By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com
September 11, 2007
Six years after commercial airplanes were used as weapons in the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the Dept. of Homeland Security is tightening rules on private planes too.
Although the rules wont be enforced before the middle of next year, they will require private aircraft coming from international destinations to divulge names, birth dates, and other data about passengers before they take off.
Current rules stipulate that private planes arriving from overseas land at airports where U.S. Customs officials can search and screen both planes and passengers. Plane searches are necessary, officials say, because terrorists may attempt to smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into the United States aboard a private plane.
More than 400 private planes from foreign destinations land in the U.S. daily. Both U.S. and foreign-flag planes are included in the Homeland Security order.
Plugging the private plane loophole has long been a priority for Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. He says the new rules will permit Customs agents to match passenger manifestos against terrorist watch lists before planes are allowed to leave.
Pilots will be required to provide passenger data one hour before takeoff a tightening of a current regulation that mandates such information be released just before planes touch down on U.S. territory.
Starting next February, commercial pilots will also be required to furnish passenger information prior to takeoff.
According to Chertoff, Homeland Securitys ultimate goal is to pre-screen private plane passengers overseas prior to boarding. Commercial airline passengers are already subject to such checks.
