Air travelers meet increased scrutiny

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's 6:02 in the morning and already the gentle hum of commerce slowly eases its way through the early hour at the Indianapolis airport. \nSome travelers partake in freshly brewed coffee, pushing themselves over the cusp of wakefulness and killing time before their flight. Many have extra time to work with because airlines recommend passengers to show up at least two hours in advance to ensure they make their flight. \nLines are already wound around blue ribbon aisles in front of the ticket desks and the skycaps are attending to the lines of people checking luggage at the curb.\nPassengers used to be asked whether they had been asked by anyone to carry something on the flight and if there was a time when their luggage wasn't in their possession. \nSkycap Steve Marsh said while it used to be required for employees to ask that of the passenger, no one had ever responded with a yes.\n"If someone was trying to pull something, I can't imagine they would say, 'Yeah, you caught me,'" Marsh said.\nSo since the honor system clearly wasn't working, airlines did away with the questions and now rely on their several checkpoints to observe passengers' person, luggage and carry-on.\nA new installation is the CTX, an explosive detector that is now commonplace in all major airports. The conveyor belt yanks luggage through the machine, producing regular and x-ray images which are observed by an Invision technician, who has gone through three weeks of training and received certification to operate the machine.\nThe technician most frequently encountered is one who mans the security checkpoints set up at the concourse entrances.\nDue to privacy and safety issues, non-personnel are not allowed to see the images. \nAn employee thumps out the trinket bin as people ditch their watches, keys, lap tops, cell phones and other metallic objects. \nThe technician stares intently at the computer monitor. He swallows hard, forcing his Adam's Apple to roll up and down his throat while he squints to make sense of the x-ray images in front of him. What he's looking for is anything that could be considered a weapon.\nUnited Airlines Service Director Terry Obenauf said that to his knowledge, the definition of what can be construed as a weapon hasn't expanded since Sept. 11. \n"We won't let anyone go down there with a bat or anything, but I think in most cases it's just the common sense things that you wouldn't expect to go through," Obenauf said.\nBut ultimately, it's the National Transportation Safety Board that has the final say on what can and cannot go on the plane.\nThe NTSB is currently conducting surveys to determine what kind of additional security will be needed at the airport. They poll passengers on their destination, number of passengers traveling with them and how many bags were checked.\nThe surveys are part of Boeing-Siemans $1.37 billion contract to enhance security at their 438 airports.\nWhen asked whether all these new time-consuming safety measures were unwarranted or irritating, Brownsburg resident Janet McDaniel immediately responded with a dismissive "not at all," and that personal security was more important than being inconvenienced.\nThe measures are also increasing airline employees' sense of security, said U.S. Expressways Captain Brett Scally. \nScally said while the majority of pilots have mixed feelings about having a gun for self-defense, he does appreciate the new steel bar they've installed on the cockpit door.\n"I feel perfectly safe flying," Scally said. "The airport has been getting better and better about security, and every little bit helps"