'Sharp' Controversy Over Carry-Ons

Feds Propose Allowing Small Scissors, Tools Aboard Airliners Again

(CBS/AP)  Small scissors and screwdrivers are among the items airline passengers will soon be allowed to take aboard planes again, Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley announced Friday.

Hawley said the change will take effect Dec. 22 and is part of a broader effort aimed at having screeners spend more of their time searching for explosives rather than small, sharp objects that don't pose as great a risk.

Passengers also can expect more randomness at security gates so would-be terrorists won't know for sure what they will see. For example, an airport might require all passengers to remove their shoes one day but not the next.

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

Among the items no longer prohibited from airliner cabins: scissors 4 inches or less, and tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers that are smaller than 7 inches.

Flight attendants and some lawmakers say the changes undermine security.

Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., said Thursday they intend to introduce a bill to preserve the current list of items barred from the cabin.

"The Bush administration proposal is just asking the next Mohamed Atta to move from box cutters to scissors as the weapon that's used in the passenger cabin of planes," Markey said, referring to the leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Justin Green is an attorney for the families of three flight attendants who died aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which hijackers crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Two of the flight attendants, Bobbi Arestegui and Karen Martin, were stabbed by the terrorists. The third, Betty Ong, reported what was happening during the hijacking in a telephone call to authorities on the ground.

"The families are outraged that the TSA is planning on letting weapons back on board," Green said.

Airlines generally support the plan. So does the pilots' largest union, the Air Line Pilots Association, and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

"I think we need to adjust some of the adjustments that we made right after 9/11, and I think this is a step in the right direction. We get away from weapons and start focusing on potential terrorists," Ridge said. "I think you've embedded enough security along the way that some of these things should be permitted, because it's customary for people to carry them, and I don't think it will enable them to get to the cockpit."

Bob Hesselbein, ALPA's national security committee chairman, said pilots think it's more important to focus on passengers' intent rather than what they're carrying.