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Pilots Get to Skip TSA Checks

The rest of you? Not so lucky
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 20, 2010 8:05 AM CST
Pilots Get to Skip TSA Checks
Travelers undergo TSA security screening, Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle.    (Ted S. Warren)

Pilots can now pass through airport security with their dignity and privacy intact: The TSA has agreed to let on-duty, uniformed pilots skip the full-body scans and too-close-for-comfort pat-downs that are enraging passengers across the country, reports the Washington Post. The rest of you: Don't hold your breath for a reprieve.

The move comes after intensive lobbying by pilots' unions. Responded a union rep: "You have a credentialed group of people who in a few minutes will have their hands on the controls of an airliner. You need to focus your finite resources on identifying legitimate threats." Pilots intent on terrorism wouldn't need explosives anyway, the AP notes: They could simply crash the plane.
(More TSA stories.)

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