By Calvin Biesecker
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) yesterday told airlines that they must recheck their flight manifests within two hours of being told that a “special circumstance” name has been added to the no fly list, a change from the previous 24-hour requirement, quickly instituting one of the lessons learned from would-be bomber Faisal Shahzad’s attempt to flee the country Monday night on an international flight.
After law enforcement officials had identified Faisal Shahzad as a potential terrorist suspect in last Saturday’s failed car bombing attempt in New York City, the Department of Homeland Security on Monday afternoon around 12:30 sent airlines an updated special circumstance expedited no fly list name, which was the alert for Shahzad. Several hours later that notification was reportedly updated with additional information about Shahzad.
Before Monday, airlines were required to recheck their flight manifests for special circumstance names on the no fly list within 24 hours of receiving the information from TSA. In the case of Shahzad, Emirates, the airline he had hoped to leave the country on, apparently did not screen his name against the updated no fly list prior to boarding the flight Monday night.
“As we saw with Faisal Shahzad, in an expedited no fly nomination, the airline is responsible for manually checking the name against the no fly list within 24 hours,” an Obama administration official said yesterday. “In his case, the airline seemingly didn’t check the name, and the suspect was allowed to purchase a ticket and obtain a boarding pass.”
Shahzad reportedly called in his flight reservation at 6:30 p.m. for Emirates 202 from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. He arrived at the airport around 7:30 that evening, paid for his ticket in cash and obtained his boarding pass for his flight, which was scheduled to depart at 11 p.m.
TSA is currently in the process of taking over the name checks of passenger manifests against the no fly list for domestic airline flights as part of its Secure Flight program. TSA expects to fully implement Secure Flight this spring for domestic flights. The agency expects to take over the name checking for all international flights into, out of, and over the United States by the end of 2010.
“Under Secure Flight, TSA processes information beginning up to 72 hours in advance and recurrently vets up to the time a flight departs,” the administration official said.
Although Shahzad and the other passengers did board the plane, and its doors were shut, a final check of the passenger manifest by Customs and Border Protection officials at the National Targeting Center was conducted against the updated no fly list. It was during that last check that Shahzad’s name was spotted on the manifest and CBP officials at the airport boarded the plane and apprehended the suspect.
That final passenger manifest check by CBP is a standard procedure that has been done for years.