TSA highlights passenger watch list milestone
July 12, 2010, 11:11 pm
The Transportation Security Administration reports that it is now fulfilling a major safety recommendation from the 9/11 Commission.
According to the TSA, all passengers traveling within the United States and its territories are now being checked against terrorist watch list information through the federal Secure Flight program. The TSA notes that previously, airlines had been the ones that conducted checks against passenger watch lists.
"This program is one of our many layers of security - coordinated with our partners in the airline industry and governments around the world -that we leverage to protect the traveling public against threats of terrorism," said Grace Napolitano, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Under the TSA system, passengers are checked using factors like date of birth, gender and name before a boarding pass is issued to them. The program is also said to cut down on incidents where passengers are mistaken for people on the watch list who have similar names.
Passengers have the added convenience of printing boarding passes at home by providing their identification information. If their name triggers any additional red flags, they are subject to secondary screening before departure.
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