Federal agents added to flights

Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson yesterday told senators that Secret Service agents and other armed federal officials are being used to bolster the Federal Air Marshal Service’s efforts to guard airplanes from terrorist attacks.

“We’re trying to make sure, through additional resources, that we really increase the number of flights that are covered,” Mr. Hutchinson told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee during a hearing on the September 11 commission report.

Mr. Hutchinson denied that the number of marshals is declining and that few flights actually have them aboard, as marshals, pilots and an airline executive said in yesterday’s editions of The Washington Times.

“We’ll certainly agree — and Congress well knows — that not all flights are covered,” said Mr. Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security.

The Washington Times reported Monday that less than five percent of 35,000 daily flights are protected by federal air marshals and that fewer than 3,000 out of nearly 100,000 pilots have been trained to carry guns in the cockpit.

Mr. Hutchinson did not discuss with the Senate panel the number of air marshals or the number of daily flights and called the story “misleading.” Before the hearing, he told C-SPAN that there are “thousands” of marshals.

“I think the Federal Air Marshal [Service] is a strong program that is well-managed,” Mr. Hutchinson told the Senate panel.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, called the low numbers “pathetic” and demanded that the committee receive a report on the exact numbers.

“This is a shocking story,” she said.

Mrs. Boxer challenged Mr. Hutchinson’s assertion that the number of marshals will not be reduced, citing a statement by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge before a House panel in March.

“We went from a handful of [federal air marshals in fiscal year] ‘01 to literally thousands in ‘04, and there’s been a modest reduction and I think we can manage that reduction through ‘05,” Mr. Ridge said, according to CNN.

Mrs. Boxer said Mr. Hutchinson’s answers were “not good enough.”

“If I’m an average person sitting there, I’m not getting straight answers from you,” she said.

Mr. Hutchinson said there “are targeted flights, special flights of concern,” that all have air-marshal protection.

“The government won’t disclose the number of air marshals or armed pilots because it would confirm our worst fears — that the vast majority of our flights are as defenseless as they were on September 11,” said David Mackett, chairman of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance.

Story Continues →