"changes immediately" in pilot screening!?

[Lowrider717]

I think we owe the Express Jet pilot and the UsAir pilot who caused such a stink and brought this to national attention a big thank you for finally getting this done. It took their actions to finally get the pilot unions heavily involved.

You got that right! And you might throw a dime or two toward www.rutherford.org as they'll probably be pushing ahead with this lawsuit. So now that they've effectively silenced the rumbling masses of pilots, its up to the people to start making some noise.

For Immediate Release: November 19, 2010​

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http://m1e.net/c?97794925-OiI49ou66kTrY@5935304-7/f.VlYjneFBkhttp://m1e.net/c?97794925-6ZSj2jcOZg74s@5935305-DLcbJ7dLxU1Tchttp://m1e.net/c?97794925-DOwFAFcDCYSv.@5935306-78f4c3U/KsCDkhttp://m1e.net/c?97794925-JhxWyz.ma7yNA@5935307-pNIPlft0XVfTYTSA Agrees to Exempt Pilots from Scanners & Full Body 'Rub-Downs' After Rutherford Institute Files Fourth Amendment Lawsuit


WASHINGTON, DC—Within days of The Rutherford Institute filing a Fourth Amendment lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Agency (TSA) over its security screening procedures for airline pilots, the TSA has announced that it is amending its policy to exempt pilots from having to submit to either full-body scans or enhanced pat-down searches. In a press release issued today, TSA Administrator John Pistole stated that the agency is immediately modifying security procedures to allow U.S. air carrier pilots to pass through security by showing airline-issued identification and another form of identification. The Rutherford Institute filed a lawsuit on Tues., Nov. 16, on behalf of two airline pilots who refused to submit to airport security screening involving full-body scanners or enhanced pat-down searches, which involve groping of persons’ intimate areas. The Institute’s lawsuit asks the court to prohibit DHS and TSA from continuing to unlawfully use full-body scanners and newly-implemented enhanced pat-down procedures as the first line of airport security screening.
The complaint in Michael Roberts, et al., v. Janet Napolitano, et al. is available at www.rutherford.org.
“Although the TSA’s concession may make it easier for pilots to travel, American passengers will still be subjected to these full-body scans and invasive pat downs in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “No American, pilot or passenger, should be forced to undergo a virtual strip search or subjected to such excessive groping of the body as a matter of course in reporting to work or boarding an airplane when there is no suspicion of wrongdoing. To do so violates human dignity and the U.S. Constitution, and goes against every good and decent principle this country was founded upon.”
Collectively, Michael Roberts, a pilot for ExpressJet Airlines, Inc., and Ann Poe, a pilot on the Boeing 777 for Continental Airlines and one of the first 100 women commercial airline pilots in the United States, have more than 50 years of piloting experience and thousands of hours of combined flight time. In two separate incidents taking place on Oct. 15, 2010, and Nov. 4, 2010, respectively, TSA screeners asked Roberts and Poe, who were on their way to work, to submit to full-body scanning or be subjected to a full pat-down frisk of their persons. Upon refusing, both pilots were prevented from passing through security, and unable to report to work on the days in question and since then. The only alternative to the full-body scan, which has been likened to a “virtual strip-search,” is an enhanced pat-down in which a TSA screener presses their “open hands and fingers over most parts of an individual’s body including the breasts, and uses the back of the hands when touching the buttocks. Additionally, officers slide their hands all the way from the inner thigh up to the groin until the hand cannot venture any higher because it is literally stopped by the person’s groin.” The complaint alleges that these procedures amount to an unreasonable search and seizure of airline employees and travelers passing through security. DHS continues to rapidly deploy full-body scanners throughout U.S. airports, with 491 machines to be deployed by December 2010, and an additional 500 machines in 2011. However, a growing number of Americans are voicing concerns about the impact of the scanners on their privacy rights and the risks they pose to travelers’ health.

 

[NoJoy]

Very good news indeed!

 

[StopNTSing]

Gotta admit, I'm still confused. Does this mean we go back to status-quo (bags through x-ray and walk through the metal detector), or do we even get to bypass that ala CrewPass?

 

[Tripower455]

You read my mind. My guess is 2 years.

That'll make it an even quarter of a century since this nonsense started!

 

[HAL]

Gotta admit, I'm still confused. Does this mean we go back to status-quo (bags through x-ray and walk through the metal detector), or do we even get to bypass that ala CrewPass?

As of now (from what I've read) we do as we've done in the past; we go through the metal detector, but won't be subject to the X-ray scanner or 'enhanced' pat-downs. Once CrewPass is activated, we go through much as the FFDO's do now. Of course this changes by the hour, so it may change again.

HAL

 

[Raskal]

...we go through much as the FFDO's do now. Of course this changes by the hour, so it may change again.

HAL

Going through Crewpass is considerably faster than the FFDO bypass process. This is a good thing if it actually happens.

 

[maru657]

What is "immediately" in government speak?

Gup

Don't hold your breath.

 

[densoo]

All that--for this?

Isn't this what we have now?! Metal detectors, old-style patdown, and the faint promise of CrewPass sometime in the indeterminable future? I don't want to unpack my bag and walk through the detector at all, starting now. This is basically no change for pilots.


This is John Prater with the BOD Update for November 19, 2010.

The new protocols specify that uniformed flight and cabin crew personnel will not be subjected to checkpoint screening via Advanced Imaging Technologies (millimeter wave or x-ray backscatter). Instead, they will be screened using walk-though metal detector (WTMD) and standard “localized” pat-downs to resolve anomalies, as necessary. TSA has extended these same security rules to all non-U.S. pilots including all Canadian pilots. I had the pleasure of personally informing the Canada Board this afternoon of this most welcome news.

TSA also informed us that the agency is taking actions to expedite the use of CrewPASS for pilots to gain entrance into airport sterile areas. TSA Administrator John Pistole stated that pilots are “trusted partners who ensure the safety of millions of passengers flying every day. Allowing these uniformed pilots, whose identify has been verified, to go through expedited screening at the checkpoint just makes for smart security and an efficient use of our resources.”

 

[JoeMerchant]

More of the same...There is already a database for pilots called CASS..Use it and quit with the BS excuses. Keep the pressure on.

 

[IBNAV8R]

TSA Administrator John Pistole stated that pilots are “trusted partners who ensure the safety of millions of passengers flying every day. Allowing these uniformed pilots, whose identify has been verified, to go through expedited screening at the checkpoint just makes for smart security and an efficient use of our resources.”

I don't, for a minute, think Pistole actually believes this spew - especially since so many of us are "radicalized" veterans (according to his boss). The ONLY reason this change came about is to quell the most vocal, credible and influential opponents.

I'm happy about the "change" but it doesn't address the concerns I have about traveling with my wife and daughter. Hence, back to my previous notion to drive or take the train.