More airlines have begun checking passengers’ shoes after a man tried to ignite his explosive sneakers aboard a plane.
But experts doubt the checks will guarantee against a repeat attempt.
Security officials at some airports had already been asking passengers to remove their shoes – and checking them – after the Sept. 11 hijackings, and now have heightened their efforts since Saturday’s incident.
Richard Reid had been stopped Friday in a Paris airport by French authorities suspicious of him and his new passport.
But after questioning Reid, and searching his one small bag, they let him on board Miami-bound Flight 63 on Saturday.
They had neglected to check his sneakers, which American authorities now say contained two explosive devices that he tried to ignite on board.
High-tech machines can detect explosives in checked and carry-on bags, but devices used to check passengers are not sophisticated enough to detect some bomb material.
“We still don’t have equipment that really could check and find explosives on a person,” said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association advocacy group.
“It’s only fairly recently that we’ve come across this phenomenon of suicide bombers, suicide hijackers, and the industry is not geared up to deal with those types of people,” said Chris Yates, an aviation security official, in a Reuters interview.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which sets security standards, issued a new security advisory to airlines over the weekend but did not reveal its details.
Terrorism expert Mike Yardley said the explosive shoe incident “is another example of how the low-tech approach has defeated airport-security systems.
“It draws chilling comparisons with Sept. 11, where the terrorists managed to gain control of the planes with something as low-tech as knives,” he said.
On ABC News’ “This Week,” Flight International magazine editor David Learmont said security at French airports is “pretty thorough.” But he said it is less so in terms of personal searches and passenger profiling.
“People have been trying to avoid going to military levels of security because passengers find that intrusive and unacceptable,” Learmont said.