DOT: Airport Security Lapses Alarming

U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general Kenneth Mead on Wednesday told a Senate panel that explosives detection machines at numerous major airports aren't being operated at full capacity, despite federal mandates to boost security. Further, Mead told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that "alarming lapses" continue to exist in airport security screening systems.

Although the screening machines--deployed at 47 commercial service airports--are supposed to run continuously, Mead said his investigators recently conducted spot checks and found nearly three-quarters of them weren't meeting that target. He recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration set a specific bags-per-hour screening rate that the machines must meet.

The expensive screening equipment would be deployed at all 420 commercial service airports nationwide under legislation now being debated by a House-Senate conference committee. Conferees said they plan to complete work on the legislation before Thanksgiving.