Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Airports Implement New Security Measures
Aired September 23, 2001 - 11:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In recent days, of course, we're keeping track of the long lines, the increased security measures at U.S. airports. Well, our Frank Sesno was amongst the ranks of thousands of airline passengers in the United States and around the world since these attacks. He's returned recently from an airline trip and joins us now to tell us what it was like -- Frank.
FRANK SESNO, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, John, you know, it's something you and I have done a million times -- you drive to the airport, you park your car, you go through a security point, you get on the plane and then you fly. But this time, it was all together different. It was distorted and strange. It was like walking through a looking glass.
I flew from one pained place to another, from Washington, Dulles to Boston, Logan and back again. Both of them departure points for the hijackers September 11. Security was as tight as the airports were empty. Armed guards, police in front of every security checkpoint and elsewhere of course. And everyone looking at your ticket, then your I.D., then at your face, then at your eyes and back at your ticket. They scanned my bag four times and I couldn't figure out exactly why. And after a painstaking hand search, they found an item I didn't even know I had in a zipper pocket that I didn't know existed. It was a pair of fingernail scissors. They tossed it into a bin filled with other objects that once seemed so innocent.
The plane, like the airport itself, was nearly deserted, maybe 30 people or so on a 757. Both the places, the plane and the airport echoed fear, a sort of silent reminder of how far America has to travel literally before it really gets going again.
As I left the United jetliner in Boston, I stuck my head in the cockpit to thank the pilot. Both of them clearly still in mourning and shock. Both saying they're hoping for deadbolts and reinforced cockpit doors very soon. Both saying they fear they'll lose their jobs.
On the way back, a flight attendant spent much of the flight just sort of subtly wiping away tears. And on that flight, on that leg of the trip, the pilot made an unsettling announcement. He said he wouldn't be flying if he didn't think it was safe but if passengers detected a disturbance, he instructed, do something to help, hit, tackle or throw something at anyone who might be causing a commotion. Later, one of the pilots told me he thought pilots across the country should be armed. Anyway, he said, many of them were former military.
And then the airport again, very nearly deserted back in Dulles, Washington. A mobile lounge that can hold a hundred more, it was just myself and one other person.
John, the whole trip really struck me as a metaphor for where the country is right now -- hunkered down, as confused as it is determined, wounded and proud both and very, very quiet.
KING: Well, Frank, you say passengers obviously anxious, looking for advice, looking for help and reassurance. When the pilot said if there is a problem, you need to help out, what was the reaction?
SESNO: Well, he said -- look around he said to the passengers. Check one another out, become a family back there and they did that. There were so few people that there weren't very many folks to look at. And one of the most extraordinary things, when we landed, at the end of that flight, the passengers burst out in applause. I mean it was a very, very emotional journey.
KING: And how much more of a burden? Usually you go to the airport, you walk up -- has your luggage been in your control, any strangers ask you to carry anything. Take us from there where we used to be 13 days ago to where we are now.
SESNO: Well, armed guards before you go in. You have to show your ticket and you have to show your I.D. And they look at you right in the eyes. That's one thing we've heard a lot about in terms of security.
The bag goes through. Everything comes out of your pockets. The -- it seems like the metal detectors are set on their most sensitive setting. And as I say, I had this zipper pocket I didn't know I had and they went clawing through, by hand, every zipper, every pocket. They put it through repeatedly until they found these things. Actually, that was reassuring.
When you get on the plane, the flight attendant, again, looks at your boarding pass and again, looks at you straight in the eyes. I saw several people pulled over to the side, just past security points, being questioned by sort of armed guards that I have not seen in airports before. So layers of security really, John, at every step.
KING: Well, days later, still a great sense of anxiety in America. It's likely to be there for days, weeks perhaps years to come.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
