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American Morning

Interview With Michael Miller

Aired August 28, 2002 - 07:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities are still trying to find out how a U.S. Airways pilot mistakenly transmitted a hijack code to controllers in Baltimore. That set off a whole system. A pair of F- 16s went scrambling to escort the flight. It delayed frightened passengers for more than an hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We landed. There were cops around, and we were, like, what's going on? We didn't know what was happening. We didn't know anything. The pilot kept letting us know that everything was OK, and it wasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That is only one of several recent incidents that have air travelers shaken. But is all of this new security making us as a nation of frightened flyers?

Joining us from Orlando, Florida with some answers, aviation expert and president of the Miller Air Group, Michael Miller.

Michael, good morning -- good to have you with us again.

MICHAEL MILLER, MILLER AIR GROUP: Hi, Daryn, nice to see you.

KAGAN: I'll tell you, I don't fly, except for in the back of the plane. So from someone who understands the front of the plane, you've got to explain to me, how do you mistakenly signal that a hijacking is taking place?

MILLER: Well, there's basically two ways that a pilot can tell a controller or anybody else that there is a hijacking. One is through electronic means, through, in effect, the dashboard of the plane, the transponder that transmits what could be a hijack code to air traffic control. And the other is just verbally.

And actually, with all of the reports I've read, I still don't know exactly what...

KAGAN: Which one took place.

MILLER: ... exact phrase or code took place. But it was a huge mistake.

KAGAN: And it appears that once you send that signal, you can't say, oops, never mind. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they take it very seriously on the ground.

MILLER: Exactly. Well, if you put a code into the transponder, which is kind of like dialing a frequency on your radio at home, that's pretty cut and dry. But it appears with the embarrassment of these pilots that they didn't even know that they had triggered military response, and that's kind of troubling, because if the commercial airline pilots in this country don't know when they say something and it triggers fighters to escort their plane, we are probably a little bit too jittery.

KAGAN: Yes. And lucky, that's all they did is escort it. Are you surprised by what the response was? Or is this the new world after 9/11?

MILLER: Unfortunately, it's the new world after 9/11 in this country, but we are the only country to do this. Even Israel doesn't escort its aircraft like this.

KAGAN: Really?

MILLER: We are really on edge, and as you mentioned right before the segment, there was a terminal closure yesterday. There are terminal closures now all of the time. And I think one of the things that the government needs to do is reassess the total effect of the security policy.

I mean, if we are frightening people away from traveling, from doing any number of things -- closing terminals, having fighter planes, you know, every few weeks, escort planes -- it really presents kind of like a wartime environment, and I don't think we want that in this country.

KAGAN: Well, I'll tell you one thing that's just scary enough, just trying to get through a security to get to your gate. It seems like it's so difficult for those of us trying to get to the plane.

And yet, we hear the story of this woman, who passes through Atlanta, where I usually fly out of, ends up in Philadelphia, had a loaded .357 magnum in her bag. So she had it on board this plane.

Can we just assume this is happening? But what is the problem with this?

MILLER: Well, first of all, we can assume that people are human, including screeners, and that the system is not where it needs to be. I think we are still a year or two away from where we need to be.

But it kind of points to the silliness of our system. If I've had nail clippers confiscated and other things confiscated, if that is still the level of scrutiny that's going on -- and yesterday, I was flying and I had to take off my shoes again and get them X-rayed. But you know, they're missing guns, but they're making sure that they put my tennis shoes through the screener.

Our priorities are not in the right place. We are still doing a hit-or-miss type of approach when we look at security, whether it's in the air or on the ground, I think that there needs to be a reassessment of our total air security policy. It's warranted.

KAGAN: And look ahead real quickly, November 19, that's when this Transportation Security Administration is supposed to take over the screening at the airports. Is it going to be any better?

MILLER: Well, it already is better. I think we can at least feel one level of safety, in that airport security is better than it was before September 11. We have made wholesale changes, both in the airport and on the airplane. So things are better in that way.

But when you hear about these incidents, where people are still passing guns through security, it shows that there needs to be a few more criteria put in place for bringing these screeners on board. Paying expensive screeners three times as much, in some cases, than what we got earlier, we may not be getting a higher level of security yet.

KAGAN: Michael Miller joining us from Orlando -- thank you so much. Fly safe.

MILLER: Thank you.

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