TSA Orders Full Searches on Specific Fliers
The entire list has not yet been revealed; however, four of the countries — Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria — are on the government's list of those that sponsor terrorism.
Including those countries, the entire list focuses on passengers from:
-Afghanistan
-Algeria
-Cuba
-Iran
-Iraq
-Lebanon
-Libya
-Nigeria
-Pakistan
-Saudi Arabia
-Somalia
-Sudan
-Syria
-Yemen
The story was first reported by Mike Allen of Politico.
"The procedure will be inconsistent across the different countries given the airlines are responsible for the screening," Allen told CBSNews.com.
Aviation experts told the AP the pat-down is often ineffective, in part because of government rules covering where screeners can put their hands and how frequently they can frisk passengers. As a result, even if the man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. jetliner on Christmas Day got an airport pat-down, it probably wouldn't have found the explosives authorities say were hidden in his crotch.
"To have people hold up their arms and just pat them — like I'm really going to carry a bomb there," industry analyst Michael Boyd told the AP, arguing that pat-downs were often of little value. "You know where you're going to put it, and no one's going to go there."
Most travelers at U.S. airports never get a pat-down when they pass through security, the AP reports. A metal detector must be set off first and then screeners would need to find out what triggered the alarm. That often amounts to screeners just lightly tapping on a passenger's arms, legs and clothes.