Airport Security Essay -- Safety Airlines Terrorism Papers

Airport Security On September 11, 2001, twenty Arab men boarded four different airplanes with the intent of attacking our country. They boarded the planes with the intent of causing tremendous damage to New York City and Washington, D.C. Two planes crashed into each tower of the World Trade Center, one plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the last plane crashed into a Pennsylvanian field. These twenty men cut short over 3000 lives. The innocent people that died had no need to have their lives taken in the way that they were. However, they lost their lives because they were American, and to the terrorists, they stood for certain principles. How were these terrorists allowed to board these planes with the weapons that they used for the take over? There is an easy answer to that question: airport security was virtually nonexistent. Anyone could be in the terminal. Friends and family could be with the passenger up to the time that the passenger went through the gate. However, since that fateful day, security has been tighter at the airports. Now, before passengers board a plane, they have to go through an x-ray machine and a metal detector before entering the terminal. Sometimes they have to go through random searches at the plane's gate. One question raised from the tighter security measures is whether these security measures invade people's personal rights. Airport security has changed since September 11, but this change is not always a good thing. One of the major changes that has taken place in airport security is more searches are being done. As a result of increasing the number of searches taken place, more people have their privacy rights violated. Another result of the increase of airport security is that less peopl... ...y.html Simon, Harvey. "Homeland Security and Defense." Aviation Week. n.d. 5 June 2002 Swenson, Dan. Personal interview. 23 October 2002 Sperry, Paul. "Know Your Rights at Airport Checkpoints." Worldnetdaily. 9 January 2002, 15 Oct. 2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25974 "Suggestions for Reducing Security Related Threats." Airsafe. 22 October 2001, 16 September 2002 http://www.airsafe.com/events/war/moresafe.htm The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible: The NIV Version. Indianapolis, Indiana: B.B. Kirkbridge Bible CO., INC., 1990 "Travelers' Blues." Free-Market Net. n.d.15 October 2002 http://www.free-market.net/spotlight/airtravel/organizations/ "Women Travelers Complain of 'Busy Hands' Among Airport Guards." Startribune. 25 November 2002, 15 Oct. 2002 http://www.startribune.com/stories/1631/850064.html