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Airport Screeners Allowing Scissors, Small Tools On Board

December 5, 2005

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Just in time for the holiday travel season, airport screeners are preparing to step up random screenings of passengers. At the same time, passengers will now be allowed to carry small cutting tools on board commercial aircraft.

The Transportation Security Administration�s new modified list of allowable items includes "scissors with a cutting edge of four inches or less and tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers smaller than seven inches."

The agency said that scissors more than four inches in length still are prohibited. Passengers will also be prevented from carrying crowbars, drills, hammers, saws and lighters with them on airliners.

TSA said it is modifying its list so that screeners can focus "on more serious threats." Presumably explosives fall into that category. TSA said it has been aggressively working in recent months to improve its ability to detect explosives.

The search for explosives will result in closer inspections of passengers, which may result in some travel delays. TSA agents are being told to screen shoes for explosives, conduct more hand-wand inspections, carry out "enhanced pat-down searches" and look more closely at all carry-on baggage.

"It is paramount to the security of our aviation system that terrorists not be able to know with certainty what screening procedures they will encounter at airports around the nation," said TSA director Kip Hawley.

"By incorporating unpredictability into our procedures and eliminating low-threat items, we can better focus our efforts on stopping individuals that wish to do us harm."

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