State seeks security boost at small airports

By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 10/5/2001

Moving to close a worrisome loophole in the Commonwealth's aviation security
network, Acting Governor Jane M. Swift yesterday ordered the state's 23
municipal airports to devise a security strategy, and she offered up to $3
million to help them invest in video cameras and metal detectors.

To ensure that the grant money, offered quietly in a directive from the
Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, makes a real impact, only airports
that hire security personnel will qualify for the funds, said state
Transportation Secretary Kevin Sullivan, whose Executive Office of
Transportation and Construction will fund the program.

The vast majority of municipal airports do not have permanent security
staff, he said.

''We think these are places we need to pay attention to and that local
governments need to pay attention to,'' said Sullivan, who joined Swift on
Cape Cod yesterday. Swift made the decision after a teleconference with a
group of fellow governors, he said.

''We're not just telling towns to beef up security. We're putting money on
the table to help with long-term security projects,'' he said. ''These
concerns are permanent.''

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, several lawmakers and air safety
experts have warned that the nation's general aviation system, which largely
operates from small municipal airfields, is a security Achilles' heel.

Most pilots of small aircraft are not required to file flight plans with the
Federal Aviation Administration, metal detectors and baggage screeners are
few, and most municipal airports lack fencing around runway areas.

Federal investigators have also followed clues that the 19 hijackers, many
of whom were trained as general aviation pilots, may have explored using
crop-dusters or other small aircraft to wreak further havoc.

Swift and her administration are under intense pressure to improve airport
security in the state, particularly because two of the four jets hijacked
Sept. 11 departed from Boston's Logan International Airport.

Kevin Learned, vice chairman of the Fitchburg Municipal Airport Commission,
said yesterday he was overjoyed at Swift's move, but he questioned whether
his facility could afford the security personnel necessary to qualify for
the grants.

''It depends on what the security personnel cost us, to be honest,'' said
Learned, who added that Fitchburg has not had a serious security issue in
his 15 years on the commission. ''I honestly don't know if we can afford it.
We're barely getting by right now.''

Fitchburg Municipal Airport is typical of the state's smaller public
airfields. Operating on a $500,000 annual budget, the airport is entirely
financed by the pilots who use the facility.

The $3 million now available to the airports - roughly $130,000 per
facility - largely comes from registration fees and excise taxes paid by
pilots, Learned said.

If Fitchburg wins one of the grants, there are plenty of devices the airport
could invest in, Learned said. Video surveillance is minimal and the airport
lacks bomb-sniffing dogs or other high-priced deterrents, he said.

''We could definitely have a field day with this money,'' he said.

The Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, which regulates the airports,
called most of the facilities' managers yesterday and discovered that the
overwhelming majority have made some security arrangements since Sept. 11,
Sullivan said.

The state has required each to devise a comprehensive security plan within a
week.

''The governor feels very strongly about this issue,'' Sullivan said. ''We
can't have any weak links in the system.''

This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 10/5/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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