The Nation: Fly Me–If You’re Clean

Since the introduction of the magnetometer, an anti-skyjacking gadget that looks like a pair of mechanical bean poles, the most intriguing refuse is found in washrooms and wastebaskets at major airports. Says Jay Adsen, FAA security chief at Los Angeles International Airport: “It’s really amazing, the things people carry around with them.” Amazing indeed—and more than a little disturbing. At Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, federal marshals have scooped up knives, handguns, tear-gas guns and stolen credit cards. In Los Angeles, officials found in a boarding area a jacket containing a .22 revolver, a .38 revolver, a .25 automatic and three boxes of ammunition.

Most of the items are abandoned by jittery passengers who, rather than take a chance on electronic detection, deposit their wares in toilet bowls, rented lockers and potted palms. Thus there are few arrests. Still, the magnetometer has presumably diminished skyjacking. Its only disadvantage, mused one marshal, “is that some of the airlines, by setting up the device, might be losing some trade.” Though some passengers might object to being electronically frisked, it seems a small price to pay for skyway safety.