The House passed an aviation bill Monday aimed at boosting airport security, reducing screening lines and refunding fees to passengers whose luggage is lost or arrives late.
House and Senate lawmakers say they've reached an agreement on an aviation bill that would boost airport security, reduce screening lines and require airlines to refund fees to passengers whose bags are lost or delayed.
Under pressure to prevent people from sneaking onto runways and planes at major U.S. airports, authorities are cracking down - not on the intruders who slip through perimeter gates or jump over fences, but on the release of information about the breaches.
An Associated Press investigation has documented 345 instances in which people hopped over, crawled under, drove cars through or otherwise breached the fences and gates protecting the perimeters of 31 of the nation's busiest airports between January 2004 and mid-February.
The Senate approved a bipartisan aviation policy bill Tuesday that would boost airport security, extend new protections to airline passengers and help speed the introduction of package-delivery drones.
A year ago, 15-year-old Yahya Abdi climbed the fence protecting the airport in San Jose, California, hoisted himself into a parked plane's wheel well and survived a long, freezing flight to Hawaii.
Several hundred times over the last decade, intruders have hopped fences, slipped past guardhouses, crashed their cars through gates or otherwise breached perimeter security at the nation's busiest airports — sometimes even managing to climb aboard jets.