Panels call for tougher airport, plane security

WASHINGTON -- Tough new security is vital at airports and on planes after the terrorist attacks, government advisory panels said Tuesday. President Bush announced the reopening of close-in Reagan National Airport and declared, "America ought to be on alert, but we need to get back to business."

The airport, which juts into the Potomac River a short distance from the White House and other major Washington landmarks, is the last commercial airport still closed after the terrorist hijacking attacks three weeks ago.

The airport will reopen Thursday with shuttle flights to New York and Boston. Gradually, flights to other major American cities will be resumed, but traffic will be cut roughly in half from before the attacks, and planes will follow new flight patterns.

"We got struck hard on Sept. 11, all of us know that. But you can't strike the American spirit," Bush said inside the airport's main passenger terminal. "By opening this airport, we're making yet another statement to the terrorists: 'You can't win.'"

Efforts to improve airline and airport safety proceeded on several fronts.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta received recommendations from two task forces, on airline and airport security.

Among the recommendations: stronger cockpit doors within 30 days and new security training for pilots, flight attendants and other crew members within six months. A copy of the airliner security report was obtained by The Associated Press.

United, the nation's No. 2 airline, said it would immediately begin installing steel bars on its planes' cockpit doors, and other airlines were considering new security measures, too.

The task force on airport security was proposing a new federal agency to oversee the job. Representatives of aviation unions and the airline industry served on both task forces.

The airplane task force recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration, the airline industry and pilot unions come up with procedures that could help thwart a hijacking, such as depressurizing the cabin or making a rapid descent.

In addition, the government and industry should take steps to ensure an airplane will continuously transmit a signal if hijacked, the task force said.