TSA chief: Public outcry over pat-downs weighed vs. risk

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said Tuesday that the agency is contemplating minor changes to make the screening procedure more sensitive to some groups.

The nation's transportation security chief says he decided to launch controversial new airport pat-down searches without first warning travelers, against the advice of his public relations aides.

Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole said in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday that he rejected the advice for fear of highlighting screening weaknesses terrorists could exploit.

TSA's more intensive pat-downs of private body parts under clothing set off what he called a "media frenzy" leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday travel week.

"What it came down to was I wanted to make sure people are not subjected to additional risk of planes being blown out of the sky," Pistole told USA TODAY's editorial board. "I was gravely concerned that we needed to do something with a sense of urgency and professionalism that did not signal to terrorists that we had a vulnerability."

Pistole says he wishes there was an "easier answer" to the balance between keeping the public informed and ensuring flights are safe.

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The need for more thorough pat-downs stemmed from the attempt last Christmas to bomb a Northwest Airlines jet by a man accused of hiding a bomb in his underwear, and from government studies that showed physical searches were inadequate, he said. Pistole said he thought most people assumed that the government had already stepped up searches.

While the government continues trying to improve technology to detect weapons and bombs, TSA has no plans to subject airline passengers to any additional body searches beyond what was put in place at all airports Nov. 1, Pistole said: "I think we are at the most thorough that we will probably be in terms of our physical screening."

Pistole said the agency is contemplating minor changes to be more sensitive to some groups, such as victims of sex abuse and those with external medical devices. A Michigan man complained last week that a bag that captured his urine was detached during an airport search.

The combination this year of full-body screening machines, which see through clothing, and the pat-downs created a furor on some websites and calls to protest on the day before Thanksgiving. However, widespread protests never materialized.

The TSA also announced Tuesday that it had implemented a long-time recommendation from the 9/11 Commission, which studied the 2001 terrorist attacks. After years in which the airlines checked passenger names against terrorist watch lists, the TSA now performs the matches.

The agency requires passengers to provide full names, birth dates and their gender, which leads to fewer false matches, Pistole said. The agency also uses up-to-the-minute information so it can react more quickly to ongoing security concerns.