Powders on planes: Passengers face new scrutiny at TSA security checkpoints- O'Hare, Midway, other airports get new kits to test powders for explosive

Powders on planes: Passengers face new scrutiny at TSA security checkpoints- O'Hare, Midway, other airports get new kits to test powders for explosives
By Julie Johnsson
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
September 18, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-powder-airport-security-sep18,0,1069723.story


First it was shoes, then water bottles and snow globes.

Now dried baby formula, makeup, talcum and other powders have joined the long list of seemingly innocuous household items drawing closer scrutiny from airport screeners as potential security threats.

Federal authorities haven't banned powders toted by passengers or set limits on the size or amount they are allowed to carry on planes in their hand luggage.

But the Transportation Security Administration is now paying closer attention to common powders and has outfitted O'Hare, Midway and other airports around the country with new kits to test them for explosives. Passengers should be aware that after belongings are X-rayed, TSA officers may test a small sample of any powder in their possession.

The process typically is completed within a few minutes and shouldn't bog down screening, said TSA spokesman Jon Allen. The majority of passengers won't be subjected to the added tests.

Even so, the government's new security directive, which took effect across the country in the past week, is unsettling to some passengers who already have seen the process of flying turned upside down by the shifting rules introduced since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"There are so many nuances and inconsistencies that travelers are totally confused," said Jean Covelli, president of The Travel Team Inc., a Buffalo-based travel management company.

Covelli, speaking as she exited a plane in Tampa, said she hadn't noticed any change in security procedures during five flights she has taken in the past week.

Neither had Tammy Cunnion of Chicago, who was arriving at O'Hare from Dallas. She said she wasn't aware of the powder screening but worried about its potential. "Is it going to affect my deodorant? I'm not giving up my deodorant."

Covelli said she was concerned about a repeat of the travel ban on liquids, which was introduced after United Kingdom authorities unearthed a plot to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic. That rule, imposed with little warning, initially led to long security lines and added expense for uninformed passengers, who were forced to surrender lattes, lotions and other liquids that were larger than 3.4 ounces.

Whether the powder rules lead to similar unpleasantness for travelers will largely depend on how they are enforced, experts said.

"It could make very little difference; it could be a vigorous new regime of testing," said Jay Stanley, a privacy expert with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The TSA said the latest search wasn't prompted by another plot. "There is no specific threat," Allen said. "We are aware that certain types of powders have been used in [improvised explosive devices], so they are an area that we want to look at."

Security experts think the TSA may be trying to get ahead of advances made in home-made bombs, which are rapidly evolving and have been used to great effect by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Still, the measures are providing new fodder to critics who think the TSA is wasting resources on measures that hassle passengers but do little to address real security threats.

"I tell you, if I'm a woman, I'm really angry about this," said travel writer Joe Brancatelli. He noted that common powders like makeup and infant formula are far more likely to be carried by women than men.

While powder isn't easily assembled into a homemade bomb, "you can kill somebody with a 4-inch spike heel," which isn't banned, Brancatelli said.

The two greatest security deterrents were developed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy without the TSA's input: the reinforced cockpit door and passengers' refusal to sit by passively during a hijacking, said Aaron Gellman, a professor at Northwestern University's Transportation Center.

Meanwhile, the TSA still doesn't screen all airplane cargo for explosives, although that has long been identified by experts as a vulnerability.

Even the most sophisticated scanning equipment won't completely eliminate the risk of a passenger smuggling high explosives on a plane, especially since detonators for such devices also can be made of plastic, said Hans Weber, president of TECOP International Inc., a San Diego-based aviation consulting firm.

Weber, a technology and security expert, points to the already long list of items banned or subject to TSA searches and questions where it will end. Common foods, like flour and sugar, can be made into explosives under the right conditions, he said.

Weber describes the current searches as "security theater" that may deter amateur criminals but won't faze sophisticated terrorists or suicide bombers.

"I'm afraid as long as we base security strictly on looking for the bad things, we will be too reactive and really never be secure because they'll think up new things," said Weber.

Weber contends that the only way to deter such terrorists is to shift resources to profiling, combining intelligence and study of behavioral patterns to identify people who pose the greatest threat.

But such an approach is strongly opposed by the ACLU, which views profiling as an invasion of privacy and a "fundamental mistake," Stanley said. "You don't need to know who someone is, you just want to stop them from bringing guns and explosives on an airplane."

While the experts debate the best way to approach security, passengers are growing jaded of the demands placed on them.

Jill Rock of Chicago, who was waiting at O'Hare on Thursday to meet a friend, said she wouldn't worry about the latest TSA scrutiny as she heads to Florence, Italy, next week for chef's school.

"I cook with flour a lot, does that count?" she said. "Or maybe I'd pick up a powdered doughnut."

Tribune reporters Mike Hughlett and Dan Simmons contributed to this report.

jjohnsson@tribune.com