L.A.-Washington flight is target of unspecified threat

[BEER980]

I have been watching this story for several days now. The level of scrutiny is amazing. They are following the flight crew from the time they get to the airport until they board the plane. Going through everything in their bags and going through multiple xray/metal detectors.

WASHINGTON - A daily United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington is undergoing extra security checks because of an unspecified threat.

United spokesman Jeff Green confirmed the Transportation Security Administration is conducting additional checks of the crew and passengers on Flight 200 to Washington Dulles International Airport.

Green said the TSA did not explain why additional scrutiny was needed, but "according to the TSA, there have been no specific, credible threats made against any United flights."

He did not say when the extra checks began. But a security alert from the Airline Pilots' Security Alliance, dated April 30, said the TSA had designated Flight 200 as a "flight of interest." The memo complained that the TSA was subjecting the flight crew and passengers to extra scrutiny without saying why.

TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield would not comment about Flight 200. But he said the agency sometimes designates a certain route as a "flight of interest" if the agency has "reason to believe - through intelligence streams - it has been linked to a specific or nonspecific threat."

It was not immediately clear how long the extra checks of Flight 200 would continue.

Source

[stormraiser]

Yes, this has been going on for a little while. But because they are able to watch every step, they haven't had to cancel the flights.

[wx247]

See... this type of security is exactly what needs to be done. I doubt it will be able to stop every terrorist attack, but it is making us a lot safer.

[stormraiser]

True Garrett. In the DC area, they are testing equipment that can be used for the train systems. This equipment is supposed to be able to sniff out explosives.