicide operatives, have renewed fears that a determined terrorist could slip past U.S. security measures. Many of today's modern explosives -- and even some older varieties -- would be nearly impossible to detect as long as the passenger carrying them was not flagged for additional airport security checks.
"It's a matter of time before what happened in Russia happens in Australia, the UK or the United States," says Chris Yates, aviation security editor for Jane's Transport magazine.
It's already happened elsewhere
A key distinction between explosives and weapons such as guns or knives is detectability. Airport X-ray machines and metal detectors are designed to find metal and weapons, not explosives. Plastique, TNT, nitroglycerin and other common ingredients in bombs can be detected with machines that test for trace amounts of explosives. But security officials typically only do the test after a traveler arouses suspicion, such as by purchasing a ticket at the last minute.
In the "trace" detection test, security workers swab a suitcase, purse or laptop. The swab is fed into a device the size of a computer, which can reliably spot extremely small amounts of explosives. However, the test is mainly used on bags, not people. And since the vast majority of bags are not tested, it is not a reliable way to prevent explosives from getting on board flights.
Undercover investigators for the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general sneaked weapons and explosives past security at 15 airports in 2003, the agency reported last week.
Despite a complete overhaul of the nation's aviation security system since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the main protections against explosives remain indirect: metal detectors or X-rays may find wires used as detonators; unusual shapes beneath clothing could prompt additional searches; and watch lists may identify those mostly likely to be terrorists.
Lawmakers are vowing to push for new equipment that can find explosives on people. The "puffer" machines, which can detect minute quantities of explosives in the air around a person, are used at nuclear plants and are being tested at five airports. But the cash-strapped TSA cannot afford large numbers of the machines, and Congress has so far not allocated money to purchase them.
The effort received a boost from the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, which recommended in its final report that the government begin checking passengers for explosives. Citing intelligence documents, the report said that a top al-Qaeda leader, Mohammed Atef, concluded in the mid-1990s that bombing flights in midair was "a promising means to inflict massive casualties."
Bomb plots have been studied and even carried out by al-Qaeda for nearly a decade. Ramzi Yousef, the al-Qaeda terrorist convicted of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center, killed a Japanese man and nearly caused a crash when a bomb he placed on a Philippine Airlines 747 exploded on Dec. 11, 1994. The bombing was a test run for a plot to blow up 12 U.S. jets, a one-day terror spree that was prevented only when Yousef's bomb-making lab caught fire.
Richard Reid, known as "the shoe bomber," successfully wore sneakers packed with plastic explosives on an American Airlines flight on Dec. 22, 2001, despite arousing security concerns and being turned away from a flight a day earlier. His plot was foiled after the bomb's fuse wouldn't light and passengers jumped him.
The bombings of twin flights in Russia last month began a wave of Chechen attacks that have killed hundreds, including the takeover of a school that killed 335 people.
Russian authorities say that two women boarded the flights with explosives. The women had been detained by police when they reached the airport and were turned over to security officials, but the airport security chief let them go, according to Russian news reports. At least one of the women bribed her way through security, the reports say.
The two flights disappeared from radar within seconds of each other. All 90 people aboard the two planes died.
It's not known how the women got the explosives aboard, but other Chechen suicide bombers have strapped them to their bodies. Only a small amount of explosives would have destroyed the planes.
Jets are not designed to withstand bombs. Even a moderate blast at high altitude can trigger a violent decompression that tears a jet apart. For example, less than a pound of plastic explosives inside a cassette recorder was used to destroy Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270.
Just a little can destroy jet
Accident investigators suspect that an even smaller charge brought down an Avianca 727 near Bogota, Colombia, in 1989. The bomb set off a secondary explosion of vapors in the jet's fuel tank that destroyed the jet; the bombing remains unsolved.
Russian officials report that they found traces of Hexogen, also known as RDX, on wreckage from both jets. RDX is a common explosive. When its raw powder form is mixed with compounds the consistency of putty, it becomes a plastic explosive.
There's little doubt that the overall security system in this country is better than Russia's, security experts say. Russian authorities arrested a man earlier this month who allegedly provided the Chechen women with tickets shortly before their flights left. According to the Interfax news agency, the man made money by illegally selling tickets at the airport. He helped one woman board a flight after check-in had ended and assisted another through security, the news agency reported.
Such activities are forbidden at airports here, and last-minute ticket purchases would most likely trigger additional security checks of passengers. Government officials and security experts say, however, that even additional checks of passengers and their carry-on bags in this country may not have caught the bombs. They cite these reasons:
* Airline passengers must pass through metal detectors, but there are no machines used to detect explosives on people.
* All checked luggage, which rides in the cargo hold, is screened for explosives. But most bags that passengers carry with them are not.
* Bomb-sniffing dogs can find bombs, but few passengers are scrutinized by the dogs.
* A computer system monitors passengers for suspicious behavior, such as buying a ticket at the last minute, and selects some people for additional security. These extra checks typically trigger a check for trace amounts of explosives on carry-on bags and additional searches, such as a pat-down. But few passengers are selected for this additional security.
Homeland Security Department officials say other measures, such as trying to prevent terrorists from entering the country and tightly restricting access to explosives, help prevent attacks here.
"I think considering all the security measures in place, passengers should feel comfortable flying," says Asa Hutchinson, Homeland Security's Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security. He says the agency is working to add new security measures.
On Sept. 20 the government began conducting more rigorous searches of passengers whose clothing appears suspicious. Screeners may more aggressively pat down passengers and require people to remove outer layers, such as coats and bulky sweaters.
In addition to the machines that detect explosives on people, the government is testing a device that examines passports and boarding passes from passengers to determine whether they have come in contact with explosives.
Another machine that uses low-strength X-rays to peer beneath a passenger's clothes to reveal hidden weapons has been developed. So far, however, there are no plans to deploy these machines in large numbers, and the TSA, which oversees airport security, has no money with which to buy them.
Congressmen Mica and Rep. Peter DeFazio, the ranking Democrat on the Aviation Subcommittee, say it will cost $250 million to $300 million to place one of the machines that sniff explosives at each airport security checkpoint in the country. It would be impractical and create huge delays to screen every passenger, but at least passengers who raise suspicions could be checked for explosives, they say.
Preliminary information from tests this summer show that the machines function well in the field, officials say. The lawmakers say they will seek funding for the machines later this year. "TSA staff admits it's a mature technology," DeFazio says. "All it needs is money to deploy it. But they are acting as if this isn't a real threat."
Says Mica: "I hope it doesn't take a horrible incident to wake up Congress to fund these systems."
Contributing: Mimi Hall, Toni Locy
Plastic explosives
Plastic explosives were designed for military use during World War II and are among the most volatile components used in terrorist attacks. The explosive has been used in bombings such as Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia.
Such explosives are a draw for terrorists because:
* They're malleable and easy to mold inside belts, shoes and bags.
* They're odorless.
* Typically they won't set off metal detectors.
* They're stable and resistant to temperature changes.
Types of explosives
Composition 4, known as C-4, is the most well-known. Others are PENO and Semtex.
How plastic explosives are made
Manufacturers mix an explosive such as powdered RDX (research development explosive) with clay-like compounds.
Sources: Jane's Information Group, www.GlobalSecurity.org, wire reports, www.HowStuffWorks.com.
Reported by Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY.
Bomber could foil screening process
Passengers
There is currently no way to test people for explosives before they board airline flights. Passengers must pass through metal detectors, so a bomb with metal parts may be detected. Many people's shoes are X-rayed.
Some people receive additional security, which could include a more careful search for metal objects.
What's new: Federal officials have begun more aggressively patting down some passengers. Devices that detect whether people have handled explosives are being tested at several airports.
Another machine that can see hidden weapons or bombs beneath clothing is still undergoing tests.
Carry-on bags
All carry-on items must be put through an X-ray machine. But such machines aren't reliable for detecting explosives. Security workers test small numbers of bags -- probably fewer than one or two in 10 -- for explosive material.
Checked bags
After Sept. 11, Congress required that all checked luggage be screened for explosives. The government began testing all bags for bombs at the start of this year.
Source: Transportation Security Administration, USA TODAY research
GRAPHIC: GRAPHICS, B/W, Sam Ward, USA TODAY (ILLUSTRATIONS) (3); PHOTO, Color, Tatyana Makeyeva, AFP; PHOTO, B/W, Mannie Garcia, Reuters; PHOTO, B/W, Ribbands Explosives; No survivors: Russian rescuers search the wreckage of a Tu-154 passenger jet outside Rostov, Russia, on Aug. 25. A suicide bomber apparently took plastic explosives aboard and detonated them.
© Copyright 2004, Gannett Company, Inc.
